The Ford Motor Company, BlackRock, Google, and Carhartt have created the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, an effort to recruit, train, and grow the skilled-trades workforce.

“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,” said Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company. “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.

Farley said collectively the effort has three main goals, which are:

• 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,” Farley said.

He also explained how 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.,” Farley added. “We look forward to welcoming others on board who are equally passionate about solving this for America.”