Why This Matters: Lowe’s is expanding its workforce development efforts into a coalition of more than 75 companies, educators and industry organizations as shortages of skilled workers continue to constrain construction, manufacturing, HVAC, energy and other markets served by distributors.
The Lowe’s Foundation has launched a national coalition with NVIDIA, AT&T, Bank of America, Carrier, General Motors, DEWALT and Duke Energy that aims to help train and develop 1 million people for skilled trades careers by 2035.
The Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition includes more than 75 businesses, educators, workforce organizations and industry groups, the foundation said Sept. 1. The initiative is designed to expand existing training programs, attract more workers to the trades and better connect training with available jobs.
The coalition comes as contractors, manufacturers and other employers contend with a shortage of qualified tradespeople. The Lowe’s Foundation cited U.S. Department of Education estimates that 2.1 million skilled trades jobs could go unfilled by 2030, potentially creating as much as $1 trillion in annual economic losses.
For distributors, the labor shortage extends beyond their own hiring needs. Electricians, HVAC technicians, construction workers, mechanics and other skilled tradespeople make up a significant portion of the customer base for electrical, industrial, building materials, HVAC and automotive distributors. A shortage of those workers can limit contractors’ capacity to take on projects and ultimately constrain product demand.
The coalition will focus on three areas: changing perceptions of skilled trades careers, expanding training and credentialing programs, and establishing common measurements to track participants from training through employment.
The initiative builds on the Lowe’s Foundation’s Gable Grants program, launched in 2023. The foundation now works with 73 community colleges and nonprofit organizations across 30 states on skilled trades training.
Lowe’s recently committed $250 million to expand that work, with a goal of helping train and develop 250,000 tradespeople by 2035. The new coalition extends the effort beyond Lowe’s by bringing together employers and industry groups around a broader 1 million-worker target.
“The next industrial revolution won’t be built by algorithms alone. It will be built by the millions of skilled trade professionals who power, connect and move this country forward,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said.
The companies participating in the coalition represent industries facing different versions of the same workforce problem.
AT&T Chairman and CEO John Stankey said telecommunications companies will need skilled workers to build and maintain broadband infrastructure as artificial intelligence and other technologies increase demands on networks.
“As AI and other emerging technologies become more deeply embedded in everyday life, the resilient broadband networks that underpin them will be more important than ever, and those networks can’t be built or maintained without skilled workers,” Stankey said.
Carrier Chairman and CEO David Gitlin pointed to the need to develop workers for skilled trades careers, while Duke Energy President and CEO Harry Sideris said collaboration across industries could create more pathways into the trades and strengthen the workforce needed for infrastructure and energy projects.
Other coalition members include the National Association of Home Builders, the National Center for Construction Education and Research, SkillsUSA and Carhartt.
The coalition plans to share case studies, pilot programs and training models that members can use to expand successful workforce programs rather than develop new approaches independently. It also intends to establish common measurements for training, credentials and employment outcomes.
The effort will span construction, automotive manufacturing, telecommunications, energy, HVAC, technology and financial services.
The Lowe’s Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization founded by Lowe’s. The foundation said additional coalition members, commitments and progress updates will be announced as the initiative moves into broader implementation.
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