September 23, 2025 • 37 mins
What would you do with $50 million? Lowe’s decided to invest it into the future of the skilled trades—training 50,000 people for careers in plumbing, welding, electrical, HVAC, and more.
Host Andrew Brown sits down with Betsy Conway, Director of the Lowe’s Foundation, to explore how skilled trades careers are being shaped by Lowe’s Foundation grants, plumbing apprenticeship programs, and SkillsUSA training programs. They dive deep into how nonprofits, community colleges, and industry experts are tackling the welding workforce shortage, empowering new electricians, plumbers, carpenters, HVAC techs, and contractors.
Whether you’re just starting in the trades industry or looking to grow, this episode delivers insights into mentorship, craftsmanship, problem-solving, and trades careers advocacy that define the future of the skilled trades.
IN THIS EPISODE:
● (00:00) – Skilled Trades Careers Overview: Why the trades industry needs plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and HVAC pros now more than ever.
● (02:15) – Lowe’s Foundation Grants: Investing $50M to train 50,000 people for rewarding trades careers.
● (08:40) – Welding Workforce Shortage: Why the U.S. needs 320,000 welders by 2029 and how SkillsUSA training programs are stepping in.
● (15:10) – Plumbing Apprenticeship Programs: How mentorship, apprenticeships, and education change lives.
● (23:30) – Education & Access: Mobile training labs bringing opportunity to underserved communities.
● (35:55) – Tools of the Trade Advice: Betsy Conway’s no-limits mindset for aspiring tradespeople.
Key Takeaways:
● Lowe’s Foundation grants are fueling innovation at community colleges and nonprofits, making skilled trades careers more accessible.
● The welding workforce shortage is real—hundreds of thousands of welders are needed, and SkillsUSA training programs are preparing the next generation
● Plumbing apprenticeship programs and mentorship create viable career paths for women, career changers, and young professionals.
● Success in the trades industry relies on craftsmanship, creativity, advocacy, and strong peer networks of tradespeople.
About the Guest:
Betsy Conway is the Director of the Lowe’s Foundation, where she leads initiatives to tackle America’s skilled trades workforce crisis. Through strategic Lowe’s Foundation grants and partnerships with nonprofits, community colleges, and SkillsUSA training programs, she helps create accessible plumbing apprenticeship programs, addresses the welding workforce shortage, and champions opportunities for future electricians, carpenters, HVAC techs, contractors, and millwrights.
Keywords:
Skilled Trades Careers, Lowe’s Foundation Grants, Plumbing Apprenticeship Programs, Welding Workforce Shortage, SkillsUSA Training Programs, Skilled Trades, Trades Industry, Carpentry, HVAC, Electricians, Plumbers, Millwrights, Construction, Contractors, Tradespeople, Andrew Brown, Betsy Conway, Lowes Foundation, Toolfetch, Skilled Trades Advisory Council, Industry Experts, Advocacy, Craftsmanship, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Education, Mentorship, Trades Careers Growth
Resource Links:
Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-conway/
Lowe’s Foundation: https://lowesfoundation.org
Instagram: @LowesFoundation
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There was an an individual whowent through one of their original
training programs, which at thattime was focused on plumbing.
She found them on Facebook and beforethat she had been working what she
would call a job with really no careertrajectory, and she didn't love it.
So she graduated from the plumbingprogram and then she became an
(00:21):
apprentice and worked towards her journeyWoman's license, which I was at her
graduation for that about a year ago.
She became a property manager of ahigh rise in downtown Charlotte, and
she owns her own home through Habitat.
You talk to her, she has gotfamily members signed up.
(00:41):
She'll tell anyone this isthe best career that there is.
Hi, I'm Andrew Brown.
You're listening to the Lost Star of theSkilled Trades Podcast, a show that shines
the spotlight on careers in the skilled.
That are high paying, honorable,rewarding, and fulfilling.
(01:02):
The trades are the backbone of theeconomy that keep us running, and without
them, our world would cease to exist.
Today we have a special guest, BetsyConway, director of the Lowe's Foundation.
Betsy, welcome to the show.
(01:23):
Thank you, Andrew.
Looking forward to it.
I was thinking, I justcame back from Texas.
There was a welding summitdown there that's put on by
the American Welding Society.
They asked me to speak on attracting,retaining, and inspiring the next
generation, which I was happy to do'cause I love talking about the trades.
And I threw out this statistic thatwe need over 320,000 welders by 2029.
(01:49):
And even though these people were inwelding, they looked at me like, what?
That's the shortage.
And I'm sort of curious because theshortages are in every single trade.
How is Lowe's and the foundationhelping to reach the younger
generation to join the trades?
Andrew, when we think about the shortage,you know, we certainly are in a crisis
(02:12):
and we know that there are incredible gapsthat exist, but we see that as opportunity
and when we talk to young people.
And work with our programs.
That is what we really stress.
This is an opportunity, like you saidin your intro, these are fulfilling
(02:33):
careers, well-paying careers, andthey're going to offer so many
opportunities for growth moving forward.
When we think about how we engage withthe younger generation skills, USA, who
I know you've been engaged with recently.
That's right.
Amazing organization.
We work with them on their nationalsigning day, and this is a day where
(02:56):
we recognize seniors through theirprograms, who are moving on either
entering careers, are entering theirconstruction based continuing education,
and we roll out a blue carpet, aliteral blue carpet for the students.
Our goal is to make the signers on theirday feel as special as a celebrity.
(03:20):
So we'll do balloon tunnels.
We have events taking place at ourstores and it's all centered around
celebrating the choice that thestudent has made to pursue a career
in the skilled trades because wesee a very bright future for them.
Yeah, it's funny that you mention skillsUSA 'cause when that gets mentioned,
(03:40):
I light up every single time 'causethat was down there with skills.
USA.
Skills.
USA did a partnership with TikTok andI was one of three content creators
to go down there and create content.
And these kids, that's the next generationof people in the skilled trades or
kids in the skilled trades, and it'sall high school kids and it's super
exciting to see, you know, their talents.
(04:01):
I went over to like the welding event andI was looking, they had a artwork contest
where these kids had to make artwork.
I was blown away.
I'm like, these kids areyoung, they're talented.
They have soft skills and they havethe technical skills to back it up,
and companies don't realize thateven their next, you know, talent
(04:22):
is coming out of these events likeSkills, USA, it really is incredible.
I always love to see to the studentprojects and the student competitions, how
they're displaying teamwork, integrity.
They're focused on.
What they are producingthat is high quality.
And like you said to Andrew, thesoft skills, those are so important.
(04:44):
We hear that from employers.
We hear that from a Lowe's Foundationperspective, the programs that we support.
Those skills really help take you far.
You can learn your technical skillsand hone those over time through
mentorship, but Skills, USA does aphenomenal job really building in
those soft skills for their studentsto prepare them for those careers
(05:06):
right after they graduate high school.
You know, you hit on somethingabout mentorship and how important
that is for somebody who's juststarting with an organization.
To sort of lean on someone who's beenin the industry for 5, 10, 15 years.
So if they want to go plumbing,they wanna go welding, they wanna
go carpentry, electrical, to leanon somebody that is successful.
(05:29):
And it's the same thing.
If somebody in the trades who's youngwants to start their own business
and get into entrepreneurship, theyshould lock in with somebody who
actually has their own business.
You shouldn't try to reinvent the wheel.
Somebody has been and donethat type of path before.
Yeah.
One of the things that that makes methink about through our Liz Foundation,
Gable Grants program is when wethink about mentorship, one of the
(05:53):
successes that we've seen through thecommunity and technical colleges and
the community-based nonprofits thatwe've funded is their instructors.
Many of these instructors, theycome from industry and now they
are retired, or they have decidedthat they're going to give back.
And to train the next generationand to see the instructors really
(06:17):
lean in with their students.
I think about instructors thatare down with Midlands Technical
College in Columbia, South Carolina.
They come from industry.
They are really pushing that collegein an amazing, incredible direction
with innovation throughout the program.
They build.
(06:38):
Homes, three bedroom homes thatget sold and people live in them.
They buy them, they live in them.
And recently those instructorshave hired two graduates
that came from their program.
So there are guys at the beginning,two guys at the beginning of their
careers who are going to learn fromthe instructors, and that helps
with also the instructor pipeline.
(06:59):
So it's critical.
I think the mentorship, I think theleadership by the instructors, and I'll
also share, I think one thing that we alsosee in particular with our community-based
organizations is that the, as the studentsgo through, they're a cohort and they
develop connections amongst themselves.
And so as they go out into the workingworld, if they have a tough day on
(07:24):
the job or if they're working throughsomething and they need some advice,
they have a network who they can leanon and have that peer mentoring as well.
It's good to have that community.
It's good to have that support.
Out there, you know, like you said,you have a tough day and or you have a
question on something and you're just notsure that there's somebody there in your
(07:45):
network if it's a, a mentor, somebodywho's, you know, helping you through sort
of how you climb the ladder of successor if it's just somebody who's kind of
going through whatever trade that you'rein and is in maybe a similar position.
I've seen examples of in all differenttrades, someone had a, a rough week
and they're thinking about quitting.
(08:07):
Well, there's been somebody therewho's going through the same sort of
situation and kind of supports them,kind of helps them through and say, okay,
you just had a tough couple of days.
But that person really kind of helps themout and gets them kind of going forward.
And it's really important to have andcan be inspirational and motivating.
It is.
(08:27):
I want the audience to reallyget a good understanding.
Everybody knows Lowe's.
Everybody's has a Lowe's probably within20 miles of then 10 miles of them.
But not many people knowabout the foundation.
Can you tell us a little bit about sortof the foundation, how it started and kind
of what it looks like sort of day to day,and what type of schools or what type of
(08:49):
companies that you're helping out there?
Well, the Lowes Foundation, we've beenaround for decades, but in recent times
in 2023, the Lowes Foundation Board.
Which is consist of.
Those foundation leaders really satback and said, how can we make a
true impact on America, on the UnitedStates as a business, as a foundation?
(09:13):
We have funds that we wantto invest in the community.
What can we do to make an impact?
And back to what we previously talkedabout, the worker shortage crisis.
It really rose immediately to the top.
We serve customers, we servepros who are out there in, in the
community contractors, and whatbetter way to give back by investing
(09:36):
in the future of the professionalsin the construction industry.
So from there we set off.
We made a $50 million commitmentover five years to help train
50,000 individuals to be readyfor careers in the skilled trades.
We've focused in on five different areas.
(09:56):
We talk about right needs and demand.
The areas we leaned into were carpentryand construction, electrical, HVAC,
plumbing and property maintenance.
And so we see that those arevery well paying career paths.
They offer a number of options andwill provide strong opportunities.
(10:18):
And they're very highneed, I think we could say.
We all think about those andwe can all need them in our
personal and professional lives.
So from there, the way that we areimplementing this strategy is through
funding community and technical colleges,community-based nonprofits, which we
(10:38):
really describe as more localized.
They may be regional.
We have a few that are more statewide,but for the most part, those are local.
And then we also support a numberof national nonprofit skills, USA
that we've talked about being one.
We're looking to those programs tohelp invest in their innovation,
(10:59):
in their infrastructure.
How can they scale?
So when we think about wanting to bridgethis divide of the worker shortage
crisis, how can we help these programswho have incredible instructors and
program directors who have all thesegreat ideas, how can we, through
our funding, unlock those ideas tohelp them train more individuals?
(11:21):
To help them expand their programs, offerday and night classes, for instance.
It takes a wide variety of forms, butthat's what our program is designed
to do through those partners, theschools that you help fund the
kids that are going through that.
So you said plumbing and yousaid carpentry, and you said
(11:41):
electrical on the plumbing side.
How many kids does, you know, a typicalcollege have in that type of program?
And how does the Lowe'sFoundation help that?
Is it more so in funding so we canget the right instructor, or is it
equipment for that particular trade?
So let's just say plumbing for instance.
I'm curious.
(12:01):
So Andrew, it all reallyvaries by college, by community
based nonprofit program.
One example when it comesto plumbing is that we began
funding them last year in 2024.
Our grants are two year grants, and wefunded Valencia College down in Orlando
to start up a new plumbing program.
(12:23):
So that's often part of what communitycolleges in particular really need.
Is the ability to start up and proveand demonstrate that a program is going
to be successful and that studentswill want to enroll in it, and that
they will matriculate and they willbe employed and find good careers.
(12:44):
And so what we did as part of thegrant wasn't the whole grant, was
to really help them develop out thecurriculum, hire the instructor.
And these programs as they go throughthe cohort tends to be smaller
because they have that, you know, moresmaller classes so they can get that
instruction, they can work through,they can problem solve and troubleshoot.
(13:06):
When you say it's a small, like what'sa small, like, is it like 12 to 15?
But again, I think it just varies onthat instructor to participant ratio
and what that one particular trainingprogram is able, like the capacity there.
It's sort of ebbs and flows and it'sdifferent by carpentry is different
than electrical, for instance.
(13:27):
But at the end of the day, what we'retrying to do with colleges like Valencia
is help them expand their programs,help them expand their offerings.
Because these colleges know andthey see, they talk to employers,
and employers say, I need moreplumbers, I need more electricians.
Everyone is working together ina collaborative plan to say, how
(13:50):
can we help this college be ableto produce the workforce that
our region, our community needs?
So a lot of what we're looking towith our Gable Grant participants are
the programs that we're supportingis what is the community saying?
What are the needs?
Will there be careers and jobs forthe students who graduate to go into.
(14:13):
And how can we help them acceleratetheir ability to start up a new program,
because that can often take a lot of time.
But by providing the funding tobe able to help that plan become a
reality, we can help shrink that timedown so they can get to training.
So someone like Valencia, how long does ittake to get up and running with a program?
(14:37):
Obviously there's a lot of workbehind the scenes before, you know,
you start getting the students in.
How long does something like that take?
Valencia was incredible.
They had a plan.
They received their Gable Grantlast year in July, I think,
just a few months ago in May.
They graduated the first class.
They started it around January,February timeframe, and that
(14:57):
first class graduated in July.
So that's also what we look to forour grant recipients, is that they've
been building out a well thoughtout plan that, again, turnkey.
We already know here are the elements,this is what it's going to look like.
And so once we're able to providethose dollars, we want to help the
organization put those dollars towork immediately so it can begin.
(15:22):
Kids have.
Sometimes they're not surewhere to go to work in plumbing
or electrical or carpentry.
They just, there's so muchinformation that it's too overload.
So if somebody wants to be in plumbingand wants, just knows that the college
is offering this type of program.
Do you know anything about sort ofthe investment in, for the student
(15:44):
to take these courses and how long ittypically takes from start to finish?
Is it a year?
They're in class and then theycan get a job, like what's the
timeframe and the investment in.
What's very exciting about theskilled trades in general is that
there are so many options forindividuals that if you think about
(16:04):
the community college route, thereare often many scholarships available.
It is a very affordable route and pathwayto take when we think about training.
On the community college side,there are a number of options.
So you could go foryour associate's degree.
That's going to be a longer program,more in depth, a two year program.
(16:25):
In some cases, depending on where youlive, you may get some credits towards
a journeyman's license, for instance.
It really varies, or it may set you upto go right on into an apprenticeship.
So there are a number of things thatthese colleges promote like that,
that would be out on their website.
On the community based nonprofitside, the organizations that we
(16:47):
support do not charge tuition.
Now these programs tend to be moreof an intro to the trades, so you may
be doing more of a tour where you'reexperiencing five to six different trades.
You are getting your basiccertifications, your OSHA 30, your.
CPR first aid.
(17:09):
Oftentimes it may be something even asa credential, like the N-C-C-E-R core
credential so that now you've got alittle bit of everything and you can
figure out which pathway you want to take.
So I think the great news when it comesto the skilled trades is that there
are a lot of opportunities and youdon't have to spend a lot of money.
(17:33):
You don't have to go into debt.
You don't have to take out loansthat you can search and see what's
available in your community.
And oftentimes there may be freeprograms right in your backyard.
Yeah.
Everybody has to decide whichdirection they want to take.
But there is a lot from whatI gather and what I get.
Being on social media consistentlyand having a sizable following.
(17:56):
And I like to show up on TikTok a lot.
YouTube and, and LinkedIn are a few ofthe, uh, platforms I like to show up on.
But a lot of the questions that reallycome from the younger generation
and I, I'll show up on a live and onTikTok for 45 minutes is, you know,
Andrew, I'm really trying to get in,but I just, I don't know where to go.
I don't know what to do.
I don't know what trade I want to do.
(18:17):
There's also the flip side of.
You know what?
I've come out of a trade school,I've come out of a program, but
there's no opportunities because alot of these companies are asking for
three to five years of experience.
So there's a lot of that behind thescenes that's happening as well.
Obviously, my hope is that they takethese programs and the school has
(18:38):
some type of relationship with localindustry, and these kids can get a job.
Right away.
Or they can get a, anapprenticeship right away.
But there's the other side that Iwant really the audience to understand
that sometimes it takes a while to getin and you know, it might take a few
different tries to get what you want.
Yeah.
And I think, you know, as we're lookingto help sort of lead in this space,
(19:03):
that is certainly an opportunity forthe industry and what we might think
of, of the ecosystem as a whole.
How can we help individuals?
Who are interested in being a part ofthis career pathway of this industry?
How can we help them navigate throughN-C-C-E-R, which is the National Center
(19:23):
for Construction Education and Research.
They have a really great resource calledCareer Starter, which may be a place
that folks might want to check out.
Our Lowes foundation.org
page.
We have a whole section about thevalue of the skilled trades and
why the skilled trades, but I thinkthere's a lot of opportunity out there
(19:43):
to help individuals who are new andentering this space navigate through.
I think what we've seen inparticular, when I think about
our community-based nonprofits.
Is that the nonprofits whoare operating in the space?
Examples would be, she built thiscity here in Charlotte, or Uncommon
Construction down in New Orleans,Alaska Works, which is based in Alaska.
(20:07):
They provide a number of those wraparoundservices, those navigation services.
They're all about burial removal andso moving with the individual, helping
them through this process, which can bevery hard to navigate thinking through.
Okay.
Now that you've gone through and you'vegotten your basic certifications,
(20:28):
what is it that you're interested in?
So many of these programs have that careeradvisor, many programs that we fund, I
think through our program with the localInitiative Support corporation, that's
called lisc, and we fund programs where.
Are actually paired up with afinancial advisor counselor for three
(20:49):
years, sometimes more than that.
To help them also get the financialliteracy and navigate through on the
financial side, which is extremelyimportant when you think about the type of
money that can be made in these careers.
You know, focusing on ourcommunity-based nonprofits and
some of our national nonprofits.
They're really leaning in to helpingindividuals provide those tools.
(21:12):
While it can be hard to find them, theyare out there, I certainly would encourage
folks to look around the communityand see if these resources exist.
Also our website has all of theinformation about our grant recipients
and just like she built the city modeland the other models I was talking
about, you'll find a list of those.
(21:34):
There we're, we're funding60 organizations across the
country, colleges and nonprofits.
I am so proud of whatthese partners are doing.
They are truly leading the way.
In helping their students be as successfulas they can when they enter the workplace.
You know, you said the N-C-C-E-R.
We had Boyd Worsham, who was the CEOI hadhim on last year, and he talked about, I
(21:58):
think it was it's career starter, right?
Career starter.
I think he had had mentioned that.
So that is a great way to at least start.
Typically, what are you interested in?
Then obviously you can go on the Lowe'swebsite as well to find out a little bit
more information about the skilled trades.
But I, I love that Lowe'sis going above and beyond.
It's not just selling productsand tools and safety gear.
It's really making a differencein the skilled trades.
(22:21):
Out of all the grants that you'vesort of put together, is there a
success story that really sticks out?
Maybe an individual.
Or it's a school of some sort thatreally kind of just stands out from
the rest that you can share with us.
Oh, well there are somany incredible stories.
It's hard to, you know, it'shard to come up with just one.
(22:46):
I did mention she built this cityearlier when we, we were chatting.
Lowe's and the Lowe's Foundationhas been funding and supporting.
She built the city since theirinception, which was about four
and a half or so years ago.
So we've been around since the beginning.
And that organization isfocused in helping women
enter skilled trades careers.
(23:08):
The organization has madean incredible transformation
over the past several years.
They started almost right before COVID.
Instead of trying to find their wayduring COVID, they thrived and they
grew their programs and there was anan individual who went through one of
their original training programs, whichat that time was focused on plumbing.
(23:31):
They've since expanded to domore of tour of the trades model.
But she went through that and she foundthem on Facebook and before that she
had been working what she would call ajob with really no career trajectory.
And she didn't love it.
It was an hourly job, it was not acareer, and she was in her early twenties.
(23:51):
So she graduated from the plumbingprogram and then she became an apprentice,
which she built this city and workedtowards her journey Woman's license,
which I was at her graduation for thatabout a year ago, she became a property
manager of a high rise in downtownCharlotte, and she since got scooped away.
(24:12):
And is working for another propertymanagement firm making a significant
amount of money, and she ownsher own home through Habitat.
It's just been wonderful to be onthis journey with her and to see
today her passion is the skill traits.
You talk to her, she has gotfamily members signed up.
(24:35):
She'll tell anyone this isthe best career that there is.
To think that all of this happenedjust by her finding it on Facebook
and getting matched with, she builtthe city and now the future is hers.
It's incredible.
So those are the stories that give mechills, that just inspire me because.
(24:57):
I think in particular, many times folkswho are going through these programs
have never really considered this asan opportunity and they get into them
and see this is what I'm meant to do.
I love those stories.
The success stories, you know,especially women only make up about
four or 5% of the skilled trades.
(25:17):
And when you really help an individualand support a woman, you know, obviously
this is happens to be a plumbing path.
It actually sounds, she built this city.
I'm trying to rack my brain.
I think I know it, but I can'tplace the program, can't place
the people in the program, butit sounds very familiar to me.
They're incredible.
You'll have to check them out.
(25:39):
Those are the success stories.
I love hearing about these programs thatthese individuals go through and all of a
sudden they didn't even know much about.
Plumbing or much about carpentry or muchabout welding or whatever trade that
they get into it and they go throughthe program and all of a sudden on the
other side of it, they come out, they'reinterested, they take that next step,
(25:59):
and then all of a sudden after a handfulof years, they're doing very well.
They're climbing the ladder ofsuccess and they have a skill
that is always in high demand.
It's just unreal to hear the possibilitiesare endless, and she's just really
at the beginning of her career.
So I look forward toseeing where she goes.
So getting just back to thefoundation, how do organizations
(26:24):
reach out to the foundation?
Do they fill out certain informationabout what they're looking to do,
what program they're looking to start?
And then you must get overloadedwith I assume, applications.
And if you do, how do you filterout which ones would be the
right fit for the foundation?
Through our foundation.
As I mentioned, we do fund two yeargrants to community and technical colleges
(26:47):
and community-based nonprofits who aretraining programs in the skilled trade.
So we are very specific.
I talked about the five focus areas.
We're very specific to those focus areas,but we do run competitive grant cycles.
We're actually in the middle of ourcommunity base nonprofit cycle now.
(27:07):
Our cycle for community andtechnical colleges, those
applications will open March 1st.
All of the information about ourgrant program can be found on our
website, lowes foundation.org,
and we also spell out very clearly whatthe priorities off the foundation, what
types of grants that we are providing.
(27:29):
We fund anywhere from 100,000 to amillion dollars over those two years.
The current grant recipients who are outthere, the colleges and the nonprofits
really are illustrative of the typesof programming that we're looking for.
Really looking at infrastructure, sohow can we help an organization with
(27:51):
some advanced technology or stayingon top of the latest technology?
Many of the colleges and nonprofitsare looking at mobile units.
A lot of that is breaking downbarriers of accessibility.
So we think about that.
Then we have opportunities forinnovation around work-based learning.
So many opportunities.
We have an organization next step.
(28:13):
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, where thosestudents are building tiny homes,
that individuals who are experiencinghomelessness in the community will
then move in and become residents of,and we have, I talked about Midlands,
who is building homes and they sellthem on their state surplus site, and
that money comes back to the schoolto be reinvested, to build more homes.
(28:37):
So we have just a number ofdifferent innovative ideas.
And what we also hope to do in shortorder here is be able to share those ideas
and those best practices so that otherscan replicate them in their community
when it comes to the mobile units.
We just featured a mobile unitfrom Montana on the news section
(29:00):
of our Lowes foundation.org
website.
We also have a number ofdifferent mobile units, all
different shapes, sizes, purposes.
So we want to be able to package that upa little bit more so that individuals who
are thinking about that and thinking ofthat idea and executing in that community
will be able to pull from those bestpractices so they can be more efficiently
(29:24):
and effective with any ideas like that.
So over time, we wantto grow the resources.
From the grant recipients and fromwhat we're learning to share with
others, because we are very focusedon strengthening all of the programs.
While we cannot fund them all,we want to be out there helping
programs be more effective to helprise all the boats and to help
(29:49):
address this worker shortage crisis.
Tell me about the mobile unit.
Yeah.
These mobile units, they're so innovative.
And at the end of the day, it's allabout breaking down barriers and breaking
down that barrier of transportation.
So in Montana, we fund an organizationcalled Accelerate Montana, and what
(30:09):
they found is that they were offeringbasic construction courses, but
they were being offered at colleges,community colleges across the state.
But in a rural state likeMontana, some of those colleges
were two to three hours away.
So they looked and said, Hey, Lowe'sFoundation, here's our grant application.
(30:30):
Here's our idea.
Can you help us createthis mobile training lab?
So now they're going out, they'reconducting their training.
In the community, folks are gettingall of the skills that they need.
They're set up, and thenthey're able to begin to pursue
additional career opportunities.
So we have mobile units down in Florida.
(30:51):
We have some here inCharlotte where we're based.
They're mobile units across the country.
And Columbus, Georgia is another example.
Columbus Tech, they are so impactful.
We have Columbus Tech, which actually istaking the mobile unit into a correctional
facility and providing training there.
And then when the mobile unit isn't beingused for training, it is a traveling
(31:15):
billboard and traveling experience.
So they take it to the Girl Scouts andthe Girl Scouts can take a look at it.
So.
Really thinking about howcan we be more innovative?
How can we break down these barriers,bring the training to individuals, and
then being able to also use it as a wayto get people curious and interested
(31:38):
in the programs that it offers.
I like that you go to them.
If they're too far, you go tothem, which I think is great.
I've seen those type of trailerson wheels and these kids that see
these trailers, they set a light up.
I've seen it with the AmericanWelding Society has a virtual trailer.
It's huge black trailer.
(31:59):
It's got six Lincoln Electricvirtual machines on there.
And these kids, they're happy notonly to play games, but also to
learn about the welding trade.
So I've seen these mobile unitsbefore and it's just a great way
to get kids exposed, you know, toreally working with their hands.
So it's great that there's aninvestment into that type of work.
(32:19):
Is there anything else about sortof the Lowe's Foundation that we
didn't cover that you'd wanna sharea little bit more to the audience?
Yeah, I mean, I think I would just share,you know, when we think about overall,
you know, we're on a mission to helpbridge this worker shortage crisis.
And when we think about Lowe's, youknow, our mission is solving problems
(32:40):
and fulfilling dreams for the home.
And that has reallypositioned us well to help.
Through our Lowe's Foundation, build thenext generation of skilled tradespeople
at a time when the industry needs it most.
So in July, we announced anotherround of our community and technical
colleges, $7 million worth of grantsto 12 community and technical colleges.
(33:06):
We're really excited about the nexttwo years that we'll have with them.
And then most recently we announced.
A $500,000 grant to a partner ofours called Hiring Our Heroes, and
we're actually working with themto develop a new program that will
launch a pilot training that willtake place at Camp Lajeune, which
(33:30):
is in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
And it's designed to help equiptransitioning service members with
the foundational skills that theyneed to help get started and launch
a career in the construction trades.
This is a new undertaking for usat the Lowes Foundation, and we
are extremely excited about beingable to be a part of the programs
(33:54):
offered as members of the militarytransition into a different career.
Well, you're certainly checkingall the boxes in all different
areas with the shortages that areare happening across the board,
it almost sounds like it's almost.
Every state that has some type of, youknow, engagement or some type of, you
know, assistance that you're giving.
(34:14):
And it's really great that, you know, abig box store is really, I wanna go back
to, it's not just selling tools, it'sreally helping the skilled trades and
helping the shortages that are out there.
The industry really needs all thehelp that it can get out there.
So it's really great that the Lowe's,uh, foundation is really doing that work.
We are proud to do that work.
(34:34):
And we'll continue to do the work and justreally proud and grateful to all of our 60
partners who are out there every day withpassion and commitment to the students who
are starting their careers, are advancingtheir careers in the skilled trades.
It is really great to see that
(34:57):
now the tools of the trade.
Betsy, this has been an amazingconversation, but before we leave the
studio today, what is one of your specialtools of the trade advice you can give
someone just starting out their journey inthe skilled trades, whether it's a habit
(35:18):
they can do or it's some type of mindset.
Some sort of practical skillthat you think that can set
them up for future success.
Don't limit yourself.
The world is yours.
Try not to put a limit.
No limit by fear.
I can't do this.
I'm too old, I'm too young.
Really just take all the limits away.
(35:39):
In this field, theopportunities are limitless.
So the only one who can limit you is you.
So I say, just go out there,jump in, dive in, try it all.
That is great advice.
No limits.
There's no age barrier here, right?
If you are a career changer,you want something new.
You know, I've seen people you knowa little bit later in their career
(36:03):
wanting to make a change from a whitecollar job to a blue collar job.
It's possible.
So I like that advice.
The only limit is really the personwho's staring at you in the mirror.
If people wanna find out more aboutthe foundation website, social,
where do they go to check it out?
So our foundation websiteis lowe's foundation.org.
(36:24):
And then we are also onInstagram, Facebook, and
LinkedIn as Lowe's Foundation.
So please check us out and follow us.
I will put the, uh,information in the show notes.
I wanna appreciate you being on the showand just sharing, you know, a little bit
about the foundation and what Lowe's isreally doing to help the skilled trades.
Thank you for your advocacyfor the skilled trades as well.
(36:45):
And thank you to our listeners.
If your school nonprofit orcompany working to get more
people into the skilled trades.
I love to connect, whether it's speakingat your event, telling your story
through our trades meteor platform,or partnering to Shine the light on
the incredible work you are doing.
You can reach out to me on my website.
Andrew brown.net
(37:05):
to learn more, and don't forgetto subscribe to the podcast so
you never miss another episode.
We'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to TheLost Art of the Skilled Trades.
Visit us@andrewbrown.net
for more resources and tips.
Join us next time for real stories andmeaningful initiatives as we celebrate
(37:28):
our men and women in the skilledtrades and shape the future together.
There was an an individual whowent through one of their original
training programs, which at thattime was focused on plumbing.
She found them on Facebook and beforethat she had been working what she
would call a job with really no careertrajectory, and she didn't love it.
So she graduated from the plumbingprogram and then she became an
(00:21):
apprentice and worked towards her journeyWoman's license, which I was at her
graduation for that about a year ago.
She became a property manager of ahigh rise in downtown Charlotte, and
she owns her own home through Habitat.
You talk to her, she has gotfamily members signed up.
(00:41):
She'll tell anyone this isthe best career that there is.
Hi, I'm Andrew Brown.
You're listening to the Lost Star of theSkilled Trades Podcast, a show that shines
the spotlight on careers in the skilled.
That are high paying, honorable,rewarding, and fulfilling.
(01:02):
The trades are the backbone of theeconomy that keep us running, and without
them, our world would cease to exist.
Today we have a special guest, BetsyConway, director of the Lowe's Foundation.
Betsy, welcome to the show.
(01:23):
Thank you, Andrew.
Looking forward to it.
I was thinking, I justcame back from Texas.
There was a welding summitdown there that's put on by
the American Welding Society.
They asked me to speak on attracting,retaining, and inspiring the next
generation, which I was happy to do'cause I love talking about the trades.
And I threw out this statistic thatwe need over 320,000 welders by 2029.
(01:49):
And even though these people were inwelding, they looked at me like, what?
That's the shortage.
And I'm sort of curious because theshortages are in every single trade.
How is Lowe's and the foundationhelping to reach the younger
generation to join the trades?
Andrew, when we think about the shortage,you know, we certainly are in a crisis
(02:12):
and we know that there are incredible gapsthat exist, but we see that as opportunity
and when we talk to young people.
And work with our programs.
That is what we really stress.
This is an opportunity, like you saidin your intro, these are fulfilling
(02:33):
careers, well-paying careers, andthey're going to offer so many
opportunities for growth moving forward.
When we think about how we engage withthe younger generation skills, USA, who
I know you've been engaged with recently.
That's right.
Amazing organization.
We work with them on their nationalsigning day, and this is a day where
(02:56):
we recognize seniors through theirprograms, who are moving on either
entering careers, are entering theirconstruction based continuing education,
and we roll out a blue carpet, aliteral blue carpet for the students.
Our goal is to make the signers on theirday feel as special as a celebrity.
(03:20):
So we'll do balloon tunnels.
We have events taking place at ourstores and it's all centered around
celebrating the choice that thestudent has made to pursue a career
in the skilled trades because wesee a very bright future for them.
Yeah, it's funny that you mention skillsUSA 'cause when that gets mentioned,
(03:40):
I light up every single time 'causethat was down there with skills.
USA.
Skills.
USA did a partnership with TikTok andI was one of three content creators
to go down there and create content.
And these kids, that's the next generationof people in the skilled trades or
kids in the skilled trades, and it'sall high school kids and it's super
exciting to see, you know, their talents.
(04:01):
I went over to like the welding event andI was looking, they had a artwork contest
where these kids had to make artwork.
I was blown away.
I'm like, these kids areyoung, they're talented.
They have soft skills and they havethe technical skills to back it up,
and companies don't realize thateven their next, you know, talent
(04:22):
is coming out of these events likeSkills, USA, it really is incredible.
I always love to see to the studentprojects and the student competitions, how
they're displaying teamwork, integrity.
They're focused on.
What they are producingthat is high quality.
And like you said to Andrew, thesoft skills, those are so important.
(04:44):
We hear that from employers.
We hear that from a Lowe's Foundationperspective, the programs that we support.
Those skills really help take you far.
You can learn your technical skillsand hone those over time through
mentorship, but Skills, USA does aphenomenal job really building in
those soft skills for their studentsto prepare them for those careers
(05:06):
right after they graduate high school.
You know, you hit on somethingabout mentorship and how important
that is for somebody who's juststarting with an organization.
To sort of lean on someone who's beenin the industry for 5, 10, 15 years.
So if they want to go plumbing,they wanna go welding, they wanna
go carpentry, electrical, to leanon somebody that is successful.
(05:29):
And it's the same thing.
If somebody in the trades who's youngwants to start their own business
and get into entrepreneurship, theyshould lock in with somebody who
actually has their own business.
You shouldn't try to reinvent the wheel.
Somebody has been and donethat type of path before.
Yeah.
One of the things that that makes methink about through our Liz Foundation,
Gable Grants program is when wethink about mentorship, one of the
(05:53):
successes that we've seen through thecommunity and technical colleges and
the community-based nonprofits thatwe've funded is their instructors.
Many of these instructors, theycome from industry and now they
are retired, or they have decidedthat they're going to give back.
And to train the next generationand to see the instructors really
(06:17):
lean in with their students.
I think about instructors thatare down with Midlands Technical
College in Columbia, South Carolina.
They come from industry.
They are really pushing that collegein an amazing, incredible direction
with innovation throughout the program.
They build.
(06:38):
Homes, three bedroom homes thatget sold and people live in them.
They buy them, they live in them.
And recently those instructorshave hired two graduates
that came from their program.
So there are guys at the beginning,two guys at the beginning of their
careers who are going to learn fromthe instructors, and that helps
with also the instructor pipeline.
(06:59):
So it's critical.
I think the mentorship, I think theleadership by the instructors, and I'll
also share, I think one thing that we alsosee in particular with our community-based
organizations is that the, as the studentsgo through, they're a cohort and they
develop connections amongst themselves.
And so as they go out into the workingworld, if they have a tough day on
(07:24):
the job or if they're working throughsomething and they need some advice,
they have a network who they can leanon and have that peer mentoring as well.
It's good to have that community.
It's good to have that support.
Out there, you know, like you said,you have a tough day and or you have a
question on something and you're just notsure that there's somebody there in your
(07:45):
network if it's a, a mentor, somebodywho's, you know, helping you through sort
of how you climb the ladder of successor if it's just somebody who's kind of
going through whatever trade that you'rein and is in maybe a similar position.
I've seen examples of in all differenttrades, someone had a, a rough week
and they're thinking about quitting.
(08:07):
Well, there's been somebody therewho's going through the same sort of
situation and kind of supports them,kind of helps them through and say, okay,
you just had a tough couple of days.
But that person really kind of helps themout and gets them kind of going forward.
And it's really important to have andcan be inspirational and motivating.
It is.
(08:27):
I want the audience to reallyget a good understanding.
Everybody knows Lowe's.
Everybody's has a Lowe's probably within20 miles of then 10 miles of them.
But not many people knowabout the foundation.
Can you tell us a little bit about sortof the foundation, how it started and kind
of what it looks like sort of day to day,and what type of schools or what type of
(08:49):
companies that you're helping out there?
Well, the Lowes Foundation, we've beenaround for decades, but in recent times
in 2023, the Lowes Foundation Board.
Which is consist of.
Those foundation leaders really satback and said, how can we make a
true impact on America, on the UnitedStates as a business, as a foundation?
(09:13):
We have funds that we wantto invest in the community.
What can we do to make an impact?
And back to what we previously talkedabout, the worker shortage crisis.
It really rose immediately to the top.
We serve customers, we servepros who are out there in, in the
community contractors, and whatbetter way to give back by investing
(09:36):
in the future of the professionalsin the construction industry.
So from there we set off.
We made a $50 million commitmentover five years to help train
50,000 individuals to be readyfor careers in the skilled trades.
We've focused in on five different areas.
(09:56):
We talk about right needs and demand.
The areas we leaned into were carpentryand construction, electrical, HVAC,
plumbing and property maintenance.
And so we see that those arevery well paying career paths.
They offer a number of options andwill provide strong opportunities.
(10:18):
And they're very highneed, I think we could say.
We all think about those andwe can all need them in our
personal and professional lives.
So from there, the way that we areimplementing this strategy is through
funding community and technical colleges,community-based nonprofits, which we
(10:38):
really describe as more localized.
They may be regional.
We have a few that are more statewide,but for the most part, those are local.
And then we also support a numberof national nonprofit skills, USA
that we've talked about being one.
We're looking to those programs tohelp invest in their innovation,
(10:59):
in their infrastructure.
How can they scale?
So when we think about wanting to bridgethis divide of the worker shortage
crisis, how can we help these programswho have incredible instructors and
program directors who have all thesegreat ideas, how can we, through
our funding, unlock those ideas tohelp them train more individuals?
(11:21):
To help them expand their programs, offerday and night classes, for instance.
It takes a wide variety of forms, butthat's what our program is designed
to do through those partners, theschools that you help fund the
kids that are going through that.
So you said plumbing and yousaid carpentry, and you said
(11:41):
electrical on the plumbing side.
How many kids does, you know, a typicalcollege have in that type of program?
And how does the Lowe'sFoundation help that?
Is it more so in funding so we canget the right instructor, or is it
equipment for that particular trade?
So let's just say plumbing for instance.
I'm curious.
(12:01):
So Andrew, it all reallyvaries by college, by community
based nonprofit program.
One example when it comesto plumbing is that we began
funding them last year in 2024.
Our grants are two year grants, and wefunded Valencia College down in Orlando
to start up a new plumbing program.
(12:23):
So that's often part of what communitycolleges in particular really need.
Is the ability to start up and proveand demonstrate that a program is going
to be successful and that studentswill want to enroll in it, and that
they will matriculate and they willbe employed and find good careers.
(12:44):
And so what we did as part of thegrant wasn't the whole grant, was
to really help them develop out thecurriculum, hire the instructor.
And these programs as they go throughthe cohort tends to be smaller
because they have that, you know, moresmaller classes so they can get that
instruction, they can work through,they can problem solve and troubleshoot.
(13:06):
When you say it's a small, like what'sa small, like, is it like 12 to 15?
But again, I think it just varies onthat instructor to participant ratio
and what that one particular trainingprogram is able, like the capacity there.
It's sort of ebbs and flows and it'sdifferent by carpentry is different
than electrical, for instance.
(13:27):
But at the end of the day, what we'retrying to do with colleges like Valencia
is help them expand their programs,help them expand their offerings.
Because these colleges know andthey see, they talk to employers,
and employers say, I need moreplumbers, I need more electricians.
Everyone is working together ina collaborative plan to say, how
(13:50):
can we help this college be ableto produce the workforce that
our region, our community needs?
So a lot of what we're looking towith our Gable Grant participants are
the programs that we're supportingis what is the community saying?
What are the needs?
Will there be careers and jobs forthe students who graduate to go into.
(14:13):
And how can we help them acceleratetheir ability to start up a new program,
because that can often take a lot of time.
But by providing the funding tobe able to help that plan become a
reality, we can help shrink that timedown so they can get to training.
So someone like Valencia, how long does ittake to get up and running with a program?
(14:37):
Obviously there's a lot of workbehind the scenes before, you know,
you start getting the students in.
How long does something like that take?
Valencia was incredible.
They had a plan.
They received their Gable Grantlast year in July, I think,
just a few months ago in May.
They graduated the first class.
They started it around January,February timeframe, and that
(14:57):
first class graduated in July.
So that's also what we look to forour grant recipients, is that they've
been building out a well thoughtout plan that, again, turnkey.
We already know here are the elements,this is what it's going to look like.
And so once we're able to providethose dollars, we want to help the
organization put those dollars towork immediately so it can begin.
(15:22):
Kids have.
Sometimes they're not surewhere to go to work in plumbing
or electrical or carpentry.
They just, there's so muchinformation that it's too overload.
So if somebody wants to be in plumbingand wants, just knows that the college
is offering this type of program.
Do you know anything about sort ofthe investment in, for the student
(15:44):
to take these courses and how long ittypically takes from start to finish?
Is it a year?
They're in class and then theycan get a job, like what's the
timeframe and the investment in.
What's very exciting about theskilled trades in general is that
there are so many options forindividuals that if you think about
(16:04):
the community college route, thereare often many scholarships available.
It is a very affordable route and pathwayto take when we think about training.
On the community college side,there are a number of options.
So you could go foryour associate's degree.
That's going to be a longer program,more in depth, a two year program.
(16:25):
In some cases, depending on where youlive, you may get some credits towards
a journeyman's license, for instance.
It really varies, or it may set you upto go right on into an apprenticeship.
So there are a number of things thatthese colleges promote like that,
that would be out on their website.
On the community based nonprofitside, the organizations that we
(16:47):
support do not charge tuition.
Now these programs tend to be moreof an intro to the trades, so you may
be doing more of a tour where you'reexperiencing five to six different trades.
You are getting your basiccertifications, your OSHA 30, your.
CPR first aid.
(17:09):
Oftentimes it may be something even asa credential, like the N-C-C-E-R core
credential so that now you've got alittle bit of everything and you can
figure out which pathway you want to take.
So I think the great news when it comesto the skilled trades is that there
are a lot of opportunities and youdon't have to spend a lot of money.
(17:33):
You don't have to go into debt.
You don't have to take out loansthat you can search and see what's
available in your community.
And oftentimes there may be freeprograms right in your backyard.
Yeah.
Everybody has to decide whichdirection they want to take.
But there is a lot from whatI gather and what I get.
Being on social media consistentlyand having a sizable following.
(17:56):
And I like to show up on TikTok a lot.
YouTube and, and LinkedIn are a few ofthe, uh, platforms I like to show up on.
But a lot of the questions that reallycome from the younger generation
and I, I'll show up on a live and onTikTok for 45 minutes is, you know,
Andrew, I'm really trying to get in,but I just, I don't know where to go.
I don't know what to do.
I don't know what trade I want to do.
(18:17):
There's also the flip side of.
You know what?
I've come out of a trade school,I've come out of a program, but
there's no opportunities because alot of these companies are asking for
three to five years of experience.
So there's a lot of that behind thescenes that's happening as well.
Obviously, my hope is that they takethese programs and the school has
(18:38):
some type of relationship with localindustry, and these kids can get a job.
Right away.
Or they can get a, anapprenticeship right away.
But there's the other side that Iwant really the audience to understand
that sometimes it takes a while to getin and you know, it might take a few
different tries to get what you want.
Yeah.
And I think, you know, as we're lookingto help sort of lead in this space,
(19:03):
that is certainly an opportunity forthe industry and what we might think
of, of the ecosystem as a whole.
How can we help individuals?
Who are interested in being a part ofthis career pathway of this industry?
How can we help them navigate throughN-C-C-E-R, which is the National Center
(19:23):
for Construction Education and Research.
They have a really great resource calledCareer Starter, which may be a place
that folks might want to check out.
Our Lowes foundation.org
page.
We have a whole section about thevalue of the skilled trades and
why the skilled trades, but I thinkthere's a lot of opportunity out there
(19:43):
to help individuals who are new andentering this space navigate through.
I think what we've seen inparticular, when I think about
our community-based nonprofits.
Is that the nonprofits whoare operating in the space?
Examples would be, she built thiscity here in Charlotte, or Uncommon
Construction down in New Orleans,Alaska Works, which is based in Alaska.
(20:07):
They provide a number of those wraparoundservices, those navigation services.
They're all about burial removal andso moving with the individual, helping
them through this process, which can bevery hard to navigate thinking through.
Okay.
Now that you've gone through and you'vegotten your basic certifications,
(20:28):
what is it that you're interested in?
So many of these programs have that careeradvisor, many programs that we fund, I
think through our program with the localInitiative Support corporation, that's
called lisc, and we fund programs where.
Are actually paired up with afinancial advisor counselor for three
(20:49):
years, sometimes more than that.
To help them also get the financialliteracy and navigate through on the
financial side, which is extremelyimportant when you think about the type of
money that can be made in these careers.
You know, focusing on ourcommunity-based nonprofits and
some of our national nonprofits.
They're really leaning in to helpingindividuals provide those tools.
(21:12):
While it can be hard to find them, theyare out there, I certainly would encourage
folks to look around the communityand see if these resources exist.
Also our website has all of theinformation about our grant recipients
and just like she built the city modeland the other models I was talking
about, you'll find a list of those.
(21:34):
There we're, we're funding60 organizations across the
country, colleges and nonprofits.
I am so proud of whatthese partners are doing.
They are truly leading the way.
In helping their students be as successfulas they can when they enter the workplace.
You know, you said the N-C-C-E-R.
We had Boyd Worsham, who was the CEOI hadhim on last year, and he talked about, I
(21:58):
think it was it's career starter, right?
Career starter.
I think he had had mentioned that.
So that is a great way to at least start.
Typically, what are you interested in?
Then obviously you can go on the Lowe'swebsite as well to find out a little bit
more information about the skilled trades.
But I, I love that Lowe'sis going above and beyond.
It's not just selling productsand tools and safety gear.
It's really making a differencein the skilled trades.
(22:21):
Out of all the grants that you'vesort of put together, is there a
success story that really sticks out?
Maybe an individual.
Or it's a school of some sort thatreally kind of just stands out from
the rest that you can share with us.
Oh, well there are somany incredible stories.
It's hard to, you know, it'shard to come up with just one.
(22:46):
I did mention she built this cityearlier when we, we were chatting.
Lowe's and the Lowe's Foundationhas been funding and supporting.
She built the city since theirinception, which was about four
and a half or so years ago.
So we've been around since the beginning.
And that organization isfocused in helping women
enter skilled trades careers.
(23:08):
The organization has madean incredible transformation
over the past several years.
They started almost right before COVID.
Instead of trying to find their wayduring COVID, they thrived and they
grew their programs and there was anan individual who went through one of
their original training programs, whichat that time was focused on plumbing.
(23:31):
They've since expanded to domore of tour of the trades model.
But she went through that and she foundthem on Facebook and before that she
had been working what she would call ajob with really no career trajectory.
And she didn't love it.
It was an hourly job, it was not acareer, and she was in her early twenties.
(23:51):
So she graduated from the plumbingprogram and then she became an apprentice,
which she built this city and workedtowards her journey Woman's license,
which I was at her graduation for thatabout a year ago, she became a property
manager of a high rise in downtownCharlotte, and she since got scooped away.
(24:12):
And is working for another propertymanagement firm making a significant
amount of money, and she ownsher own home through Habitat.
It's just been wonderful to be onthis journey with her and to see
today her passion is the skill traits.
You talk to her, she has gotfamily members signed up.
(24:35):
She'll tell anyone this isthe best career that there is.
To think that all of this happenedjust by her finding it on Facebook
and getting matched with, she builtthe city and now the future is hers.
It's incredible.
So those are the stories that give mechills, that just inspire me because.
(24:57):
I think in particular, many times folkswho are going through these programs
have never really considered this asan opportunity and they get into them
and see this is what I'm meant to do.
I love those stories.
The success stories, you know,especially women only make up about
four or 5% of the skilled trades.
(25:17):
And when you really help an individualand support a woman, you know, obviously
this is happens to be a plumbing path.
It actually sounds, she built this city.
I'm trying to rack my brain.
I think I know it, but I can'tplace the program, can't place
the people in the program, butit sounds very familiar to me.
They're incredible.
You'll have to check them out.
(25:39):
Those are the success stories.
I love hearing about these programs thatthese individuals go through and all of a
sudden they didn't even know much about.
Plumbing or much about carpentry or muchabout welding or whatever trade that
they get into it and they go throughthe program and all of a sudden on the
other side of it, they come out, they'reinterested, they take that next step,
(25:59):
and then all of a sudden after a handfulof years, they're doing very well.
They're climbing the ladder ofsuccess and they have a skill
that is always in high demand.
It's just unreal to hear the possibilitiesare endless, and she's just really
at the beginning of her career.
So I look forward toseeing where she goes.
So getting just back to thefoundation, how do organizations
(26:24):
reach out to the foundation?
Do they fill out certain informationabout what they're looking to do,
what program they're looking to start?
And then you must get overloadedwith I assume, applications.
And if you do, how do you filterout which ones would be the
right fit for the foundation?
Through our foundation.
As I mentioned, we do fund two yeargrants to community and technical colleges
(26:47):
and community-based nonprofits who aretraining programs in the skilled trade.
So we are very specific.
I talked about the five focus areas.
We're very specific to those focus areas,but we do run competitive grant cycles.
We're actually in the middle of ourcommunity base nonprofit cycle now.
(27:07):
Our cycle for community andtechnical colleges, those
applications will open March 1st.
All of the information about ourgrant program can be found on our
website, lowes foundation.org,
and we also spell out very clearly whatthe priorities off the foundation, what
types of grants that we are providing.
(27:29):
We fund anywhere from 100,000 to amillion dollars over those two years.
The current grant recipients who are outthere, the colleges and the nonprofits
really are illustrative of the typesof programming that we're looking for.
Really looking at infrastructure, sohow can we help an organization with
(27:51):
some advanced technology or stayingon top of the latest technology?
Many of the colleges and nonprofitsare looking at mobile units.
A lot of that is breaking downbarriers of accessibility.
So we think about that.
Then we have opportunities forinnovation around work-based learning.
So many opportunities.
We have an organization next step.
(28:13):
In Grand Rapids, Michigan, where thosestudents are building tiny homes,
that individuals who are experiencinghomelessness in the community will
then move in and become residents of,and we have, I talked about Midlands,
who is building homes and they sellthem on their state surplus site, and
that money comes back to the schoolto be reinvested, to build more homes.
(28:37):
So we have just a number ofdifferent innovative ideas.
And what we also hope to do in shortorder here is be able to share those ideas
and those best practices so that otherscan replicate them in their community
when it comes to the mobile units.
We just featured a mobile unitfrom Montana on the news section
(29:00):
of our Lowes foundation.org
website.
We also have a number ofdifferent mobile units, all
different shapes, sizes, purposes.
So we want to be able to package that upa little bit more so that individuals who
are thinking about that and thinking ofthat idea and executing in that community
will be able to pull from those bestpractices so they can be more efficiently
(29:24):
and effective with any ideas like that.
So over time, we wantto grow the resources.
From the grant recipients and fromwhat we're learning to share with
others, because we are very focusedon strengthening all of the programs.
While we cannot fund them all,we want to be out there helping
programs be more effective to helprise all the boats and to help
(29:49):
address this worker shortage crisis.
Tell me about the mobile unit.
Yeah.
These mobile units, they're so innovative.
And at the end of the day, it's allabout breaking down barriers and breaking
down that barrier of transportation.
So in Montana, we fund an organizationcalled Accelerate Montana, and what
(30:09):
they found is that they were offeringbasic construction courses, but
they were being offered at colleges,community colleges across the state.
But in a rural state likeMontana, some of those colleges
were two to three hours away.
So they looked and said, Hey, Lowe'sFoundation, here's our grant application.
(30:30):
Here's our idea.
Can you help us createthis mobile training lab?
So now they're going out, they'reconducting their training.
In the community, folks are gettingall of the skills that they need.
They're set up, and thenthey're able to begin to pursue
additional career opportunities.
So we have mobile units down in Florida.
(30:51):
We have some here inCharlotte where we're based.
They're mobile units across the country.
And Columbus, Georgia is another example.
Columbus Tech, they are so impactful.
We have Columbus Tech, which actually istaking the mobile unit into a correctional
facility and providing training there.
And then when the mobile unit isn't beingused for training, it is a traveling
(31:15):
billboard and traveling experience.
So they take it to the Girl Scouts andthe Girl Scouts can take a look at it.
So.
Really thinking about howcan we be more innovative?
How can we break down these barriers,bring the training to individuals, and
then being able to also use it as a wayto get people curious and interested
(31:38):
in the programs that it offers.
I like that you go to them.
If they're too far, you go tothem, which I think is great.
I've seen those type of trailerson wheels and these kids that see
these trailers, they set a light up.
I've seen it with the AmericanWelding Society has a virtual trailer.
It's huge black trailer.
(31:59):
It's got six Lincoln Electricvirtual machines on there.
And these kids, they're happy notonly to play games, but also to
learn about the welding trade.
So I've seen these mobile unitsbefore and it's just a great way
to get kids exposed, you know, toreally working with their hands.
So it's great that there's aninvestment into that type of work.
(32:19):
Is there anything else about sortof the Lowe's Foundation that we
didn't cover that you'd wanna sharea little bit more to the audience?
Yeah, I mean, I think I would just share,you know, when we think about overall,
you know, we're on a mission to helpbridge this worker shortage crisis.
And when we think about Lowe's, youknow, our mission is solving problems
(32:40):
and fulfilling dreams for the home.
And that has reallypositioned us well to help.
Through our Lowe's Foundation, build thenext generation of skilled tradespeople
at a time when the industry needs it most.
So in July, we announced anotherround of our community and technical
colleges, $7 million worth of grantsto 12 community and technical colleges.
(33:06):
We're really excited about the nexttwo years that we'll have with them.
And then most recently we announced.
A $500,000 grant to a partner ofours called Hiring Our Heroes, and
we're actually working with themto develop a new program that will
launch a pilot training that willtake place at Camp Lajeune, which
(33:30):
is in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
And it's designed to help equiptransitioning service members with
the foundational skills that theyneed to help get started and launch
a career in the construction trades.
This is a new undertaking for usat the Lowes Foundation, and we
are extremely excited about beingable to be a part of the programs
(33:54):
offered as members of the militarytransition into a different career.
Well, you're certainly checkingall the boxes in all different
areas with the shortages that areare happening across the board,
it almost sounds like it's almost.
Every state that has some type of, youknow, engagement or some type of, you
know, assistance that you're giving.
(34:14):
And it's really great that, you know, abig box store is really, I wanna go back
to, it's not just selling tools, it'sreally helping the skilled trades and
helping the shortages that are out there.
The industry really needs all thehelp that it can get out there.
So it's really great that the Lowe's,uh, foundation is really doing that work.
We are proud to do that work.
(34:34):
And we'll continue to do the work and justreally proud and grateful to all of our 60
partners who are out there every day withpassion and commitment to the students who
are starting their careers, are advancingtheir careers in the skilled trades.
It is really great to see that
(34:57):
now the tools of the trade.
Betsy, this has been an amazingconversation, but before we leave the
studio today, what is one of your specialtools of the trade advice you can give
someone just starting out their journey inthe skilled trades, whether it's a habit
(35:18):
they can do or it's some type of mindset.
Some sort of practical skillthat you think that can set
them up for future success.
Don't limit yourself.
The world is yours.
Try not to put a limit.
No limit by fear.
I can't do this.
I'm too old, I'm too young.
Really just take all the limits away.
(35:39):
In this field, theopportunities are limitless.
So the only one who can limit you is you.
So I say, just go out there,jump in, dive in, try it all.
That is great advice.
No limits.
There's no age barrier here, right?
If you are a career changer,you want something new.
You know, I've seen people you knowa little bit later in their career
(36:03):
wanting to make a change from a whitecollar job to a blue collar job.
It's possible.
So I like that advice.
The only limit is really the personwho's staring at you in the mirror.
If people wanna find out more aboutthe foundation website, social,
where do they go to check it out?
So our foundation websiteis lowe's foundation.org.
(36:24):
And then we are also onInstagram, Facebook, and
LinkedIn as Lowe's Foundation.
So please check us out and follow us.
I will put the, uh,information in the show notes.
I wanna appreciate you being on the showand just sharing, you know, a little bit
about the foundation and what Lowe's isreally doing to help the skilled trades.
Thank you for your advocacyfor the skilled trades as well.
(36:45):
And thank you to our listeners.
If your school nonprofit orcompany working to get more
people into the skilled trades.
I love to connect, whether it's speakingat your event, telling your story
through our trades meteor platform,or partnering to Shine the light on
the incredible work you are doing.
You can reach out to me on my website.
Andrew brown.net
(37:05):
to learn more, and don't forgetto subscribe to the podcast so
you never miss another episode.
We'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to TheLost Art of the Skilled Trades.
Visit us@andrewbrown.net
for more resources and tips.
Join us next time for real stories andmeaningful initiatives as we celebrate
(37:28):
our men and women in the skilledtrades and shape the future together.
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