President’s Message: Get Involved & Help Us Grow Some More

As stated in our most recent press release, 2023 was WCA’s best year ever. We entered 1,391 candidates into the WCA Passport Credentialing Program and awarded 1,358 Credentials. I thank all of our WCA EDUcation & MANufacturing members that worked hard in 2023 to make this accomplishment possible!

This month we will begin beta testing the WCA’s first four online training modules as well as the WCA Overview Module, which is a prerequisite for taking any of the online courses. The four modules that will be subject to testing include: Math, Measuring and Layout; Wood Theory; Woodworking Fundamentals; and Milling and Machining. WCA will have the final versions of these modules ready for use by IWF 2024. Plan to attend our IWF workshop 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7. We will present ideas to help wood products business owners develop their in-house training programs using WCA Training Modules and Skill Standards.

WCA will once again offer financial assistance for teachers to attend IWF 2024 through our Greg Heuer EDUcation Scholarship Fund. WCA EDUcation member instructors can apply for a grant here. The WCA Education Committee will select up to 10 scholarship winners by the end of May.

We’re looking for a few good volunteers from education and industry to serve on our Education and Standards committees. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about these opportunities to help us develop and grow a skilled woodworking workforce.

Finally, later this spring WCA will issue a press release listing WCA EDUcation member high school and postsecondary schools that are graduating credentialed students who are interested in pursuing job opportunities in the wood products industry. The purpose of the press release is to connect students with potential employers. Feel free to contact me about how participating in this release might benefit your students and your program.

Sincerely,

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