Germanna Receives $350,000 Grant from Lowe's Foundation
The Foundation's Gable grants support training in skilled trades.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The Lowe’s Foundation this morning announced a $350,000 grant to support training in skilled trades at Germanna Community College.
The grant is part of $7 million in Gable Grants awarded by the foundation to 12 community colleges across the country. Germanna is the only community college in Virginia to receive one.
"We are incredibly honored and excited to receive the Lowe’s Foundation Gable Grant,” said Shashuna Gray, vice president of academic affairs and workforce development at Germanna. “This generous support empowers us to expand life-changing training opportunities in skilled trades and make a lasting impact in our community.”
Specifically, Germanna’s grant will go towards building and deploying mobile training units to rural communities, public schools and correctional facilities—part of an effort to increase access to hands-on training in high-demand skilled trade industries.
According to the results of a survey administered in 2024 by the Associated General Contractors of America, 87% of Virginia construction firms indicated that they are having a hard time filling some or all open positions; 71% said their top concern for the coming year was “insufficient supply of workers or subcontractors;” and 74% said the lack of skilled labor was a top challenge affecting the safety and health of the workforce.
Germanna tops Virginia’s community colleges in terms of awarding credentials in skilled trades. According to a press release about the Gable grant, Germanna has trained more than 3,500 students in 2025 alone.
Learn more about the Lowe’s Foundation and the Gable grants here.
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