Stanley Black & Decker Pledges $25 Million To Fund Vocational Skills & Re-Skill Training

New Britain, Connecticut – The program is a crucial component of Stanley Black & Decker’s corporate social responsibility program, which includes a goal of empowering 10 million makers by the year 2030 as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility program. Over the next five years, the Impact Challenge is projected to train and retrain up to 3 million producers in various skills.

Currently, there are 430,000 empty construction jobs in the United States alone1, and 10 million unfilled manufacturing jobs worldwide2. This is due to a scarcity of trained craft employees. Since the beginning of 2020, the epidemic has compounded this problem, resulting in millions of workers being displaced.

Apart from that, the transition to distance and hybrid learning has had a big impact on career and technical education (CTE) schools and programs, which rely primarily on hands-on experience. Almost 60% of CTE administrators reported decreasing enrollment in their programs for the year 20213, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“Stanley Black & Decker is for the makers, the builders and the tradespeople, those out doing the hard work to create the world around us and build a better future for themselves, their families and their communities,” said Stanley Black & Decker CEO, Jim Loree. “Over the last several decades, vocational schools and careers in the trades have been overshadowed, despite the excellent, well-paying jobs and career paths they offer. Our goal is to recognize and advance those organizations that are working to create the skilled workers and tradespeople of the future that our society needs. For those workers displaced by the pandemic, especially women, people of color and veterans, we want to encourage them to trade up to a career in the trades.”

Stanley Black & Decker CEO, Jim Loree

With this campaign, Stanley Black & Decker hopes to dispel common misconceptions about skilled craft employment, such as the idea that these occupations are not financially rewarding.

Several skilled trades workers earn significantly more than the $53,000 national average salary in the United States, according to a report from Rock The Trades; electricians can earn up to $96,000 per year and aircraft mechanics can earn more than $100,000 per year, among other earnings opportunities.

A four-year college degree costs on average $127,000, compared to $33,000 for a trade school program4, and the typical repayment duration for a $127,000 debt is 21 years — time that a trade professional could be earning in their career5.

This year, the “Empower Makers” Global Impact Challenge, sponsored by Stanley Black & Decker, will offer grants of up to $5 million to charity organizations that support trade workforce development projects.

Submittals will be judged on a variety of criteria, including, but not limited to, the number of persons served, the outcomes expected, long-term sustainability of impact, the depth of programs, diversity, and other factors.

Nonprofits can submit an application at www.EmpowerMakers.com between October 1 and October 31, with the deadline being October 31. Those interested in learning more about the Stanley Black and Decker Impact Challenge should visit their website at www.StanleyBlackandDecker.com.