BlackRock commits $100 million to skilled trades training

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, on Wednesday announced a $100 million philanthropic initiative to strengthen and scale skilled trades programs across the U.S. 

What’s happening: The newly launched Future Builders initiative, funded by the BlackRock Foundation, will deploy the capital to nonprofits and workforce development organizations across several states over the next five years to help meet demand for HVAC technicians, plumbers, and electricians, with expectations to impact 50,000 workers. 

• The organization will work alongside state and local governments, businesses, and nonprofits, and support pre-apprenticeship access, training completion, and licensure, according to the announcement. 

What they’re saying: “America needs an estimated $10 trillion in infrastructure investment by 2033 to modernize aging systems and build new energy, digital, and AI infrastructure,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a statement. “Capital alone is not enough — people are central to building our nation’s future.”

Zoom in: Fink and Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe discussed the initiative onstage Wednesday at BlackRock’s U.S. Infrastructure Summit in Washington, D.C. For every five skilled trades workers who leave the industry, two come in, Rowe said. “It’s been that way for over a decade.”

• The mikeroweWORKS Foundation provides scholarships to those entering the trades. “This year, we got 10 times the applicants than we did last year,” he added. “Plumbers, pipe-fitters, welders, HVAC techs.”

The big picture: “The world is entering what could be the greatest period of construction in human history,” Sandra Lawson, BlackRock’s Managing Director of Global Corporate Affairs, wrote in a January white paper. 

• “To make the most of the infrastructure opportunity, governments, companies and schools must work together to modernize and scale apprenticeships, broaden recruitment and align vocational training with the fast-changing needs of the labor market,” she added. 
• The report cited Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing projected job growth for HVAC technicians at 8.1 percent between 2024 and 2034. 

What we’re watching: BlackRock said it will announce additional phases of the Future Builders initiative over the next 12 months.