Wolverine partnership promotes skilled trades

Boot/apparel and speaker series aims to help build next generation of trades workers.
Wolverine partnership promotes skilled trades
New Orleans-based unCommon Construction is partnering with Wolverine Worldwide to help students interested in pursuing careers in the skilled trades. <strong>Courtesy Wolverine Worldwide </strong>

Rockford-based footwear and apparel manufacturer Wolverine Worldwide is launching a partnership it hopes will educate and inspire young people to learn more about the skilled trades as a potential career path.

In partnership with New Orleans-based unCommon Construction — a nonprofit that works with paid and for-credit high school apprentices to build houses and gain technical, professional and personal skills — Wolverine is launching a special collaboration to benefit high school students interested in pursuing careers in the skilled trades. The initiative is part of Wolverine’s Project Bootstrap program, which has celebrated and supported those choosing to pursue a path in the skilled trades through a variety of efforts, including scholarships and awareness initiatives, since 2014.

According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics fact sheet, marketplace demand for skilled trades will continue growing through 2030, resulting in the creation of nearly 400,000 jobs. However, according to a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Wolverine from Dec. 16-21 with a panel of 2,000 American high school students, the pipeline of new trades professionals doesn’t align with the demand.

Tom Kennedy Courtesy Wolverine Worldwide

While almost three-quarters (72%) of current high school students believe it’s important to consider alternative options to a traditional four-year college, just 30% of students have considered vocational/trade schools, the survey found.

More than half (51%) say “I don’t know enough about it” as their reason for not considering enrolling.

At the same time, four in five (79%) of students said they believe vocational skills should be taught in high schools, indicating interest in learning more about the skills needed to fulfill careers in the trades.

“It’s imperative we reach students in more relevant ways so they can learn more about the skilled trades and consider them as a potential future path,” said Tom Kennedy, global brand president for Wolverine. “Organizations like unCommon Construction introduce kids to the rich opportunities to be found in the trades that they aren’t learning about in school.”

Melanie Dohrmann. Courtesy Wolverine Worldwide

Melanie Dohrmann, brand marketing senior specialist at Wolverine, said Wolverine first learned about unCommon Construction in 2017 after being introduced through a mutual connection.

“We crashed a job site and gave all the apprentices boots as a way to recognize and thank them for their hard work,” she said. “Over the past five years, it’s grown into more than just providing boots to apprentices. We’ve shared our aligned purposes on inspiring the next generation of trade workers through education and just overall awareness of the opportunities that skilled trades provide, so together, through this latest campaign, we’re aiming at what unCommon has done for high school students in the New Orleans area and amplifying and replicating that on a larger scale across the nation.”

As part of the new initiative, unCommon Construction apprentices collaborated with the bootmaker to develop a new unCommon Construction boot, designed after months spent wearing Wolverine’s boots on the job learning practical skills and building houses in New Orleans.

Aaron Frumin. Courtesy unCommon Construction

“At unCommon Construction, we see firsthand the interest and excitement young people experience learning about the opportunities they have in the skilled trades,” said Aaron Frumin, founder and executive director of unCommon Construction. “It’s rewarding to continue to partner with a brand like Wolverine that also recognizes the value of raising awareness of the trades while giving students the tools and access they need to be successful.”

The expanded Project Bootstrap initiative is targeted to high school students who still are trying to decide on post-high school plans, with the idea the only way to close the skills gap is by connecting with future members of the skilled workforce. The program includes:

  • unCommon collection and funding scholarships: The Wolverine x unCommon Construction boot and apparel collection became available starting Jan. 25 on wolverine.com, and a portion of proceeds from the sale of each pair of boots or full collection kits will go toward funding new apprenticeships for the unCommon Construction program to further trades education for young people. This part of the partnership is at this time limited to the New Orleans area.
  • unCommon educational speaker series: Frumin will speak to high schools both virtually and in person to highlight the value of the skilled trades and the living-wage opportunities they provide. Students and educators can request information and invite Frumin to speak at their high school by visiting wolverine.com/projectbootstrap or by emailing marketing@wolverine.com.
  • Digital awareness campaign: Wolverine will launch an awareness campaign targeted toward high schoolers featuring opportunities within the skilled trades. TikTok and Instagram influencers will post their experiences, and the brand will share content featuring unCommon Construction apprentices further amplified with paid media targeting the high school audience.
  • Trades education resources: Students, parents and educators can access a virtual toolbox of resources about pursuing a skilled trades career path at wolverine.com/projectbootstrap

Frumin said he is excited for more students around the world to embrace the “college is great, but it can wait” mindset that he adopted as a college dropout who founded a nonprofit and now has met three U.S. presidents.

“The trades have shown me the world, and I’ve benefited greatly from that,” he said. “I kind of fell into the trades by happenstance and fell in love with it in the process. The content that I use when I talk with young people … is we want to make sure we’re following our own curiosity and assessing what’s best for us. Construction and the skilled trades (are) what did that for me, but it’s also unlocked opportunities for me to engage with a number of other industries.”

Frumin said he believes there is some “snake oil” involved with the idea that success after high school must mean pursuing a four-year degree, and he is excited the students coming out of the unCommon apprenticeships will be sharing a different narrative through this campaign.

“These stories of young people who are choosing this pathway are rare today, and because they’re rare, they’re remarkable, and we need to just have more young people see more examples of people who look like them, who represent them, making these decisions so that they can then see themselves following a similar pathway,” he said.