On September 16, 2011, IRWIN® Tools hopes everyone celebrates and recognizes the talent and contributions tradesmen make to keep America productive and running strong on the inaugural National Tradesmen Day. After all, tradesmen build our roads, homes, businesses and schools, and they keep our cars running, our water flowing and our lights on. National Tradesmen Day is the perfect day to say ‘thank you’ to an auto mechanic, builder, roofer, bricklayer, plumber, electrician, carpenter, woodworker or anyone who specializes in or teaches a skilled trade. Without them, America’s infrastructure and our way of life would come to a screeching halt.

IRWIN is offering ideas to American consumers to show their appreciation of skilled tradesmen on September 16, 2011.

• Call your handyman and just say “thanks for all you do.”
• Stop by a local jobsite where tradesmen are working and leave a box of donuts or cookies.
• Buy a tradesmen coffee when you are in line at a convenience store.
• If your friend, husband, wife, daughter, or son is a tradesmen, make September 16 an extra special day for them.
• Support your local trade school that trains and supports America’s future tradesmen, and urge Congress to adopt workforce development policies for skilled trades.

“Our company’s hope is that everyone will embrace and celebrate National Tradesmen Day the third Friday of September each and every year to show our gratitude to so many hard-working and talented men and women who are often never recognized,” says Curt Rahilly, Vice President of Marketing for IRWIN Tools. “Ways to show appreciation are endless, so at the very least, take a few minutes on September 16th to call or visit a tradesmen to say ‘your work matters, and I appreciate that no matter what my dilemma is, you are able to help me get back to enjoy the luxuries of a car that runs, a toilet that flushes or a roof over my head.’”

To publicly recognize and thank tradesmen for their contributions to our society, IRWIN Tools has coordinated multiple activities across the country for tradesmen and future tradesmen.

• On Friday, September 16, 2011, IRWIN is partnering with the Gaffney, S.C. chapter of the Home Builders’ Association (HBA) and Cherokee Technology Center to provide lunch to 200-300 local tradesmen and students enrolled in construction and carpentry trade programs at Cherokee Tech and the S.C. School for the Deaf and Blind.
• In New York City, next to the World Trade Center site, IRWIN will be distributing t-shirts and tools, while treating hundreds of tradesmen constructing the Freedom Tower to lunch on National Tradesmen Day, to show the company’s appreciation for a their dedication to building our country’s newest symbol of freedom and prosperity.

For more information about National Tradesmen Day on September 16, 2011, visit nationaltradesmenday.com.