News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NR-01-13-23-grant
January 13, 2023

COC Receives Stanley Black & Decker Grant

College of the Canyons has received a $25,000 grant through Stanley Black & Decker’s second Global Impact Challenge to provide support to students enrolled in the college’s new construction technology pathway.

As a Makers grant recipient, COC is among 91 organizations that will help skill and reskill roughly 210,448 makers throughout 2023. 

“We are grateful to have received a Makers grant from Stanley Black & Decker to continue providing quality support to students enrolled in new construction technology pathways,” said Amber Cole, director of grants development at the college. “This grant will allow us to hire a pre-construction technology lab technician to increase the likelihood of student completion and career success.”

The pre-construction technology lab technician will work onsite to provide 50 COC students with one-on-one attention, additional instruction, and mentorship support.

In 2022, COC launched its new construction technology pathway with the support of Stanley Black & Decker’s inaugural Global Impact Challenge program. 

COC introduced an entry-level construction technology program that leads to certification in introductory craft skills and residential/commercial construction, and helps students gain experience with basic power tools for carpentry and masonry. Stanley Black & Decker’s in-kind tool donation helped create hands-on skills attainment labs for training.

“This grant will be instrumental in helping our students receive high-quality training with the most up-to-date construction technology available,” said Harriet Happel, dean of career education, integrative learning, and the Employment Center at the college.

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. 

“Stanley Black & Decker is immensely proud to support College of the Canyons 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 non-profits 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.