Today, Ford and founding partners at BlackRock, Google, and Carhartt have established the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades.
Why are we joining forces? Well, like any big, thorny problem, no one person or organization is going to solve the skilled trades shortage alone. And so when I started talking to Larry Fink, Bayo Ogunlesi, Ruth Porat, and Linda Hubbard about these issues, we knew that we could do more together.
We’ve got three main goals:
- Build a jobs pipeline for skilled trades.
- Highlight what's working across the country, including the launch of a Skilled Trades Report.
- Grow this movement with more partners.
I’m proud to have Ford be a founding member in the Alliance. It’s an important part of our Essential Economy work and builds on our efforts like our recently announced co-investment with Bloomberg Philanthropies to expand and modernize Detroit Public Schools’ auto tech training program.
The founding partners are companies that have already shown leadership on the issue, from BlackRock’s Future Builders Initiative, to Google’s commitment to train electricians, plumbers, welders and more, to Carhartt’s Join the Trades platform.
This is just the start. We look forward to welcoming others on board who are equally passionate about solving this for America.
Jim Farley is president and CEO of Ford Motor Company.
