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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Vehicle manufacturer Toyota is investing in nonprofits that focus on developing the next generation’s workforce. The automaker announced Tuesday it’s giving nearly $2 million in grant money to nonprofits in Scott and Fayette counties. 

At Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass, JA Biztown is a working, living classroom aimed at teaching students in fifth grade to high school financial literacy and work readiness.

“This is an opportunity for young people to see the types of businesses and job opportunities that exist in this community that they can ultimately take advantage of as they move through school and into their careers,” said Laurel Raimondo Martin, president of Junior Achievement.

Each storefront is sponsored by a local business where students receive a position in that company, then are put in situations of balancing a budget or running a business. Martin said each storefront is modeled as if it were the real world.

“One of the things that students will do when they come into this storefront as team members is they will make cubes, so it’s a little bit of engineering mindset that they have to demonstrate because they have to put the cubes and then it’s the product they’re selling to other students,” Martin said. 

Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass is one of nearly 40 nonprofits receiving a portion of $1.9 million in grant dollars from Toyota as part of its annual grant program focused on STEM learning, workforce training and removing barriers to educational success.

“We found early on that the earlier you can expose students to engineering to STEM education, that they’re more interested in those careers as they get older and as they get into high school and maybe even consider post-secondary education,” said Justin Posey, Toyota North America senior analyst in corporate communications. 

Toyota has granted more than $165 million to nonprofits across the commonwealth since it first opened the plant 40 years ago. Posey said while Toyota is always looking to grow its number of employees, a well-prepared workforce is beneficial to everyone in the community.

“We’re not just an automaker; we want to be a catalyst for change in the communities that we have our operations, so it’s really important for us and for our team members to be giving back to the community we live and work,” Posey said.

Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass serves more than 20,000 students in central Kentucky, eastern Kentucky and even some counties in West Virginia.

“We could not do our work without partnerships with companies like Toyota,” Martin said. “Our curriculum is offered at little or no-cost to the students and educators that take advantage of them.”

Other nonprofits receiving grant money include Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, YMCA of Central Kentucky and FIRST Robotics Kentucky.