Skilled Trades Guide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) produce the Fuel Economy Guide to help car buyers choose the most fuel-efficient vehicle that meets their needs.

From the University of Missouri Extension: All Things Missouri (allthingsmissouri.org) is a free, online platform designed to support decision-makers in accessing, analyzing, and visualizing data about their communities. Their goal is to provide up-to-date, quality data across sectors – business, nonprofits, governments, researchers, and Extension staff. Their data can help Missourians better understand community needs, allocate resources, and make more data-informed decisions.

The Trades Career Network: The Path to Pro Network is a free network where professional contractors are hiring skilled tradespeople. Whether you’re looking for your first job or exploring new opportunities, the Path to Pro Network has you covered.

Learn the skills that keep our communities running. Join Track to the Trades and forge your path to a successful trade career. Lowe's developed Track to the Trades as a benefit offered to all associates. This program provides tuition-free education courses and upfront tuition funding for trade skill certifications. Courses are designed by IACET-accredited experts to build an industry-recognized skillset for participants. This program also includes a pathway to certifications and licenses with OSHA-10, NATE RTW, and EPA-608. They also give you access to their nationwide contractor network so you can reach out to established pros to find opportunities.

The Work Ready Community Initiative (WRCI) empowers counties across the United States to identify skill gaps and quantify the skill level of its workforce. This helps educators build career pathways aligned with the needs of businesses and industries. Today, Missouri leads the nation with over 85 fully Certified Work Ready Communities and more than 4,500 supporting employers. Over 100 Missouri counties actively participate in the CWRC initiative.

What is a Certified Work Ready Community?

A certified Work Ready Community means your local county has job candidates in the pipeline with high-demand skills proven by the National Career Readiness Certificate. It also shows that local employers care about hiring the best and brightest your region has to offer.

From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Occupational Outlook Handbook is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives.

SkillsUSA is an applied method of instruction for preparing America’s high performance workers in public career and technical programs. It provides quality education experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. It builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitudes and communications skills. It emphasizes total quality at work: high ethical standards, superior work skills, life-long education, and pride in the dignity of work. SkillsUSA also promotes understanding of the free-enterprise system and involvement in community service.

Their mission is to serve in a partnership role between St. Louis County residents and businesses to support the St. Louis Metropolitan area's economic development with a qualified workforce

Smart jobs. Bright futures. Discover the right job, right now. Are you ready to find your purpose? To take what you’re good at—what matters to you, what interests you, what you enjoy—and apply it towards a great job that makes you excited to do what you do everyday? You’re in the right place. STL.works is your resource for learning about all the benefits of skilled careers (aka jobs that don’t require a Bachelor’s degree), the different paths available to you, and the resources in our city that can help you gain the skills you need to get a job that you’ll love.