Channellock, Inc., and Toyota USA Foundation Sponsor National Celebration to Support Workforce Development, Close Skills Gap
Leesburg, Va. — From South Pasadena High School in California to Pulaski County Technical Education Center in Virginia, SkillsUSA chapters at schools across the country are opening their doors Feb. 3-9 during SkillsUSA Week. The annual event run by SkillsUSA, a national nonprofit focused on workforce development, helps build awareness for high-demand jobs available through career and technical education (CTE). More than 4,000 schools are expected to participate.
SkillsUSA Week includes presentations to administrators, business leaders and legislators; school tours and open houses; community service events that benefit local organizations; student-led rallies and campus outreach; and industry partnership development.
Channellock, Inc., an American tool company based in Pennsylvania, is lead sponsor of SkillsUSA Week. SkillsUSA longtime partner Toyota is also sponsoring the week of festivities.
“SkillsUSA Week is a time to lift up our students, chapters, teachers and recognize business partners such as Channellock and Toyota, who bolster support for local programs that define student excellence,” says SkillsUSA’s executive director, Timothy Lawrence. “SkillsUSA is a talent pipeline that graduates 100,000 SkillsUSA students each year who are career-ready on Day One of their job. This is one of our most important weeks of the year.”
“We are proud to be lead sponsor of SkillsUSA Week,” says Ryan DeArment, Channellock, Inc.’s vice president of sales and marketing. “As a company, we are committed to strengthening the skilled trade workforce. This is good for our country and good for our company.”
Channellock, Inc., will visit select SkillsUSA chapters Feb. 3-9 to discuss opportunities in the skilled trades and the importance of service to others, a key component of each SkillsUSA chapter’s program of work.
To support the week, 50 eligible chapters across the nation were awarded grants to create a SkillsUSA open house. The open houses will increase community awareness and help recruit new members. A list of grant recipients can be found by visiting:
www.skillsusa.org/events-training/skillsusa-week.
“SkillsUSA Week highlights the pathway to in demand technical jobs and the skills important to employers,” said Michael Medalla, manager Toyota USA Foundation. “By providing the opportunity for students to interact directly with other students on hands-on projects and skills-based competitions, we can help spark interest in pursuing a CTE career.”
For more about SkillsUSA Week, including $1,000 grant winners, resources and tools for successful events, visit:
www.skillsusa.org/events-training/skillsusa-week/.
About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a vital solution to the growing U.S. skills gap. The nonprofit partnership of students, instructors and industry ensures America has the skilled workforce it needs to stay competitive. Endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education, the association serves more than 360,000 students and instructors each year in middle schools, high schools and colleges. This diverse talent pipeline covers 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, the majority STEM-related. More than 600 corporations, trade associations, businesses and labor unions actively support SkillsUSA at the national level. SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens as it improves the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce. SkillsUSA supports its student members through the development of SkillsUSA Framework skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. Local, state and national championships, designed and judged by industry, set relevant standards for career and technical education and provide recognition opportunities for students. SkillsUSA also offers technical skill assessments and workplace credentials through the
SkillsUSA Career Essentials suite, a cutting-edge solution that defines, implements and measures career readiness skills for students. For more information:
www.SkillsUSA.org.
About Channellock, Inc.
Channellock, Inc., is a worldwide leader in the manufacture of high-quality pliers and assorted hand tools, including the iconic, American-made CHANNELLOCK
® Tongue-and-Groove plier, which can be found in quality retailers around the world. All CHANNELLOCK
® pliers and 94 percent of all CHANNELLOCK
® products are made in the USA. Founded by George B. DeArment in 1886, the Meadville, Pennsylvania-based company is now in its fifth generation of family ownership and operation. For more information on CHANNELLOCK
® products, the company’s rich history, sales contacts and current news, visit:
www.channellock.com. To stay connected with Channellock, Inc., like us on
Facebook or follow @CHANNELLOCK
® on
Twitter and
Instagram.
About Toyota USA Foundation
The Toyota USA Foundation is a charitable endowment created to support education programs serving kindergarten through 12th-grade students and their teachers in the United States, with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
For more information about SkillsUSA:
Jane A. DeShong Short, Program Manager
Public Relations/Communications
Phone: 703-737-0612
jshort@skillsusa.org
Karen Kitzel, Program Manager
Public Relations/Communications
Phone: 703-737-0607
kkitzel@skillsusa.org
