As someone interested in both blogging and attracting new talent into the HVACR industry, I was so excited when I heard about the Shurtape “Blogging for Scholarships” (my name, not theirs) Program!

The need for skilled employees in the trades is already great. But by 2020, when an estimated 31 million trades jobs are left vacant by retiring Baby Boomers, the impact will be huge. It’s vital to take action now to encourage as many people as possible to get trade-educated with the skills needed to fill those empty jobs.

Shurtape’s genius program called Mission: HVAC, Educating for Success, attempts to close the skills gap by using blogging as a way to both educate participants and provide them with a chance to win a $5,000 HVACR scholarship at the completion of the program! Writing a blog about something technical to a wide (potentially non-technical) audience forces you to absorb subject matter so well, that you not only understand it, but can explain it to someone without a technical background. In my opinion, this act of learning via blog is one of the most effective ways to educate oneself. It’s something I personally strive for in all of my blogs. Shurtape has captured this concept with their program. I only wish I’d thought of it first!

Shurtape Technologies, besides being the creator of this great program, is a manufacturer of pressure-sensitive tapes for well, everything! Packaging, building and construction, HVAC, electrical, industrial/MRO, stucco, abatement and remediation, arts and entertainment. They’re involved in basically any industry or sticky thing you can think of. They’ll even teach you how to use their bazillions of types of tape at the cleverly named TapeUniversity.com.

Student Programs

The Mission: HVAC, Educating for Success program was started five years ago as a way to support HVAC trade school students and invest in the future of the industry. They select 3 students each year to participate in 10 HVAC-themed “missions” throughout the year. These missions are designed to help them expand their professional networks, by asking them to conduct research, interview an HVAC business owner or instructor, and/or provide their own commentary on the state of the industry from the perspective of a student of the trade. In return for their hard work, each student is awarded $5,000 to put towards the cost of their education. Since starting the program, Shurtape has given out over $50,000 in scholarships! And they want to do even more in 2019!

School and Educator Programs

For the first time this year, the program is expanding to include educators and trade schools themselves. There’s a separate application for HVAC schools/teachers to apply. Schools can receive $5,000 “scholarships” in the form of either tools, technology, or training that they need to help their students be successful. Shurtape will be selecting two schools/programs this year to receive this grant.

Applications are now OPEN for the 2019 program for students and educators and trade schools. Get in on this!!