Skilled Trades Saluted In Song

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

In a salute to the members of the facility management profession and other skilled trades, Grainger will be sponsoring 20 concerts throughout the Florida Georgia Line summer tour. During these stops, the duo will celebrate industrial trades professionals by honoring Grainger Tools for Tomorrow® scholarship program recipients. In addition, Grainger recently launched a sweepstakes for a chance to win Florida Georgia Line tickets for these 20 shows.

“The story of Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard has similarities to many of our Grainger Tools for Tomorrow scholarship program recipients,” said Deb Oler, vice president and general manager with Grainger. “Brian and Tyler each learned the lessons of hard work and persistence at a young age, and as they got older, learned their way around a toolbox by taking on a variety of jobs during the day as they worked on their music at night. This sponsorship allows us to celebrate the American worker and raise awareness of exciting careers in the skilled trades.”

Ramon Sanchez – Grainger's Tools for Tomorrow® scholarship recipient
Ramon Sanchez – Grainger’s Tools for Tomorrow® scholarship recipient

The U.S. is experiencing a shortage of trained, skilled laborers in manufacturing, welding, and numerous other trades. These technical jobs are critical to the health of the economy and partnerships between industry, community colleges, and local communities are needed to support and promote workforce development.

To raise awareness of the opportunities in the trades and support students pursuing these careers, Grainger, in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), launched the Grainger Tools for Tomorrow scholarship program in 2006. Designed to help students pursuing degrees in the industrial skilled trades realize their educational and career goals, the program awards scholarships to qualified students entering the final year of their technical education curriculum. Upon graduation, each student receives a customized tool kit from Grainger to kick-start their career. Since its inception, the program has offered more than 500 scholarships to 100 community colleges nationwide, with half designated for Veterans.

“Grainger works with businesses and institutions across virtually every segment of the economy and we have seen first-hand the impact of the skilled labor shortage affecting our customers’ ability to thrive,” said Laura Brown, Grainger’s senior vice president of communications and investor relations. “We continue to invest in technical education training through the Grainger Tools for Tomorrow scholarship program and are working to elevate awareness of the need for skilled workers.”


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