A Big Thank You to Williams

We have been incredibly fortunate to have some great industry partners supporting the Bozeman Construction Academy, and Williams continues to be a huge part of that.

This summer, Williams held its 11th Annual Charitable Golf Tournament at Bridger Creek Golf Course. This year, they chose to focus the event on supporting skilled trades education and creating more opportunities for young people to explore careers in the trades. The tournament brought together an impressive group of contractors, suppliers, businesses, and community members who all stepped up to support that goal.

The result was pretty amazing. The event generated more than $100,000 in charitable giving power, and Williams was able to completely fund the wish list for our Construction Academy programs at Bozeman High School and Gallatin High School.

For our program, that is a big deal. These are tools and equipment that our students will actually use every day. Our students spend a lot of their class time building, learning to use tools safely, laying out projects, solving problems, and developing the skills they would use on a real job site.

What we appreciate most about Williams, though, is that their support goes well beyond buying equipment. They recognize that if we want more young people to enter the skilled trades, we have to give them a chance to experience those careers while they are still in high school.

Williams has been willing to show up, work with our schools, connect students with people in the industry, and invest in pre-apprenticeship opportunities. That kind of partnership is exactly what we hoped for when we started the Construction Academy.

Our goal has never been to simply teach students how to build a shed. We want students to discover what they are good at, meet people who do this work for a living, and understand the opportunities that are available to them after high school. Williams and our other industry partners are helping us make that happen.

A huge thank you to Williams, the Williams Foundation, and everyone who sponsored, donated, volunteered, or played in this year's tournament. There were a lot of people and businesses behind this event, and the impact will reach far beyond one day on the golf course.

Most importantly, our students are the ones who will benefit.
​
Thank you for investing in them and in the future of the trades in our community.