Welcome New Members & Sponsors!


The Woodwork Career Alliance of North America is pleased to welcome the following new members and renewing sponsors.

Thank you for your membership and support!

New EDUcation™ Members
Bruce High School, Bruce, WI
Hacketstown High School, Hacketstown, NJ

Find WCA EDUcation™ woodworking programs in your area.

New MANufacturing™ Members
ACS Inc., Buford, GA

New Gold Sponsor
Diamond Vogel, Orange City, IA

INDustry™ Gold Sponsor Renewal
SCM North America
, Duluth, GA
ShopBot Tools, Durham, NC

New Silver Sponsor
Accu-Router, Morrison, TN
Kreg Tool, Ankeny, IA

INDustry™ Silver Sponsor Renewal
Daubert Chemical,
Chicago, IL
IMA Schmelling Group USA, Morrisville, NC

View all WCA INDustry™ Sponsors & Supporters.

Learn more about the benefits of becoming a WCA sponsor.

WCA Names Scholarship Fund in Honor of Greg Heuer

Colleagues laud Heuer for his vision, dedication and leadership to create the WCA’s credentialling system.

NELLYSVILLE, Va. – As a fitting tribute to one of its most influential founding fathers, the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America announced the renaming of its teacher financial aid program to the Greg Heuer EDUcation Scholarship Fund.

Heuer, secretary of the WCA Board of Directors since its inception in 2007 and one of the first WCA chief skill evaluators, recently retired from the board. He is credited by his colleagues for being the driving force that led to the development of the WCA Skill Standards and Passport credentialling system. Together, the Skill Standards and Passport form the foundation of new and evolving WCA programs used by a growing number of schools and wood products companies to teach and train the next generation of woodworking professionals.

The scholarship fund benefits WCA EDUcation member schools. Woodworking instructors can apply for financial aid to help defray the cost of travel to industry events like the International Woodworking Fair or to cover the WCA membership fees for their students.

Greg and Linda Heuer

“The WCA Board of Directors chose to rename our scholarship fund The Greg Heuer EDUucation Scholarship Fund in honor of Greg’s lifetime of work dedicated to educating those of us within the woodworking industry,” said Scott Nelson, WCA president. “Greg has always been an advocate for the need of skill standards in the industry. He worked tirelessly to help create the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America and see his vision come to fruition.”

Heuer was a staff member of the Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) when he got involved with the WCA on the ground floor. During his 29-year career with the AWI, Heuer was especially instrumental with helping update the AWI’s Quality Standards. That experience, coupled with his prior career running an architectural woodworking company, made him uniquely qualified to lead the development of WCA’s consensus standards. He took the lead to create a wiki that allowed members of the WCA Skill Standards team across North America to collaborate online.

“Without Greg Heuer, the WCA wouldn’t exist!” said Patrick Molzahn, director of the Cabinetmaking and Millwork program at Madison College, and a founding board member of the WCA. “His vision and leadership early on helped shape this organization. We were able to pull together an impressive set of standards on a shoestring budget by utilizing a wiki. In a post-Covid world, we take online collaboration as routine. However, back in 2007, the world was a much different place. With Greg spearheading the charge, we accomplished this task with minimal face-to-face meetings, creating a set of standards for the wood industry at about one-tenth of the cost compared to the standards for the metal industry. Greg’s ability to leverage technology was just one of his many skills.”

“It’s hard to believe the WCA would be as successful as it is today without Greg’s guidance and dedication early on,” added Greg Larson, vice president of the WCA. “His ability to keep us on track, inspire us during our brainstorming sessions, and his relentless attention to detail certainly helped guarantee our success. I will always remember how he pushed us during our skill standard writing sessions to create the most concise and usable standards we could; I can’t imagine where we’d be today without Greg’s early support and hard work.”

Greg Heuer, one of the original WCA chief evaluators, leads a training workshop for woodworking instructors aspiring to become accredited skill evaluators.

Duane Griffiths, another founding member of the WCA board of directors, also gave high praise to Heuer for his indispensable contributions to the WCA. “Without a doubt, Greg has been one of the major leaders in WCA. Through his numerous contacts and hard work, he has advanced the organization. When individuals think of WCA they think of Greg.”

For his part, Heuer said he is humbled to have the “ongoing fund associated with my name.”

“Years ago, I felt my legacy to our industry would be the AWI Quality Standards. That turned out not to be the case. In fact, I couldn’t be more proud and grateful that my legacy to our industry includes the founding and nurturing of the Woodwork Career Alliance. This trade/craft has given so much to me and our family. The feeling that I may have returned a small portion of those gifts is heartwarming.”

Heuer added that he has been gratified to played an active part in helping a growing number of woodworking teachers join the WCA. “Influencing young people to think of our industry as a career, more than just a job, and showing them the pathways to success is vital for the continuation of woodwork manufacturing in North America. I think the future is bright and the possibilities are endless. I hope we can effectively track the young people who earn credentials in their careers. I hope we can tell success stories of WCA folks who rise to their full potential, contribute to their companies, and take personal pride in being practitioners of our trade.”

 

IWF Auction Supports Developing the Next Generation of Woodworkers

Dozens of items including sligned collectables, get-away packages and much more will be displayed at IWF booth C2123.

Net proceeds from the special event will help fund woodworking skills development programs offered by the Woodwork Career Alliance to students and professionals.

ATLANTA – Early bidding is open for an online silent auction benefiting the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America (WCA). The auction will culminate with a live showing and final bidding of the lot items at the International Woodworking Fair (IWF). Net proceeds of each winning bid will help support WCA programs geared to develop and grow a skilled woodworking workforce in the United States and Canada.

A helmet signed by Patrick Maholmes is among the bid items that will support the Woodwork Career Alliance.

The digital auction will feature dozens of bid items spanning autographed collectibles, framed sports and entertainment memorabilia, fun-filled travel packages, jewelry, and much more. Among the auction items that will be displayed at booth C2123 include:

  • Tom Brady signed Tampa Bay Buccaneers helmet;
  • Patrick Mahomes signed Kansas City Chiefs helmet;
  • More full-size helmets signed by Dan Marino, Alvin Kamara, Tyreeq Hill, Rob Gronkowski, Jordan Davis, and many more;
  • John Smoltz and Tom Glavine signed baseball;
  • Bo Jackson signed baseball bat;
  •  Mick Jagger signed guitar;
  • Framed collectables including University of Georgia National Championship collage, Atlanta Braves World Series Champtionship collage, William Shatner signed Star Trek, and many more;
  • Tuscany (Italy) Luxury 7-Night Stay for 2;
  • Mykonos (Greece) Escape 5-Night Villa Stay for 4;
  • Plus, necklaces, pendants, bracelets, rings and more jewelry.

Join the Auction

The special fund-raising event to support the not-for-profit WCA is being presented through the collaboration of Expo Auctions of Sugar Hill, Ga., and IWF, North America’s largest industrial woodworking event. The show is owned by the Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (WMMA) and the Woodworking Machinery Industry Association (WMIA).

The WCA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing and growing a skilled woodworking workforce in the United States and Canada. The WCA works with high school and postsecondary woodworking programs, as well as the woodworking industry. The backbone of WCA programming is its Skill Standards and Passport credentialing program.

“It’s the generous support of tradeshows like IWF and our industry sponsors that have helped WCA continue to develop new programs to better serve educational institutions and the industry to train the next generation of skilled woodworkers,” said WCA President Scott Nelson. “Our ultimate goal is to highlight the industry’s advances and best practices to get people interested in woodworking, while also offering them a professional career path.”

Separate silent auctions will take place on each of the first three days of IWF, Tuesday, Aug. 23 through Thursday, Aug. 25. Show attendees and exhibitors will be able to view most of the auction items displayed on tables located at booth C2123 of Building C of the Georgia World Congress Center. In addition, auction items are now available for preview and early bidding online.

Expo Auctions’ mobile bidding platform allows bidders to participate from anywhere in the world using their smartphones. Individuals who are unable to attend this year’s show can still bid on items to support a good cause.

As Easy as 1, 2, 3
To participate in the silent auction and review all auction items:

  1. Visit the official auction website expobid.co.
  2. Register your mobile phone number, email, and name.
  3. Submit your bid on the item or items of your choice.

A five-night stay for four at a villa in Mykonos, Greece, is on the auction block.

Note: Five selected bid items will close each day at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 23, and Wednesday, Aug. 24. All remaining items will close at 4 p.m. EST on Thursday, Aug. 25. Text notifications will be sent to bid winners at the close of each day’s auction communicating payment options. All winning bids include free shipping within the continental U.S. Bid winners may also choose to pick up their items during designated hours at booth C2123.

Learn more about the WCA, its skill standards and credentialing programs at booth A10809 of Building A or visit woodworkcareer.org.

Join the Auction

About IWF
The International Woodworking Fair® is North America’s largest woodworking technology and design trade show and conference and a top destination for the global woodworking sector. IWF delivers the latest solutions in architectural woodwork, cabinetry, flooring, furniture manufacturing, engineered products, doors, windows, machinery, tools, metals, plastics and more. IWF is where the woodworking business does business. For more information, visit iwfatlanta.com.

About the Woodwork Career Alliance
The Woodwork Career Alliance of North America was founded in 2007 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and is governed by a volunteer board of directors. The WCA’s mission is to develop and administer a unified set of Skill Standards for the wood products industry. Since 2011, WCA has developed observable and measurable performance standards and assessments for more than 300 woodworking machine operations. In addition, WCA has issued over 4,000 Passport credentials, a portable, personal permanent record documenting each holder’s record of woodworking skill achievements. More than 150 high schools and post-secondary schools throughout North America are WCA EDUcation™ members and a growing number of woodworking companies have joined the WCA as MANufacturing™ members. To learn more about the WCA and how to get involved with its programs, including sponsorship opportunities, visit WoodworkCareer.org.

Young Cabinetmakers Strut Their Stuff at SkillsUSA

 

The reverberating buzz of saws cutting wood in the cavernous Georgia World Congress Center was music to Kent Gilchrist’s ears, technical chair of the annual SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking competition.

After having been cancelled in 2020 and held virtually last year, the national SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking competition returned as a live event in June. Some 45 high school students and 10 postsecondary students from across the country travelled to Atlanta to put their woodworking skills to the test. Each of them qualified to participate in the national competition by virtue of being crowned champion of his or her respective state’s contest.

In the end, three high school students and three postsecondary students stood triumphantly on the podium to receive their medals. The 2022 SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking winners included:

Secondary/High School
Gold: Hayden Clarke, College Station High School, College Station, TX
Silver: Joseph Heuberger, Area Career Center, Hammond, IN
Bronze: Clay Beal, West Henderson High School, Hendersonville, NC (WCA EDUcation member school)

Postsecondary/College
Gold: Brigg Edwards, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT
Silver: Duncan McLeslie, Hennepin Tech College, Brooklyn Park, MN
Bronze: Alyssa Bealow, Madison Area Technical College, Madison, WI (WCA EDUcation member school)

SkillsUSA 2022 medclaists: Hayden Clarke, left, Joseph Hauberger, Clay Beal, Brigg Edwards, Duncan MacLeslie, and Alyssa Buelow.

“All-in-all it was a very positive experience,” Gilchrist said. “I think the students were excited to be back together again. Some of them competed in the virtual contest last year and now they are back together and competing live. You could tell that they really enjoyed being back together and being on a live stage with people watching them.”

The SkillsUSA Project
Gilchrist, a member of the WCA Board of Directors, has been involved with SkillsUSA for approximately 20 years as a member of the Architectural Woodwork Institute’s (AWI) SkillsUSA Committee. During the past 10 years he has pulled double duty by also serving directly with SkillsUSA as technical chairman of the cabinetmaking competition.

“The AWI SkillsUSA Committee is made up of industry professional who design the project for the contest and determine what tools, machinery, and techniques will be used to build it,” Gilchrist said. “We strive to design the project to match what industry is looking for in employees. We take into consideration what industry wants from an employee — the skills they need, and the machines and tools they use. We also look at the WCA Skill Standards as a guideline for the abilities that the students need and the expectations that we have for judging their performance at SkillsUSA.”

Gilchrist described this year’s project as an end table that included a cabinet with a skeleton frame. “It had contrasting solid wood and a top, with contrasting core material with a contrasting solid edge around it. There were lots of dadoes and half-lap joinery in solid wood.

“It was a challenging project from a number of perspectives because of all of the joinery involved and understanding the sequence of events that had to take place, how to read the drawings, and so forth,” Gilchrist continued. “I spoke to some of the advisors who were brand new to SkillsUSA and they were excited about being there and really appreciated how much more interesting this contest is than others they have been involved with. They start to understand more about what they should be teaching. One of our goals is to show schools what industry is looking for.”

Students had 8.5 hours to complete their project. Whereas some rose to the challenge, others buckled under the pressure of performing before a live audience with the added stress of a time limit.

Industry Suppliers Step Up to the Plate
The challenges were not limited to the student contestants. The cabinetmaking competition organizers faced obstacles as well.

“It was obviously a challenge having not being able to be in person together for the last two years,” Gilchrist said. “We experienced some unexpected challenges, some logistical and some related to finding replacements for some of the suppliers who decided not to return this year. But with every change comes opportunity and our team came through. We made new connections and brought in some new sponsors to our contest. Grizzly Industrial is now part of the contest and is very much interested in participating more in the future. SCM participated by providing the edgebander and taking part in the student orientation.

“One of the biggest changes was with the joinery the students used. Colonial Saw provided us with six Lamello Zeta P2 biscuit joiners. Another new sponsor, Rockler Woodworking, provided dust collection for the machines.”

2022 SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking Competition Contributors
American Packaging
Blum
Boyce Highlands
Darlington Veneer
DeWalt Power Tools
Flexible Materials
Grizzly Industrial
Hafele
Irwin Industrial Tools
Lamello/Colonial Saw
Richelieu
Rockler Woodworking
Rugby Architectural Building Products
Sawstop
SCM North America
Woodwork Careeer Alliance of North America

2022 SkillsUSA Cabinetmaking Competition Committee
Kent Gilchrist, Fremont Interiors, SkillsUSA technical chair/AWI SkillsUSA committee member
Kristine Cox, Rowland Woodworking, AWI SkillsUSA committee chair
Tony Aubin, Aubin Woodworking, AWI SkillsUSA committee member
Ted Robinson, Technique Manufacturing, AWI SkillsUSA committee member
John Volpe, Volpe Millwork, AWI SkillsUSA Committee member

More About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference is the annual showcase for the best career and technical education students in the nation. This multi-faceted convention features the SkillsUSA Championships. where state champions from across the nation compete head-to-head for bronze, silver and gold medals in over 100 different trade, technical and leadership competitions.

Cabinetmaking was one of 16 manufacturing competitions at SkillsUSA held June 22-23, 2022, in Atlanta. There were 107 student SkillsUSA contests, each held with the help of industry, trade associations and labor. More than 6,500 students competed. They were supported by nearly 2,000 judges and contest organizers.

The competition and meeting space occupied 1.79 million square feet of the Georgia World Congress Center, equivalent to 31 football fields or 41 acres.

SkillsUSA will return to Atlanta June 19-23, 2023. Learn more at SkillsUSA.org.

President’s Message – Passport Credentialing Program Going Gangbusters

WCA is truly experiencing a breakout year for new candidates entering our Passport credentialing program!

As of early May, we have issued Passports to over 750 new candidates. In addition, we have already awarded 336 credentials to students and professional woodworkers.

I believe the video we produced with AWFS and AWI last year has really helped our industry attract young people into the woodworking profession and made parents aware of all the viable careers in the secondary wood processing industry.

video
play-sharp-fill

Speaking of young woodworkers, the SkillsUSA National Cabinetmaking competition is just around the corner. It will be held June 20-24 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. The AWI and WCA are among the proud partners of this annual event. If you have a chance to attend, so so. I guarantee that you will be totally amazed by the skills demonstrated by students of all levels.

Speaking of the Georgia World Congress Center, IWF 2022 is just around the corner. WCA Board Member Bruce Spitz and I will present a three-hour nuts-and-bolts workshop focused on helping woodworking companies develop in-house training programs.

The session, “Building a Training Program for Your Workers,” will be led by Scott Nelson, president of the WCA, and Bruce Spitz, former owner of Classic Millwork & Products and a member of the WCA Board of Directors. It is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

We’ll also be on hand at the WCA’s booth #10946. Stop by and learn more about our nationally-recognized Passport credentialing system, Woodworking Skill Standards, and opportunities to help us develop and grow a skilled woodworking workforce.

I hope to see you there!

Scott Nelson
President
Woodwork Career Alliance of North America
snelsonwca@gmail.com

Welcome New Members & Sponsors!


The Woodwork Career Alliance of North America is pleased to welcome two new EDUcation™ member schools, one new MANufacturing™ members, and 10 renewing INDustry™ Sponsors.

Thank you for your membership and support!

New EDUcation™ Members
All Hands Boatworks, Milwaukee, WI
Green Hope High School, Cary, NC

Find WCA EDUcation™ woodworking programs in your area.

New MANufacturing™ Members
MJB Wood Group LLC, Dallas, TX

INDustry™ Gold Sponsor Renewals
Daniels Olsen,
A Metro Hardwoods Company, Sioux Falls, SD
KCD Software, Cataumet, MA
National Building Material Distributors Association, Chicago, IL
Stiles Machinery, Grand Rapids, MI
Thermwood, Dale, IN
Wurth Group NA, Vernon Hills, IL

INDustry™ Silver Sponsor Renewals
Aiken Controls
, Lenoir, NC
CR Onsrud, Trautman, NC
Sorrelli Woodwork Consultants, Brooklyn, NY
WDLusk Consulting, Lancaster, TX
Weima America, Fort Mill, SC

View all WCA INDustry™ Sponsors & Supporters.

Learn more about the benefits of becoming a WCA sponsor.

Video: Cat (Ross) Cole Discusses Her Project Management Career

Cat Cole, then Ross, talks about her role as a project manager at Wisconsin Built. She also traces her pathway to a career in woodworking, including the training she received at Madison College’s Cabinetmaking and Millwork program.

Watch the video.

Read Cole’s Long & Winding Road Leads to a Woodworking Career.

Hedges Finds the Best of Both Worlds Teaching Woodworking

Instructor Chris Hedges goes over details for a project with the first students of Hocking College’s Cabinetmaking program Zane Drebus and Austin Ward. Photo by Delia Palmisano

The instructor of Hocking College’s new Cabinetmaking and Architectural Millwork program finds a job that melds his skills and passions.

Chris Hedges is an educator turned woodworker turned woodworking educator.

Hedges instructs the new Cabinetmaking and Architectural Millwork program at Hocking College in Nelsonville, OH. The two-year program, an EDUcation member of the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America, began in Fall of 2021. As if launching a degreed woodworking program wasn’t challenging enough, Hedges has also had to contend with doing so during a global pandemic.

“I started with three students, but now only have two,” Hedges says. “I think there have been a lot of factors for the low enrollment. The pandemic is only one of them. A bigger factor is that we didn’t get final accreditation for the program until about three weeks before the start of the first semester. We couldn’t advertise it as a degree program until we were accredited. While it’s been a slow start, I think it’s been the best for everybody. We’re already on track for at least three or four more students this Fall.”

Shifting Gears and Careers
Hedges has a Masters in Philosophy. He was in his third year of teaching philosophy and sociology courses full time at Ohio University when he caught the woodworking bug.

“It’s funny. I’ve heard other cabinetmakers say, ‘I grew up in woodworking. My great grandpappy did this,’ Hedges says. “I’m totally the opposite of that. My dad and grandfather were both doctors. They could barely hold a hammer. But I was fortunate to grow up in a house full of antiques. That gave me an appreciation for things made by hand that manifested when my daughter, Aedan was born in 2004. That’s when I suddenly felt this impulse to make something.”

The experience of creating a Craftsman-style dresser proved to be cathartic. Hedges gave up his teaching gig and enrolled at the University of Rio Grande’s Fine Woodworking program, intent on becoming a custom furniture maker. His instructor was master woodworker Lonnie Bird.

“It was a very traditional furniture making course; we used lots of hand tools,” Hedges says. “We mainly focused on making reproductions of classic pieces and a little bit on basic residential cabinetmaking.”

Chris Hedges won the Peoples’ Choice Award for his Penn Secrertary in the 2007 AWFS Freshwood compeition.

During his second year of the program, Hedges was a winner of the Fresh Wood student design contest at the 2007 AWFS Fair in Las Vegas. His “The Goose” Penn Secretary not only took first place in the Reproduction category for postsecondary contestants, it won the Peoples’ Choice Award.

“It took me nine months to build,” he recalls. “It was a nice validation of my new career choice.”

Like countless woodworking start-ups before him and since, Hedge’s first shop was a garage. “I was making nice reproductions, but it just wasn’t enough. I wasn’t making enough money. I had a young daughter, so I took a job working for Woodcraft down in Knoxville, TN. It was a fantastic experience because it helped me learn the business side of things.”

Hedges moved back to Ohio and returned to woodworking, running a small cabinet shop out of a shared-use warehouse in Nelsonville. “It just so happened that the director of the association who ran the warehouse was connected to Hocking College. They brought me in and asked I if would be interested in writing the curriculum for a new cabinetmaking program. I said, “Hell, yes!”

“I did all of the research, did all of the paperwork, and got lucky enough for everything to be accepted.”

WCA a ‘Perfect Fit’ for Hocking’s Cabinetmaking Program
Hocking College’s website describes the new degree opportunity as “a two-year intensive program designed to give students a hands-on education in the design, construction, and installation of commercial and residential interior architectural woodwork.”

Hedges says he signed his program up as a WCA EDUcation member because of its nationally-recognized credentialing program. “After looking at the few available options, it seemed like the WCA would fit right in with our program because their emphasis is primarily on technical skills. This isn’t a design college. Students are coming here to learn a set of technical skills and the WCA credentialling system recognizes the importance of those technical skills. A lot of times when students leave these programs potential employers really don’t care about what their portfolio looks like. What they want to know is that you know how to use the machinery and then they can teach you what they want you to build. WCA seemed like a perfect fit for us.”

Hedges quickly became one of the more active EDUcation members of the WCA. He was instrumental in advocating WCA certifications that plugged a gap between the basic Sawblade Certificate awarded in high school and postsecondary schools and the Green credential geared toward professionals. The result was WCA’s recent introduction of the EDUcore and EDU Green credentials. The former builds on the Sawblade certificate for more serious-minded students and the latter approaches the pro Green credential minus the shop hours that are too many for students to achieve in the vast majority of educational programs.

“Essentially, students who graduate from our program will be able to show a prospective employer a diploma and three separate certificates that reflect their progression of learning,” Hedges says.

Photo by Delia Palmisano

In addition to learning how to safely set up and operate woodworking equipment, students are exposed to cost estimating, creating cut lists, basic finishing and design. They are also required to take classes like English, Math, and speech to hone their soft skills.

“Coming from a background in philosophy, I see cabinet making as more than just putting part A and part B together,” Hedges says. “It’s a way to think about the world. We need to foster intellectual engagement as part of the learning process. If I can teach these kids to use their minds as well to use their hands, I consider that successful.

“The more subjects you can introduce students to, the more well more rounded and prepared they will be for the world,” Hedges adds. “Being a cabinetmaker isn’t just standing at a bench. You have to present ideas. You have to be able to effectively communicate instructions to somebody to make something. That speech class is going to give them the confidence to do those things.”

‘From Forest to Furniture’
Adding Cabinetmaking and Architectural Millwork to its program roster was a natural fit for Hocking College. The college already had Tree Care and an associate’s degree in Forest Management and a certificate program in timber harvesting and tree care.

Indeed, in addition to its complement of standard woodworking equipment housed in its 2,000-square-foot lab, the program has a Wood-Mizer sawmill and slab flattener, as well as a Nyle dry kiln.

“This program was developed on the idea of forest to furniture,” Hedges says. “Hocking College has 2,500 acres of hardwoods in its portfolio. Students at this college can literally be involved all the way from harvesting timber to making a final product. We’ve also partnered with Rural Action, which has created a program to reach out to local land owners in the region to develop a plan to harvest timber and have it milled at Hocking.”

High Hopes
Hedges is optimistic about the future of his program.

“In this region of Ohio, we ship out 80 percent of our lumber with no value added, They just cut it down and ship it out,” he says. “For years, people in the community have been trying to get some kind of program in place where we could add some kind of value to that lumber. There have been maker spaces and community classes but this is the first formal education opportunity for people in the area to add economic and social value to their lives without having to leave the area.

“That’s another huge issue. We suffer from this huge brain drain problem. We have four colleges within 45 miles of where I’m at now but there’s no industry down here, there’s no technology, so all of these graduates get shipped out. They get their diplomas and they leave. We’re trying to improve the economic lives of the people who live here and make use of the resources where it makes sense.

“We’re still in phase one of development where we’ve built it and now have to make it work,” Hedges says. “My fingers are crossed that we’ll hit our maximum of eight students really quick. Our workspace could be more than doubled at some point. That’s the carrot that I’m reaching out for.”

Learn more about Hocking College’s Cabinetmaking & Architectural Millwork program.

Female Students Sweep Gold Medals in SkillsUSA California Woodworking Contests

ANAHEIM, CA — SkillsUSA California hosted the State Cabinetmaking and Introductory Woodworking championships on Saturday, April 23 at Chaffey High School in Ontario, CA. Staff and industry volunteers from the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) and the Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM) served 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, Colonial Saw/Lamello, Decore-ative Specialties, Drawer Box Specialties, Edgebanding Services Inc (ESI), Grex Tools, Häfele America Co., Kemp Hardware, Royal Plywood, and Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM), a chapter of AWFS. For the first time in recent history, female students won the Gold Medal for both the Introductory Woodworking and Cabinetmaking contests, and a school from central California took home five of the six medals.

Introductory Woodworking Contest Supports First-Year Students
Twenty-one students from nine schools throughout California competed in the Introductory Woodworking contest. This contest is intended to introduce students to the SkillsUSA competitive environment and encourage them to return to compete in the Cabinetmaking contest the following year. Contestants are given a set of plans to construct a folding shelf. They had access to chop saws, drill presses, a band saw, jig saws, power drills, and hand tools to create the component parts and assemble the shelf in a six-hour time span.

Cabinetmaking Contest Prepares Students for Industry
The 2022 SkillsUSA California State Cabinetmaking competition hosted 22 students from 11 different high schools across the state. Students competed for medals and the opportunity to represent California at the upcoming SkillsUSA National Championships, which will take place in Atlanta June.

The students built a functioning cabinet that tested their skills using various woodworking machines. Students had access to the table saw, router table, edgebander, sliding panel saw, miter saw, and hand tools. Karl Frey from Colonial Saw introduced the students to the Zeta joinery system with a contest loan of a Zeta machine and a donation of Tenso connectors for all of the Cabinetmaking students. Local Blum representative Lee Schuette assisted the students in attaching their hinges using a Blum Minipress P and helped contestants install Blum Tandem drawer slides. Decore-ative Specialties donated the beautiful solid oak doors and drawer fronts for the contest, saving the students’ time and enhancing the project.

Cabinetmaking contestants had about three hours to review the plans and just six and a half hours to finish the project. Contest judges used criteria such as accuracy of measurements, safety, and use of tools and machinery to determine the scores. Not all students completed the project, but all contestants took home their cabinets after the event so that they could complete them if necessary.

Contests Made Possible Through Volunteers and Industry Donations
Materials for both contests were generously donated by Royal Plywood of Cerritos, CA. In addition to the Tandem slides and drawer hinges, Blum provided the students with tape measures and pencils. Drawer Box Specialties (DBS) provided pre-made dovetail drawer boxes that the students assembled during the contest. Häfele America donated the Hinges for the Introductory Woodworking contest and locking casters for the Cabinetmaking contest.  ESI donated the edge-banding and the knobs for the drawer and door were provided by Kemp Hardware. Prize packages for the top medalists were provided by members of the Society of Wood Manufacturing.

AWFS® and SWM are grateful to the team of volunteers who contributed their time to plan, organize, and execute the contests:

— Saúl Martín, Architectural Woodworking Company – Cabinetmaking Contest Coordinator
— Imelda Torres – Cabinetmaking Contest Support and Photography
— Karl Frey, Colonial Saw – Cabinetmaking Judge
— Diana Ramirez, Reborn Cabinets – Cabinetmaking Judge
— Kenneth Thomas, Inland Woodworkers – Cabinetmaking Judge
— Jorge Garcia, Ontario High School – Cabinetmaking Support
— Oton Gonzalez, Escondido High School – Cabinetmaking Support
— Charlie Rizzo, Ethan Allen – Cabinetmaking Support
— Lee Schuette, Blum Inc. – Cabinetmaking Support
— Mike Trejo, Inland Woodworkers – Cabinetmaking Support
— George (Randy) Zubieta, Oceanside High School – Cabinetmaking Support

— Adam Kessler, AWFS/SWM – Introductory Woodworking Contest Coordinator
— Devyn Bervid, Tecture San Diego – Introductory Woodworking Judge
— Nathaniel Hall, Made Lumber San Diego – Introductory Woodworking Judge

The project plans were developed by SWM and drafted by AWFS Education Manager Adam Kessler, along with support from Saúl Martín of Architectural Woodworking Company.

Congratulations to the SkillsUSA California State Student Medalists!
Kyleen Mitchell of Monache High School (Porterville) received the highest score and the Gold medal in the state high school Cabinetmaking competition and has been invited to represent California at the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Championships (NLSC) in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20-24, 2022, where she will compete against other top scoring high school competitors from other states. The Society of Wood Manufacturing raised the funds to cover Kyleen’s NLSC registration costs. Rounding out the Cabinetmaking medalist are two more students from Monache High School: Daniel Lopez earned Silver and Sebastian Corona earned Bronze. In the Introductory Woodworking contest, Maria Gamez of Monache High School won Gold, Jiarui Liu of San Gabriel High School (Alhambra) received Silver, and Marriner Christenson, also of Monache High School received Bronze.

SkillsUSA California Virtual Regional Contests Held Earlier This Year
In January and February, SWM volunteer members supported the SkillsUSA California Regional woodworking contests. Over fifty high school students competed in the regional Cabinetmaking and the Introductory Woodworking contests combined. The regional contests serve as a qualifier to determine which contestants will advance to the State Conference. Students had to build a project in their school shop and submit a video about the process. After the judges reviewed the contestants’ videos, the judges also interviewed each contestant via Zoom.

If you would like to learn more about SkillsUSA woodworking or participate in future SkillsUSA California woodworking events, please contact Adam Kessler at adam@awfs.org or (323) 215-0312 for more information.

To see information on the SkillsUSA California Woodworking competitions from AWFS  including photos, sponsor and volunteer information, contest plans, and results, click here.

About SkillsUSA: SkillsUSA is one of the largest national career & technical student organizations in the nation. It promotes job readiness with skills and leadership training and supports students entering skilled trades. Learn more at skillsusa.org

About SWM: The Society of Wood manufacturing (SWM) is a Southern California chapter of AWFS that supports local schools and students through SkillsUSA contests, donations, networking events, and much more. Learn more at awfs.org/education/swm

About AWFS
The Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS), founded in 1911, is a non-profit organization that wholly owns and produces the biennial AWFS®Fair. The largest trade association serving the entire home and commercial furnishings industry, AWFS has more than 400 members, including manufacturers and distributors of machinery, hardware, software, tooling, lumber, components, plastics, wood products and supplies for the woodworking industry including cabinet, furniture, millwork and custom woodworking products. To learn more, visit awfs.org.

Cole’s Long & Winding Road Leads to a Woodworking Career

Cat Cole competes in SkillsUSA Wisconsin in 2019 while a student at Madison College.

Cat Cole intended to become a stem cell researcher before a series of life-changing events led her to follow her passion for woodworking.

Three years ago, Cat Cole competed in SkillsUSA Wisconsin as a student of Madison College’s Cabinetmaking & Millwork program. Now a project management coordinator for Wisconsin Built, Cole returned to SkillsUSA Wisconsin last month, this time as a judge.

Cole’s career path has been anything but linear. Her journey has taken many twists and turns. Along the way she has grappled with the peer pressure of following her passion to learn woodworking. That pressure was made all the more intense because she is a woman. Considering that Cole once had her sights on becoming a stem cell researcher, working as a liaison between general contractors and Wisconsin Built’s production department says a lot about how much her life has been re-routed.

And she couldn’t be happier.

Cat Cole developed a love for woodworking early on by watching her father in his workshop.

An Early Love for Woodworking
“As a child I watched my dad build and fix things. I was fascinated by the fact that he could do that,” Cole recalls. “I was pretty much hands-on and definitely followed in his footsteps a lot. I asked for my own tools, so he got me this pistol grip saw that I would use to cut down these tiny boards to make who knows what. But it still felt cool to be in the workshop with him and doing the work myself.”

Cole’s interest in woodworking expanded during her years at Kromery Middle School of Middleton, WI. “I got my first formal exposure to woodworking there. That was the course that I poured most of my heart and soul into. I just found it so fascinating and so rewarding. The teachers made it such a great experience.”

“I was definitely one of the few females to take three years of woodshop,” Cole adds. “Everyone had to take woodworking in sixth grade, but not many girls were interested enough to take it as an elective in seventh and eighth grades.”

As much as she enjoyed woodworking, she passed up the opportunity to take woodshop in high school. “Growing up in a pretty well-to-do suburb of Madison, the expectation was that you were going to go to college to become a doctor, a lawyer, an investment banker or something else high profile if you wanted to e considered successful,” Cole says. “I focused my attention on science and math classes with the intention going into health sciences and took Spanish and orchestra as my electives.”

After graduating from high school, Cole enrolled at the University of Wisconsin Madison intent on earning a biochemistry degree and becoming a stem cell researcher. Her plans soon took a major detour. “During my freshman year I came down with some pretty serious health issues,” she says. “I had to withdraw from my studies to focus on getting my health under control.”

As her health improved, Cole went to work full time with the full intention that she would return to UW Madison to pick up where she left off. Then, just 20 years old, she bought a house. “I suddenly realized that I would be working for a while because I had a mortgage to pay.”

Cole bounced from job to job. After a stint in finance, she went to work in high-end diamond sales and then joined the commercial construction division of a large general contractor. “I thought it was pretty cool to be in the construction industry and to be able to walk on jobsites. Then I reached a point where I realized that I really needed to go back to school.”

At the age of 26, Cole returned to her health science roots by enrolling in Madison College’s Surgical Technologist Program. She had a 4.0 grade point average taking the prerequisite courses. “When it came time to apply for the clinicals I was told there would be a two-year wait. I thought about finding a temporary job for two years but it’s hard to back to school as an adult so I took other classes that interested me like art. Then I saw the Cabinetmaking and Millwork program and thought this might be a great opportunity to get back to something that I really loved doing.”

At Home in the Woodworking Lab
Cole began her first semester at Madison College’s Cabinetmaking program with a stomach full of butterflies. “I was on one hand really excited, but on the other very nervous being the only female in this room full of guys.”

Cole credits Patrick Molzahn, director of the program, and his brother, Jeff, who has since retired from teaching at Madison College, for making her feel welcomed. “I settled into my place and realized that I can do this and that the price and the love I feel then I completed a project was still very much within me. I started seeing all of these career possibilities because Patrick is so involved in the local woodworking community and setting up his students for success after they graduate. Everything began to click and I realized that I could make a career out of this, truly follow my passible and be happy.”

Cole progressed through the one-year technical program and especially enjoyed making her own face frame cabinets using the wide variety of industrial woodworking machinery at her disposal in Madison College’s well-equipped woodworking lab. “Being able to take all of those solid wood and panel products that start as a bunch of square and rectangles and turn them into a finished product is an incredible experience,” she says. “You are kind of speechless when you turn the last screw on a hinge and put your drawer on the slides and think, “Wow! I did that.”

Cat Cole served as a judge for the 2022 SkillsUSA Wisconsin competition.

As part of her education, Cole learned about the Woodwork Career Alliance’s skill standards and credentialing programs. She also earned her WCA Sawblade Certificate and Green Credential before graduating.

“The WCA skill standards are very eye-opening to the importance of having metrics to train someone and certify their knowledge to operate equipment. I think it’s very helpful to be able to show someone in a job interview that you have been evaluated to successfully and safely run particular machines. I intend to go for my Blue credential but I’ve been really too busy at this time of my life.”

Saying she’s “busy” is an understatement to be sure.

Cole graduated for Madison College’s Cabinetmaking & Millwork program on May 17, 2019, and started working at Wisconsin Built three days later. Last October she remarried. She and her husband spend their weekends renovating a a farm house they bought in a public auction.

“We stripped the house down to the studs,” Cole says. “I’ve been working on the kitchens. I cut and finished a butcher block countertop and now I’m installing a hardwood floor. There is no way that I could be doing this if not for studying at Madison College.”

Embarking on a Woodworking Industry Career
Cole says he originally had her eyes set on working in the production department when she interviewed at Wisconsin Built. The company operates out of a 220,000-square-foot facility. In addition to custom millwork the company’s prowess includes solid surface fabrications, metalworking and upholstery.

“I wanted to work on the shop floor and continue honing my skills But when I told them that I had worked for a general contractor previously they told me the open position with the project management team sounded like a good fit. I had to agree that it was kind of like this perfect marriage be take on the project management role because I had experience looking at shop drawings and working with engineering to actually make drawings in AutoCAD.”

Three days after graduating from Madison College, Cat Cole started working at Wisconsin Built.

Cole adds that her studies at Madison College better prepared her for the new role in giving her a better understanding of the nuances of the broad range of materials and operations required to efficiently execute a retail fixture or commercial millwork project. “There are various grades of laminates. When it comes to profiles can you use the same knives or do you have to grind new ones? Should the countertops be high-pressure laminate or solid surface? What are the best practices that will achieve the goals of the project, including budget considerations? It’s understanding these kinds of details that I would find harder to know If I hadn’t attended the Madison College Cabinetmaking program.”

Cole enjoys being part of a team and watching projects come to life. “It’s never boring. We’re doing new things all of the time,” she says, then adds, “My favorite project so far was working on the Jules Verne building at Epic Systems (in Verona, WI). “They have the zaniest campus you have ever seen. They have buildings with Harry Potter and Alice and Wonderland themes. The Jules Verne building incorporates 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days and other Verne novels. It’s super creative and super cooky. There purple and red here and bright green over there. There’s tons of curves and is extremely custom. Somehow it all comes together magnificently,”

Parting Words
Now that Cole has nestled into a career, she urges other women to considering the wood industry as a viable career.

“I want all of my fellow females out there to know that if you have the passion, you can do it. As much push back or negativity we might experience breaking into this field, there are also people cheering for you and wanting to see you win. The more of us that so through the process, the easier it will be for the coming generation of females to follow in our footsteps.”

Watch video of Cole discussing her career at Wisconsin Built and more about her woodworking journey.