Lowe’s Provides Grant to SkillsUSA Connecticut Association

SkillsUSA Connecticut, a partner in the Generation T national movement launched by Lowe’s Home Improvement to address the widening skills gap, has received a $15,000 grant from Lowe’s to support the upcoming SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conferences.

“We are thrilled to receive this $15,000 grant from Lowe’s,” said Heidi Griffen, SkillsUSA Connecticut State Director. “It will help defray the enormous costs of the 2020 Connecticut conference and will enhance the student experience across our contests. We plan to use the funds for materials for competitions including lumber, safety equipment and new materials for our awards presentation.”

SkillsUSA helps students develop personal, workplace and technical skills to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce.

This year, SkillsUSA received a $1.2 million grant from Lowe’s to distribute to SkillsUSA associations across the country based on the state’s total SkillsUSA membership.

“It is thrilling to see our state associations receive these grants,” said SkillsUSA executive director Chelle Travis. “Our SkillsUSA state associations directors are the lifeblood of our organization and these state associations work directly with teachers and students nationwide to deliver our programs and manage exceptional competitions. These grants will improve the quality of our state conferences.”

The SkillsUSA Connecticut State Leadership and Skills Conference will be held Friday, March 27, 2020 at Wilcox Technical High School, 298 Oregon Road, Meriden, CT. More than 1,000 Connecticut students and teachers will attend the conference. Students will participate as competitors or as voting delegates. Competitors are focused on one technical skill, while delegates represent their state and conduct the business of their organization. Admission is free and open to the public.

Contact Heidi Griffen at 860-807-2138 or Heidi.griffen@ct.gov for more information.

About SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life, while helping to close the “skills gap” in which millions of positions go unfilled. Through SkillsUSA’s championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has more than 365,000 annual members nationwide in high schools, colleges and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. For more information: www.skillsusa.org

About Generation T
Generation T is a movement of organizations, launched by Lowe’s, committed to rebuilding and changing public perceptions of the skilled trades in America. Generation T seeks to drive enrollment in skilled trades education and build a pipeline of skilled trade workers to offset the anticipated gap of 3 million jobs by 2028 through a first-of-its-kind national marketplace for connecting people to prospective apprentices and jobs. For more information about Generation T, visit WeAreGenerationT.com or follow the conversation on social with #GenerationT.