A registered apprenticeship pays from the first day. What stops people is the $1,000 or more in tools, boots, and test fees due before that first paycheck arrives. Company sponsors close that gap.
Status: TurnToTrades Apprenticeship Foundation, Inc. filed for 501(c)(3) recognition in August 2026. Sponsorships open once the IRS determination is received. Nothing is being collected today.
Most trade scholarships are written for classroom programs. But in a registered apprenticeship the employer or the joint training committee already carries the classroom cost, and the apprentice earns a wage while they learn. The money problem sits somewhere else entirely.
An entry-level electrician's kit runs roughly $500 to $800. A full kit with power tools and testers runs higher. Most contractors expect you to show up with your own.
Composite-toe boots alone can run $250. Add safety glasses, gloves, hard hat, and flame-resistant clothing and it adds up fast.
Application fees, aptitude testing, OSHA cards, code books, and the gas money to reach a jobsite forty miles out.
Annual commitments, sized for small and mid-size shops rather than corporate giving departments. Every dollar goes toward equipping someone entering the trades.
Startup costs vary widely by trade. A welding starter kit runs $1,200 to $1,800, while a machinist or diesel technician's required list runs well past what any single award covers. That's why awards are a fixed dollar amount applied to what a recipient's own trade and program require, and why we publish every award we make, by trade, each year.
Every package level is listed on this site. What changes between them is size and prominence, never wording — we don't run slogans, taglines, or advertising for sponsors at any level.
These are placeholders. No sponsors are listed yet — the foundation is not accepting contributions until 501(c)(3) determination is received.
The second list matters more than the first. It's what makes this a scholarship program rather than a favor mill, and it's why a shop can trust it with real money.
A sponsor who could pick the recipient wouldn't be making a charitable gift, and the program wouldn't be a scholarship. Contributions go into a pool the foundation controls, and the five-member review board makes every selection.
Published in full so any sponsor, applicant, or school can read the same rules.
Leave your company name and email. We'll reach out once the IRS determination is received, with the full sponsorship packet. No mailing list, no newsletter.
We are not accepting contributions yet. Deductibility is expected once 501(c)(3) determination is received, but nothing on this page should be treated as tax advice.
Questions, or want to talk it through first? turntotrades@gmail.com