Grainger has updated its 2009 catalog with 65,000 new products, improved graphics and updated page images, plus a well-known spokesman on its cover. The company recently partnered with Mike Rowe, creator, executive producer and host of the Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs,” to raise awareness about the widening gap between the supply of skilled workers and the growing technical demands of today’s workplace.

“The people at Grainger have always known the importance of ‘getting it done’ for their customers,” says Rowe in Grainger’s announcement. “It’s with that same passion and enthusiasm that together, we can help call attention to the importance of skilled labor.

"Our conversations led to the idea of putting me on the cover of their legendary catalog and sending it to the hardest-working people on the planet," Rowe said.

Rowe knows a little something about Grainger’s hard-working customers. To produce “Dirty Jobs,” Rowe worked more than 200 different jobs in every state and in every industry. The insight he gained from doing this led him to start mikeroweWORKS.com, a Web site for those exploring careers in the trades, which he hopes will change the way America looks at skilled labor.

"I wanted to build a Web site where plumbers, electricians, welders and mechanics could get together and pick each other’s brains," says Rowe. "I had no idea how to get started, so naturally, my first call was to Grainger. And Grainger was enthusiastic about helping me draw attention to the new Web site.”

Grainger is also committed to this focus through its Tools for Tomorrow® scholarship program, which awards scholarships to students across the country to help them finish their industrial trade programs. Tools for Tomorrow will expand significantly in 2009 to award scholarships to students pursuing careers in areas such as plumbing, welding and automotive repair.

To receive a free copy of Grainger’s new catalog, click here.

Source: Grainger