PBSC Associate Dean of Trade and Industry Helps Launch Lowe’s Skilled Trades Coalition

Palm Beach State College’s partnership with the Lowe’s Foundation has grown from grant recipient to a role in shaping a national skilled trades initiative.

Eligio Marquez, EdD, PBSC’s associate dean of trade and industry, is among the founding members of the new Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition, launched by the Lowe’s Foundation to help train and develop 1 million people for skilled trades careers by 2035. The coalition includes more than 75 educators, businesses, workforce organizations and industry leaders, including NVIDIA, AT&T, Bank of America, Carrier, General Motors, DEWALT and Duke Energy.

Marquez represents PBSC’s construction trades programs within the coalition, which aims to expand access to training, strengthen credentialing pathways and help address workforce shortages in construction, energy, manufacturing, HVAC, telecommunications and related industries. The effort builds on the Lowe’s Foundation’s Gable Grants program, which has grown to include 73 community colleges and nonprofit partners in 30 states. The foundation said the program exceeded its early performance targets and established a nationwide network of workforce-training partners.

PBSC has partnered with the Lowe’s Foundation since 2023, when the College received a $1 million Gable Grant to expand its skilled trades programs and establish the Lowe’s Innovation Construction Trades Lab. The College received a second Gable Grant in 2025, further supporting the growth of its construction trades offerings. “The funding supported the expansion of the Electrical program to the Palm Beach Gardens campus, with a Low Voltage program expected to follow,” said Marquez. The grants also helped PBSC acquire mobile trades training units. These trailers allow the College to bring workforce training and hands-on program demonstrations to local schools and community events throughout Palm Beach County.

In 2026, Marquez received the Lowe’s Foundation’s Gable Grants Digital Connector Award in recognition of his work advancing communication and connectivity across the Gable Grants Network.

As a founding member of the coalition, Marquez will represent PBSC in a national effort to expand accessible, industry-aligned training programs and connect more students with skilled trades careers.

“The next industrial revolution won’t be built by algorithms alone,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chairman and CEO. “It will be built by the millions of skilled trade professionals who power, connect and move this country forward.”

“For nearly four years, our foundation’s sole focus has been helping thousands of people enter the skilled trades by investing in America’s most innovative workforce training programs,” Ellison said. “Today through this coalition, we are answering the call from hundreds of existing partners to lead an even larger unified national effort that will redefine what’s possible when leaders from different sectors rally behind a common purpose.”

Learn more about the Lowe’s Foundation partnership with Palm Beach State College’s Trades programs.