Recently, the Lowe’s Foundation committed $50 million to prepare and train 50,000 men and women for the skilled trades through its Gable Grants program over five years. Betsy Conway, director, Lowe’s Foundation, joined Lowe’s four years ago and is leading the grant charge. Through the Gable Grants program, Conway and the Foundation team are working with educators and community leaders to train in the next generation of skilled workers.  

“It's really thrilling because I think this is the time for individuals to get attracted into the industry and to see the benefits that it can create for them and for their families,” said Conway.

Here, Conway shares who the grant will benefit, who they are working with to achieve this goal, and how the flooring industry, or anyone for that matter, can benefit.

The following are excerpts of our conversation, which you can listen to in its entirety below.

FLOOR Trends & Installation: Can you define the Lowe’s Foundation for people who aren't familiar with it?

Betsy Conway: We are a separate 501 (c)3. I say that we are sort of like the philanthropic arm of Lowe’s. We were founded over 60 years ago, and we've always been dedicated to supporting our communities.

This year, we launched our commitment to really focus on the skilled trades, and we have been very excited and enthusiastic with the reception that we've received throughout the industry with our community and technical college partners and across our provider network here at Lowe’s in addressing this worker shortage crisis.

FTI: Let's talk more about the Gable Grants program. How does the grant work and who does it support?

Conway: When it comes to our Gable Grants process, we looked to three different types of organizations that we will be investing in. The first is community and technical colleges. The second is national nonprofit partners who have a strong local presence. We think about organizations like Goodwill International, for instance, where they can cover a broad stretch of geography through their affiliate network. Our third is community-based nonprofits. These organizations are able to apply through a competitive grant process to receive up to a million-dollars' worth of funding to help train individuals and ultimately get them placed into jobs and careers within the skilled trades.

We think these three organizations together are uniquely positioned to help deliver this training and to help us reach our commitment. They have strong infrastructure. When we think about community and technical colleges, they've been providing this training for decades. It's what they excel at. So, we really want to help infuse these organizations with dollars to help them with infrastructure needs, instructors staying competitive there from a salary perspective, helping them innovate and creating some sustainable program, and helping them expand the training or to accelerate the training.

We have received a number of applications. We've gone through our community and technical college cycle. We are at the very beginning of our community-based cycle, and we've just been thrilled with the response.

FTI: Who has benefited from the grant thus far?

Conway: In July, we announced 11 community colleges, nearly an eight-million-dollar investment. They are very diverse geographically, and they hit upon the five priority skilled trades that we’re focused on. That's carpentry and construction, which can be a very broad category, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and appliance repair.

FTI: Does the grant go to community and technical colleges with established trade programs?

Conway: We’re looking for community and technical colleges that we can help expand their programs or help them create new programs. So, when we think about innovation, when we think about scalable programs, some of our grants represent existing programs where we're helping them to expand them or to accelerate, but we also have some new programs that we're funding.

For instance, Miami-Dade College in Florida will be launching some new programs in construction, HVAC and electrical through its Construction and Trade Institute. We are also partnered with Ivy Tech Community College, which serves the entire State of Indiana. They are developing a short-term non-credit HVAC pilot training program in several of their locations. We're really excited about this one because it's going to reach so many students. They have a broad apprenticeship network, and they work very closely with their local employers in the community to help place these students.

FTI: What's the benefit of a short-term non-credit program?

Conway: When it comes to community colleges, you could get your associate’s degree which can take up to two years. Many community colleges find that the employer need is so great that they can provide training where it's not providing you credit towards your associate’s degree, but it's giving you the basic information that you need and the basic skills that you need to be able to be successful to go right into the workforce. So, these programs are shorter and you're able to get your credentials.

Oftentimes you may already be employed before you even finish your program, and then you can go right into on-the-job training, getting paid by your employer and just beginning your pathway to additional certification and maybe an apprenticeship that you would go into.

FTI: Are there other types of activities that this grant supports?

Conway: When it comes to our community-based organizations, these are nonprofits operating in their communities. Many of them have been operating for years, are highly successful and are providing their participants with a broad array of opportunities.

So, when we think about these programs where we have community colleges that may specialize in a particular curriculum area, the community-based nonprofits are often for individuals who have never experienced the skilled trades before. What they provide is a pre-apprenticeship, or sometimes an actual apprenticeship, where the individuals are able to go through and get exposure to many trades so that could be flooring, painting, masonry, electrical and that really helps that participant or that individual understand what they want to do. They're able to have that exposure and really go through all of the different types of trades, and then be connected with a local employer, which is key, and often those local employers have their own training programs where you're getting paid.

FTI: What else is on the horizon for the Gable Grant?

Conway: Well, we are in year one of our five-year commitment and making steady progress. We look forward to announcing our community-based organizations as well as our national nonprofit partners, and we are anticipating an additional at least five million dollars of investment taking us to over 12 million dollars of investment and skilled training programs for this year.

We also want to continue to beat the drum on this opportunity. I think we all know there is so much opportunity that exists for individuals from being able to provide for your family to being able to provide for generations to building that generational wealth.

What we also want to do is leverage our platform and our network together with industry partners and employers to talk about the benefits of this career. We know that if you are not exposed to this, you may not even think about it as an opportunity. I think for high school students, parents, adults, job-transitioning adults, this provides such a great opportunity for folks, and we want that to be top of mind as they're thinking about what they want to do.

FTI: How can employers get involved?

Conway: There are a number of different opportunities out there. So, if you're a skilled trades employer, make sure you're connected with your local community college or technical vocational high school. You can help inform their curriculum. The employer voice is something they take seriously. They want to stay ahead of the curve, and they also want to make sure that their graduates are meeting the demands of the workforce and their community.

You could serve as a mentor to individuals who are going through those programs or a guest speaker. There also can be a lot of opportunities for work-based learning. You could serve as an internship site or other work-based learning opportunities. You also can think about reaching out to your local state and federal elected officials to help advocate for more investment and skilled trades training. There's been some great movement and support for community and technical colleges and vocational colleges.

There are some federal loan programs out there, but I think there could be more. Also, look to see if there are any community-based nonprofits operating in your city or your town who are training individuals in the trades and get connected there. You could serve on their board of directors. You could serve as a stop on their tour of the trades. They are always looking for partners, and I think it's that collaboration which will be key to helping us address this worker shortage crisis.

I think we each have a role to play in helping to promote the skilled trades and preparing this next generation of skill trades workers for the jobs. It's really our collective commitment that will help us get there.