[MCN] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: YWCA hosts all-female trade expo

[Becky Margolis]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR:                    IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 11.9.17
FROM:                YWCA MISSOULA
CONTACT:         Margaret Hoyt, 543-6691
SUBJECT:           "The YWCA GUTS! Program, GRIT, hosts all-female trade expo"

MISSOULA - By 2024, employers will need to fill more than 2 million middle-skill jobs-those requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree-- in advanced manufacturing, information technology, and transportation, distribution & logistics. Good middle-skill jobs can offer employment with sustainable income, but only 11% of them are occupied by women. The YWCA GRIT(Girls Representing in Trades) Program aims to change this. GRIT empowers young girls to explore trade and skill-based work as attainable and feasible careers-anything from construction, to auto mechanics, to welding. Furthermore, GRIT believes that improving women's access to good middle-skill jobs can help close the wage gap, improve women's economic security, and address job shortages.
GRIT is excited to be partnering with Missoula College Department of Industrial Technology to host an all-female Industrial Technology Expo open to all high school girls* on Tuesday, November 14th from 8:00am-2:30pm. Throughout the expo, participants will have an opportunity to tour the Missoula College Industrial Technology campus, hear from female students currently enrolled in the industrial technology programs, and try out equipment, such as a welding torch, an excavator simulator, a table saw, and more. Girls will also have the opportunity to sign up for future GRIT programs, including more advanced welding, carpentry, and renewable energy programs that begin in January 2018.
YWCA Missoula has partnered with the Industrial Technology department at Missoula College to create this program, which is primarily funded through generous grants and support provided by the Women's Foundation of Montana, Charlotte Martin Foundation, American Association of University Women, Opportunity Bank of Montana, Arbonne Charitable Foundation and Montana Campus Compact, in addition to other local businesses.
The Industrial Technology Expo at Missoula College will be held on Tuesday November 14th from 8:00am-2:30pm and is open to 9th-12th grade girls* who are interested in learning more about the trades including machining, welding, carpentry and more, all in a safe, non-judgmental space. Snacks and lunch will be provided. Transportation needs to be coordinated with the student's high school.

For more information on the upcoming expo or GRIT programs, contact Margaret Hoyt at YWCA Missoula at 543-6691 or mhoyt at ywcaofmissoula.org<mailto:mhoyt at ywcaofmissoula.org>.

Founded in 1911, YWCA Missoula is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.  Learn more at www.ywcaofmissoula.org<http://www.ywcaofmissoula.org/>.

*Interested participants who identify with girlhood or womanhood are welcome to join GUTS! programs. Includes participants who are transgender or are outside the gender binary and feel that GUTS! could be beneficial or enjoyable to them.

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Becky Margolis
Communications Coordinator
YWCA Missoula
1130 W. Broadway
Missoula, MT 59802
P: (406) 543-6691  F: (406) 543-6777
ywcaofmissoula.org

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