The BlackRock Foundation is investing $30 million to support trade skill development for more than 12,000 electrical workers in Texas, BlackRock announced this week.
The money will fund pre-apprenticeship and educational programs for electricians in Dallas and statewide.
Texas has become a hub for data center construction as the artificial intelligence and related industries boom. Commercial development has also soared in North Texas, prompting a surge in demand for more electricians, funding recipients say.
“Dallas is in dire need of electricians,” said Erin Stewart, executive director and CEO of Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) of Dallas. “There is so much work going on in the state of Texas that we are not producing electricians quick enough for the job demand or for the retirement that’s happening.”
It was announced at Texas State Technical College in Waco on Wednesday, National Skilled Trades Day.
The investment is part of BlackRock’s national Future Builders initiative focused on reducing a “significant shortage of skilled tradespeople” nationwide, Claire Chamberlain, president of the BlackRock Foundation, told The Dallas Morning News in an interview.
But Texas stood out in the foundation’s analysis as a state that had a particular need for more skilled trade. The investment is BlackRock Foundation’s largest in Texas, Chamberlain said.
“Texas sits at the center of America’s infrastructure and energy buildout,” BlackRock said in a statement.
Since March 20, nearly 190 people have completed, registered for or are currently undergoing in the journeyman exam preparation with IEC funded by BlackRock and 228 people have or will participate in BlackRock’s SafeSTART pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with IEC of Dallas, Stewart said. Participants receive 80 hours of training to prepare them to work as apprentices.
The money will also fund a financial literacy program for electrical workers at Dallas College. Each skilled trade requires different guidance on how to save, invest and build wealth, said Josh Skolnick, executive director of the Dallas College Foundation.
“There are so many things that go along with building the region for this century and beyond, and electrical trades are a huge part of that,” said Skolnick.
BlackRock will also fund a pre-apprenticeship course with the Electrical Training Alliance available to Texans statewide and a new program at Texas State Technical College.
“It was through a series of conversations about what could be done differently to accelerate getting people trained for these jobs,” Chamberlain said.