Milwaukee Tools Lends a Hand to TACC
The power of social media is real. Some may see platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram just as a way to share what you’re doing, what you’re eating, what you’re thinking, but it’s more than that. As an organization, we see social media as a way to share our mission, to inspire others, and to build relationships with not only with our individual followers, but with other organizations and companies. We are here to build a community with those who believe in empowering women, encouraging workforce diversity in the trades, and promoting visibility for apprenticeships among other core values… And build a community, we have.
We are so incredibly grateful for the wide variety of connections we have made through these social media channels. Late in 2017, we saw that little red “1” icon in the top right corner of our Instagram feed, signifying that someone send us a private message. The message read, “Hi! I’d like to get involved with your organization. Can you please point me in the right direction? Thank you!” Touched by the fact that someone went out of their way to reach out to us and express a desire to engage, we connected them to Lisa Palermo, our Development Director. Little did we know that this person worked for Milwaukee Tools, a distinguished power tool manufacturer from Wisconsin known for their innovation and high quality. As it turns out, the president of Milwaukee Tools had seen a post of ours on Instagram and was compelled to learn more about Oregon Tradeswomen and our mission. Wanting to support diversity in the industry as well as invest in the community, he tasked someone to make the connection with us.
In supporting the work we do, Milwaukee Tools made the incredibly generous offer to outfit our pre-apprencticeship program, Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class (TACC), with brand new tools! TACC students have been using the same rusty, second-hand tools for far too long, so this gesture was graciously received. They donated enough tools to replace almost all of our older, dilapidated tools. It is so important that the women in our program have more than adequate equipment so they can really learn how to use tools without frustration due to malfunction or poor quality. We want our tradeswomen to be job-ready and it means the world to us that Milwaukee Tools wants to help our students have the best experience entering the trades possible. 
What started as a simple Instagram message blossomed into a truly special partnership. We are humbled by the fact that a highly reputable company intentionally sought us out to get involved and help us on our mission. We extend our deepest thanks to Milwaukee Tools for donating their high quality equipment to our pre-apprenticeship program, improving the experiences of the women who we are training to enter the workforce!