DEWALT launches local event to inspire next generation of trade workers [Video]

TOWSON, Md. — Eric Melton was like a kid in a candy store, except the senior carpentry student was surrounded by power tools.

He was among more than 150 students tool manufacturer DEWALT invited to its Innovation Center in Towson.

“All this amazingness,” Melton says with a big grin. “I mean… I’m still in shock. I didn’t even process everything yet.”

It’s part of DEWALT’s “Grow The Trades” initiative to help remove obstacles that might stand in the way of going into a trade career. The teens came from technical high schools in Baltimore and Harford counties. And as far as Philadelphia, where Melton goes to school.

“I had a blast here,” he says. “Where my shop is, it’s just a bunch of wood and a bunch of dust. But here, I just love the environment.”

They got to see demonstrations of some of the most technically advanced tools available. …