Exciting news! A registered “woodwork manufacturing specialist” apprenticeship should be available in about a year! This is a hot topic and something our industry has needed for quite some time. It will help wood manufacturers (especially small and medium-sized) be able to offer an apprenticeship in their factories. According to Mark Smith, a member of the development committee for the apprenticeship, the group plans to submit the apprenticeship to the DOL for review in October, and the approval process is expected to take one year. Read all the details here. [...]
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Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM) Southern California Chapter members and volunteers helped AWFS®Fair attendees make an item out of wood at the Make and Take booth. Attendees could choose to make a tea light candle holder, a cell phone holder, or customize a work apron. There was a raffle for a table top drill press, donated by SWM, and a set of clamps from Bessey Tools North America. Kayleen McCabe, a skilled trades advocate, spent time at the booth helping attendees, as did Ethan Abramson, a woodworker and social media influencer.
Festool provided a Kapex saw, and Weinig Holz-Her provided pre-milled[...]
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[caption id="attachment_12971" align="alignleft" width="170"] Norm Abram and Nathan Gilbert on Generation Next[/caption]
Eight exciting presentations were made as part of the inaugural WED (short for “Wood Education”) Talk series, held on Thursday, July 18 at the AWFS Fair. The talks and speakers ranged and included topics such as social activism through woodworking; strong women in the woodworking industry; a professional woodworker’s career journey; and how to attract more young people to careers in our industry, culminating in a session with Q&A featuring This Old House team members Norm Abram and Nathan Gilbert and the Generation Next initiative to increase career awareness. The[...]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adam Kessler, Education Manager
adam@awfs.org
(323) 215-0312
LAS VEGAS − (July 20, 2019) – Nicholas Maraldo, a student at Furniture Institute of Massachusetts won the Best of Show award in the 2019 AWFS® Fresh Wood Competition after judges reviewed 42 finalist projects of from 25 different high schools and colleges in the U.S. at the 2019 AWFS®Fair in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thirty-three Fresh Wood student finalists went home with monetary prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000, along with trophies and software prizes.
[caption id="attachment_12958" align="alignleft" width="177"] 2019 Fresh Wood Best of Show: Nautical Marquetry Table by Nicholas Maraldo[/caption]
Maraldo was awarded an[...]
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Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV-1) will speak at the Student Awards Ceremony on Friday, July 19 at 4:00 p.m. in Room N110. The awards ceremony is open to all registered AWFS Fair attendees and exhibitors and the winners of the Fresh Wood and Turning to the Future student competitions will be announced. “We are honored to have Congresswoman Titus with us at the AWFS®Fair”, says AWFS Executive Vice President Angelo Gangone. “We recognize that since she has been in office, she has been a supporter and advocate for workforce development and Perkins funding.” Representative Titus is acutely aware of the value[...]
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A new feature at the 2019 AWFS®Fair, will offer various presentations and sessions throughout the show. All sessions are complimentary and are open to all registered AWFS Fair attendees...Read more...[...]
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AWFS®) is honored to announce the judging panel for the 2019 Fresh Wood competition. This year 188 entries were received by Fresh Wood from high school and post-secondary students throughout the US and Canada. Forty-two projects were selected for the final round of judging which will take place at the AWFS®Fair in Las Vegas. The students and their instructors whose projects advanced to the final round are invited to attend the AWFS®Fair in person, with a majority of the travel costs covered by AWFS®. Read more...[...]
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SkillsUSA California hosted the 2019 State Cabinetmaking and Introductory Woodworking Competitions on Saturday, April 27th at Chaffey High School in Ontario, California. Staff and industry volunteers from the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers® (AWFS®) assisted as contest coordinators, judges, and with overall contest support. Over $10,000 in contest supplies, tools, and giveaways for students were donated by: Blum, Inc, Castle, Inc., Colonial Saw/Lamello, Decore-ative Specialties, Drawer Box Specialties, Edgebanding Services Inc (ESI), Grex Tools, Hafele, Kemp Hardware, Royal Plywood, and Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM), a chapter of AWFS®. Read more...[...]
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Designed to meet the current needs of the show audience demographics, the 50 sessions will span topics to strengthen corporate culture and grow your workforce, enhance business management expertise, improve skill sets, and increase knowledge of the latest technologies. Read more...[...]
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Ten members of the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers® (AWFS®) Public Policy committee called on the offices of 21 legislators and agency staff in Washington on March 27th, to encourage support for the PARTNERS Act and Skills Investment Act. The committee also encouraged their representatives to join the House and Senate CTE Caucuses to support Career Technical Education.
[caption id="attachment_12849" align="alignleft" width="229"] AWFS Committee members with Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA-46)[/caption]
AWFS® is championing the PARTNERS Act and the Skills Investment Act because both bills expand opportunities for more apprenticeships and work-based learning, particularly for small and mid-sized companies. The PARTNERS Act[...]
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