Seven HVACR Rising Stars Gifted $2,500 Each to Fund Continued Career and Technical Education

ORANGE, CALIF. (May 16, 2023) — Fieldpiece Instruments, a leader in tool and test instruments for HVACR professionals for over 30 years, has awarded a total of $17,500 in grants to seven deserving students in the first round of its second annual #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship program. An additional $10,000 will be distributed to the six gold, silver and bronze medal-winning high school and college/postsecondary students that top the leader-board rankings of the National Leadership & Skills Conference in June.

The #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship, administered through SkillsUSA, aims to close the talent gap in the U.S. labor market for the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration trades by allocating funds to industry up-and-comers to use for college tuition fees or postsecondary HVACR technology program costs.

“With so many deserving applicants to the #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship, it was a challenge selecting the seven winners. We received many applications from across the nation submitted by bright, talented and motivated individuals pursuing a future in HVACR, which was extremely rewarding to see,” said Fieldpiece Instruments’ head of marketing, Diana Liem. “Congratulations to this year’s group of recipients; Fieldpiece is honored to provide these financial gifts as we continue to encourage industry growth through other initiatives like student discounts and in-depth skills enhancement for HVACR pros at all levels through Fieldpiece University.”

The seven accomplished SkillsUSA students named to receive the initial round of funding for Fieldpiece’s second annual #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship are:

• Alabama: James Rogers, Alabama Army National Guard and Jason Rawls, Bevill State Community College
• Massachusetts: Hunter Claflin, HVARC program at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School
• Nebraska: Thomas Harling, University of Nebraska Lincoln
• North Carolina: Irma Gonzales, Central Carolina Community College
• Oklahoma: Ben Williams, East Central University
• Tennessee: Stacey Hicks, Chattanooga State Community College

On a mission to give back to the industry, Fieldpiece Instruments first introduced this scholarship program last year to help address the nearly one-hundred thousand unfilled HVACR technician jobs in the field reported in 2022. This important workforce is vital to ensuring energy is not wasted, food does not spoil and the comfort and safety of individuals are met on a daily basis. Pursuing a career in HVACR means having a consistent, well-paying job and offers professionals freedom, access to a hands-on work environment and the opportunity to create a lasting and positive impact on businesses, communities and the planet.

“SkillsUSA is proud to have had the opportunity to partner with Fieldpiece Instruments for the second year in a row,” said Chelle Travis, executive director at SkillsUSA. “Playing a small role in the career trajectory of eager young professionals is an honor and we look forward to seeing these rising stars continue to cultivate their skills and contribute to this critical workforce.”

To learn more, visit www.fieldpiece.com/Scholarshiphttp://www.fieldpiece.com/scholarship.

ABOUT FIELDPIECE INSTRUMENTS: Fieldpiece Instruments is an innovative technology company focused on helping industry professionals do their jobs more easily, faster and better around the globe. It delivers on this promise through industry-leading devices with the broadest range of professional-grade tools and technology inspired by real-world application and field use. Fieldpiece is focused on serving the HVACR industry exclusively, enabling HVACR professionals to become Masters of the Trade. For more information, please visit www.fieldpiece.com, and be sure to follow Fieldpiece on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

 ABOUT SKILLSUSA: SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen the nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of skilled trade positions go unfilled. Through SkillsUSA’s Championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has nearly 400,000 members nationwide in high schools, colleges and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations. SkillsUSA is recognized by the U.S. departments of education and labor as integral to career and technical education. It has served nearly 14.2 million members since 1965. For more information, visit: www.skillsusa.org.