Thanks to a $1 million grant that just passed the Tennessee General Assembly, ABC’s Greater Tennessee Chapter will operate educational programs to provide advanced craft skills in HVAC, masonry, electrical, and carpentry in a new 15,000-square-foot facility with classroom and lab space. The grant will enable ABC to serve an additional 250 students a year in its four-year adult program. 

“The demand for persons with trade skills training and certifications in Tennessee is high, with an anticipated need of more than 150,000 workers through December 2022,” said Clay Crownover, president and CEO of ABC’s Greater Tennessee Chapter. “We are thrilled that Gov. Bill Lee recognizes the importance of career and technical education in construction and is helping us create new opportunities for students and employees as we invest in building America.”

To help workers develop trade skills and grow the regional workforce, Knox County is using its own grant money to develop a new Career and Technical Education Training Academy for ABC’s Greater Tennessee Chapter.

Additionally, Knox County and ABC plan to develop a partnership with Knox County Schools to offer dual enrollment courses to area high school students without current access to CTE. Only approximately half of Knox County high schools offer trades programming.
Knox County and its partners hope to open the academy in 2021.