LEESBURG, Va.,
15
April
2019
|
09:58 AM
America/Chicago

State Farm Sponsors SkillsUSA To Support Workforce Development, Close Skills Gap

State Farm Insurance Companies has announced support for SkillsUSA, a national nonprofit focused on workforce development. The 2019 grant will support the mission of SkillsUSA and several national programs that help SkillsUSA instructors and their students become world class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens.

Thanks to the support of State Farm, SkillsUSA will focus on instructor training that helps grow its local chapters. Instructors will receive the latest information and tools in employability skills training, leadership development and teaching strategies.

State Farm is supporting:

  • SkillsUSA’s Engage training for teachers at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) in June 2019
  • Ongoing workshops on educational resources including the SkillsUSA Career Essentials suite, SkillsUSA’s flagship curriculum for middle school, high school, college/postsecondary and adult learners
  • Materials and instruction at the 2019 Call to Action session, held exclusively for over 600 SkillsUSA instructors at the NLSC
  • A teacher track during the Washington Leadership Training Institute in Washington, D.C., attended by SkillsUSA instructors from 28 states, in September 2019

In addition, SkillsUSA Championships supported by State Farm will include the 2019 Auto Refinishing, Collision Repair and Collision Damage Appraisal competitions, in which national competitors will test their skills against other students and the clock to industry standards for entry-level employees in these fields. State Farm support also includes a Prize Equity Fund for leadership events and a sector sponsorship for the transportation cluster at the national championships.

State Farm Insurance Companies, headquartered in Bloomington, Ill., has been a SkillsUSA supporter for 20 years with a total investment of over $2.8 million.

“SkillsUSA salutes State Farm for supporting our nation’s top career and technical education programs as we work to prepare career-ready students,” says SkillsUSA’s executive director, Timothy Lawrence. “SkillsUSA is a verified talent pipeline and skills gap solution that graduates 100,000 career-ready SkillsUSA students each year. Our organization lifts up and recognizes students and provides much-needed support for their teachers to ensure America has a future skilled workforce. We could not deliver our crucial mission without companies like State Farm working alongside us.”

“It is extremely important to have highly skilled technicians in body shops across the nation writing collision damage appraisals, repairing the vehicles and refinishing them,” says State Farm Senior Vice President, Property and Casualty Claims, Robert Yi. “The SkillsUSA Championships set industry standards for students and educators and help to ensure that students graduating into these professions possess the knowledge and skills to be successful in their craft.”

 

For more about the 2019 SkillsUSA Championships, visit: https://www.skillsusa.org/competitions/skillsusa-championships/.

 

For more information about SkillsUSA, contact:

  • Jane A. DeShong Short, Program Manager, Public Relations/Communications, Phone: 703-737-0612
  • Karen Kitzel, Program Manager, Public Relations/Communications, Phone: 703-737-0607

 

About State Farm®:

For over 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its more than 19,400 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 91 million policies and accounts – including auto, fire, lifehealth, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for rentersbusiness ownersboats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 44 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.

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