Woodworking Businesses and Organizations Combat Woodworking Skills Crisis
Marion, IN (PRWEB) February 25, 2014 -- Many woodworking businesses have struggled to find skilled workers to employ in part by many schools discontinuing woodshop and other hands-on skilled training courses and the misconception that manufacturing was moving offshore. Several woodworking businesses and associations have become proactive in combatting this crisis by developing programs to educate students and workers in woodworking and other manufacturing trades such as Woodwork Career Alliance of North America (WCA), and Advanced Cabinet Systems’ (ACS) myShop Student Outreach program, which is a part of the Architectural Woodwork Institute’s (AWI) Adopt-A-Shop program.
The goal of these programs is to educate, develop, and evaluate students and skilled woodworkers. ACS’s myShop program educates high school students to pique an interest in woodworking and available careers within a modern woodworking manufacturing facility. “myShop helps students gain interest in woodworking by showing them the manufacturing process, overhead, and the array of careers within a woodworking facility,” says Marc Dunker, ACS Creative Director. AWI developed Adopt-A-Shop to empower woodworking businesses to inspire student to a path in woodworking. ACS has had several myShop days during the 2013-14 school year and has been working to add more local schools to their program in 2014.
WCA developed their program to help woodworking manufacturers find and keep skilled workers who are certified with recognizable skills based on industry standards. Their program helps individual woodworkers, woodworking employers, woodworking students, and teachers. As of February 2014, WCA has over 50 schools participating in the first year of their EDUcation® program.
To find out more about WCA and their programs, visit their website at http://www.woodworkcareer.org. For more information about the ACS myShop program, visit http://www.advancedcabinetsystems.com. Interested parties can visit AWI’s website at http://www.awinet.org for more information about their Adopt-A-Shop program.
Advanced Cabinet Systems is located in Marion, Indiana and has been manufacturing casework products since 1983. Their facility practices LEAN manufacturing and has received AWI Premium Certification. Their retail fixture division specializes in custom store fixtures, floor plan layout, feature and focus displays, and cashwraps. The architectural casework division specializes in Division 12 casework and Division 6 millwork and solid surface fabrication. Advanced Cabinet Systems is a proud supporter of the Grant County Economic Growth Council. For more information on their product lines and company, visit http://www.advancedcabinetsystems.com or contact Marc Dunker at (765) 677-8000 or email mdunker(at)advancedcabinetsystems(dot)com.
Marc Dunker, Advanced Cabinet Systems, http://www.advancedcabinetsystems.com, +1 (765) 677-8000, [email protected]
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