Trade Scholarships, Training Grants, and Workforce Programs to Watch as the Data Center Boom Grows
This roundup highlights scholarships, training grants, workforce development programs, and application opportunities tied to the skilled trades, construction, apprenticeship, AI infrastructure, and data center-related workforce needs. Some programs are designed for individual workers or students. Others are grant opportunities for nonprofit training providers, apprenticeship programs, workforce boards, community colleges, or labor-aligned organizations.
Data Center Watch: What Happened This Week — August 30, 2026
This week’s data center news made one thing clear: the data center boom is no longer just a technology story. It is now a labor story, an energy story, a water story, a political story, and a community trust story.
Across the country, AI and cloud computing are driving a massive buildout of new data centers. But the public conversation is changing quickly. Communities are asking tougher questions about electricity use, water demand, local infrastructure, noise, land use, tax incentives, and whether these projects will create meaningful local jobs.
Data Center Watch: Why Labor Needs to Pay Attention to the Data Center Boom
Data centers are not just part of the tech economy. They are part of America’s infrastructure economy.
NABTU, BlackRock, and AI Infrastructure Partnership Launch Strategic Collaboration to Support America’s Infrastructure Workforce
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 6, 2026 — North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), BlackRock, and the AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the growth of domestic infrastructure, expand workforce participation opportunities, strengthen supply chain resilience, and foster long-term economic development associated with AI and energy infrastructure investment. Through the MOU,…
Imagine a Day Without Data Centers – DataBank
Watch Video: Imagine a Day Without Data Centers DataBank | IT Services and IT Consulting Dallas, TX The world’s most important infrastructure is often the one people never think about. Until it’s gone. Imagine starting your morning only to find your video meeting won’t load. Traffic signals go dark. Navigation apps stop working. School portals…
In defense of data centers: Texas should welcome them, not ban them
The article argues that data centers are no longer just facilities that store information. They support artificial intelligence, cloud computing, communications, defense systems, cybersecurity, logistics, public services, and the digital tools that businesses, workers, and families now rely on every day.
Inside the Data Center Boom: The Skilled Trades Powering America’s AI Future
Kerri O’Brien | June 22, 2026This article explores the ongoing Data Center Boom and its impact on industries and communities. Artificial intelligence may live in the cloud, but the cloud is not weightless. Behind every AI tool, streaming service, online medical record, financial transaction, video call, and digital workplace is a physical building filled with…
America Is Rebuilding — and the Skilled Trades Are Finally Getting the Spotlight
LaborForce Media Feature Article | Kerri O’Brien | June 18, 2026 For too long, the skilled trades were treated as the backup plan. Students were told that success meant a four-year degree. Parents were told that college was the only path to stability. Schools cut shop programs, guidance counselors pushed everyone toward campuses, and too…
BlackRock Future Builders Launches $25 Million National RFP to Expand America’s Skilled Trades Workforce
BlackRock today launched a $25 million nationwide Request for Proposals (RFP) as the next phase of BlackRock Future Builders, its $100 million philanthropic effort to build and strengthen America’s skilled trades workforce, reaching 50,000 American workers over the next five years.
Memories, Not Debt: Affordable Entertainment Ideas for Working Families
Life isn’t just about paying bills — it’s also about joy, connection, and making memories. The good news is, you don’t need a huge budget to have a rich family life. Especially for union families working hard to stretch every dollar, “fun” can’t always mean pricey tickets and big trips. But it can mean being…