The Lowe’s Foundation awarded $500,000 to Valencia College as a part of today’s select group of community and technical colleges receiving Gable Grants. Since awarding its first grants one year ago, the foundation has expanded skilled trades career pathways through its growing network of 35 community colleges and nonprofits in rural and urban communities across 27 states.
Valencia College will use the funds to launch a new plumbing program at its Heart of Florida United Way Center for Accelerated Training, located just off Mercy Drive in Orlando. The short-term program is scheduled to begin in February 2025.
“With enrollments rising at vocationally focused schools, these community colleges are blossoming arenas for entrepreneurship and economic mobility,” said Janice Dupré, Lowe’s executive vice president of human resources and chair of the Lowe’s Foundation. “Each college has a clear, inspired vision for closing the trades gap in its community, and we’re pleased to welcome them to our larger movement.”
“Thanks to the generous support of the Lowe’s Gable Grant, Valencia College will launch a new plumbing program at one of the college’s Centers for Accelerated Training, which is located in an economically disadvantaged area of Orlando. Learning these skills and earning nationally recognized Industry certifications, graduates of this accelerated skills training program can not only improve their lives, but that of their families and communities as well,” said Joe Battista, vice president of workforce, career and professional education at Valencia College.
From funding new skilled trades facilities and instructors to accreditation programs, the grants will support carpentry and construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and appliance repair training. These grants build on the foundation’s first cohort of community college Gable Grants announced in 2023 and are the latest in the Lowe’s Foundation’s five-year, $50 million commitment to support the training of 50,000 people for skilled trades careers.
Since 2023, the Lowe’s Foundation has awarded more than $25 million in Gable Grants to 35 organizations offering innovative and scalable skilled trades training across the U.S.
The next Gable Grant application cycle for community-based nonprofits will run from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31. To learn more about the pressing challenges facing the skilled trades, visit Lowes.com/Foundation.
About the Lowe’s Foundation:
The Lowe’s Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded by Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW), is helping develop a community of skilled tradespeople to build and revitalize our homes, neighborhoods and infrastructure for the future. From 2023 through 2027, the Lowe’s Foundation is investing$50 million to help prepare 50,000 people for skilled trades careers through grants to community and technical colleges, community-based nonprofit organizations and national nonprofit partners with a strong local presence. To learn more about the Lowe’s Foundation, visit Lowes.com/Foundation and follow on Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About Valencia College:
Serving more than 68,000 students at 10 campuses and training centers across Central Florida, Valencia College is recognized as one of the top community colleges in the nation. The college offers a variety of associate and bachelor’s degrees and short-term, job training programs, with industry-leading rates of graduation, transfer and job placement, as recognized by the Aspen Institute, Achieving the Dream and other national organizations.