For Immediate Release:
January 30, 2023
Primary Media Contact:
Sally Voth
Public Relations Specialist
[email protected]
Phone: 540-868-7134
Laurel Ridge Community College is excited to announced that it is one of the recipients of Stanley Black & Decker’s second Global Impact Challenge grant awards. The college is honored to have been named as a Makers Grant Recipient for our efforts to create an on-site trades education facility at our Fauquier Campus.
The 8,000-square-foot Center for Skilled Trades is currently under construction on land donated to the Laurel Ridge Educational Foundation by Fauquier County. When it’s complete, the facility will be the first permanent home the skilled trades have on the campus, and will save students having to travel long distances to attain a trades education. The space is being specifically designed for plumbing, electrical, HVAC, heavy equipment operator, carpentry and welding programs.
Initiated in 2021, the Global Impact Challenge grant program will award up to $25 million in grant funding over five years to nonprofits that are supporting trade workforce development initiatives in the construction and manufacturing sectors. With the first applications submitted in 2022, 182 entrants were evaluated based on number of people served, outcomes projected, sustainable impact, depth of programs, and diversity, among many other considerations. Laurel Ridge Community College was selected as one of 91 organizations that will help skill and re-skill roughly 210,448 makers throughout 2023.
“With the wonderful support of our community and employers – and now this generous grant from Stanley Black & Decker – we will soon open a state-of-the-art, hands-on trades facility on our Fauquier Campus,” said Jeanian Clark, vice president of Laurel Ridge Community College Workforce Solutions and Continuing Education. “We have seen tremendous growth and interest in our programs, so this new Center for Skilled Trades helps both the college to expand our programs to meet the needs of future students, and our regional employers by providing them with a skilled workforce.”
“Stanley Black & Decker is immensely proud to support Laurel Ridge Community College as they work to skill and reskill the next generation of trade professionals,” said Stanley Black & Decker Corporate Responsibility Officer Deb Geyer. “Currently in the U.S., there are an estimated 650,000 open construction jobs, and 10 million unfilled manufacturing jobs globally. Our purpose is to support ‘Those Who Make the World,’ and being able to fund educational programs and nonprofits that are revitalizing trade careers directly connects to our core mission. Thanks to this year’s Makers Grant Recipients, together we will be one step closer to closing the trade skills gap.”
To learn more about Stanley Black & Decker’s Global Impact Challenge, the 2022 recipients and how non-profits may submit for the upcoming application period, please visit EmpowerMakers.com.
For more information on skilled trades programming at Laurel Ridge, please visit laurelridge.edu/trades.
About Stanley Black & Decker
Headquartered in the USA, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is the world’s largest tool company operating manufacturing facilities worldwide. Guided by its purpose – for those who make the world – the company’s more than 50,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, award-winning power tools, hand tools, storage, digital tool solutions, lifestyle products, outdoor products, engineered fasteners and other industrial equipment to support the world’s makers, creators, tradespeople and builders. The company’s iconic brands include DEWALT®, BLACK+DECKER®, CRAFTSMAN®, STANLEY®, CUB CADET®, HUSTLER® and TROY-BILT®. Recognized for its leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG), Stanley Black & Decker strives to be a force for good in support of its communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders. To learn more visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com
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Founded in 1970, Laurel Ridge Community College is a multi-campus public institution of higher education. With four locations — Middletown, Warrenton, Luray-Page County and most recently, Vint Hill— the College serves eight localities in the Shenandoah Valley and northern Piedmont regions. The localities are the counties of Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah and Warren and the city of Winchester. Laurel Ridge offers more than 75 associate degree and certificate programs in a wide variety of disciplines, in addition to providing access to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs offered on site by a four-year institution. Laurel Ridge also serves the business community by offering workforce preparation programs for employees and employers. Laurel Ridge serves more than 9,000 unduplicated credit students and more than 11,000 individuals in professional development and business and industry courses annually.
Laurel Ridge Community College (Laurel Ridge) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Laurel Ridge Community College. Laurel Ridge Community College is an equal opportunity institution providing educational and employment opportunities, programs, services, and activities and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or other non-merit factors. Laurel Ridge also prohibits sexual misconduct including sexual violence or harassment.
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.
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