Frank Hanley instructs a student at Susquehanna Valley Technical Institute’s new woodworking program.
America is undergoing a significant demographic shift in its workforce. We have experienced major labor-force transitions before, including the movement of millions of Americans from farms to factories and cities, the labor demands created by World War II, and the entry of the Baby Boom generation into the workforce. Today, we face the other side of that demographic wave as Baby Boomers retire, but none as significant as today.
The U.S. Census Bureau has identified 2030 as an important demographic turning point. By then, all Baby Boomers will be older than 65, and approximately one in five Americans will be of retirement age. These retirements will create tremendous opportunities for younger workers, but they will also create serious challenges for employers.
The problem is not simply replacing people. When experienced employees retire, companies can lose decades of institutional knowledge and technical expertise. This is particularly important in the skilled trades and manufacturing, where proficiency is often developed through years of hands-on experience.
How Did We Get Here?
For decades, young people heard a familiar message: “Go to college. Learn computers. That’s the future.”
At the same time, vocational education and traditional shop programs declined in many schools. The reasons were complex. The 1983 federal report A Nation at Risk called for higher academic standards and stronger graduation requirements, although it also recognized the importance of vocational education. Later policies, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, increased the emphasis on standardized testing and measurable academic performance.
Combined with budget pressures and a growing cultural preference for four-year college degrees, these trends contributed to vocational and technical education receiving less attention in many communities.
The timing was significant. The early 1980s were also the beginning of a technological transformation. Personal computers were rapidly advancing, Microsoft Word and Lotus 1-2-3 appeared, ARPANET adopted TCP/IP protocols that helped establish the foundation of the modern Internet, and computer science was increasingly viewed as essential to America’s economic future.
The message to young people was understandable: technology represented the future.
What we failed to appreciate was that technology would also transform manufacturing.
Today’s woodworking facility is not the shop many people remember from decades ago. Modern wood products manufacturing combines traditional knowledge with CNC equipment, computer-aided design and manufacturing, automation, advanced materials, robotics, production systems, and increasingly sophisticated software.
The future was computers. But computers did not eliminate manufacturing. They became part of manufacturing.
What I Learned from the Industry
My involvement in this issue comes through my work with industry trade associations. I serve as Richelieu America’s Organizational Development Director and liaison to organizations including the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association, Architectural Woodwork Institute, Cabinet Makers Association, Association of Closet and Storage Professionals, and National Woods Board Education Program where I serve as an advisor.
That involvement has given me insight into both the workforce problem and some potential solutions.
The North American wood products industry is large but highly fragmented. CCI Media reports that there are over 145,000 wood product manufacturing companies in North America. Fewer than 2% are members of a trade association. Most believe they can’t leave their shops to invest the time to gain more knowledge. Kitchen cabinets, architectural millwork, closets and storage, furniture, store fixtures, displays, and other segments frequently have their own organizations and priorities. There is no single governing organization.
Construction has been more successful at creating broadly recognized career pathways, apprenticeships, industry standards, and partnerships with high schools and community colleges. Wood products manufacturing would benefit from a similarly coordinated effort to develop the next generation of skilled workers.
A Pennsylvania experiment
My direct involvement in workforce education began through a chance encounter with a customer in Pennsylvania. That introduction eventually connected me with educators, business leaders, and government officials in the Sunbury area who were working to expand postsecondary technical education for a four-county region. This school, known as the Susquehanna Valley Technical Institute, will become Pennsylvania’s 16th community college.
Through my industry associations, I was already familiar with wood products manufacturing curricula, student and teacher certification, textbooks, lesson plans, equipment requirements, and the capital investment necessary to establish a training program.
The effort took more than two years and ultimately contributed to the creation of a wood-products manufacturing course that began instruction on August 24, 2026.
Included in this effort was the establishment of an advisory panel helping the school develop apprenticeship opportunities, advise on curriculum, and connect the program with industry resources and materials.
That experience demonstrated something important: industry does not have to wait for somebody else to solve the skilled-labor problem. Employers, educators, associations, and communities can work together to build solutions. This is the grassroots work that must take place in order to bridge the gap between education and industry.
Bringing the Idea Home to North Carolina
After my work in Pennsylvania, I realized that I was helping address workforce problems elsewhere while doing little about the same problem in the region where I live in North Carolina.
I volunteered to serve on the CTE advisory panel at Davie High School. The school has strong Career and Technical Education programs, including carpentry and construction, but does not currently offer a dedicated wood products manufacturing program.
That led me to Davidson-Davie Community College.
Davidson-Davie is already actively involved with local employers in developing workforce training and apprenticeship programs, including programs serving advanced manufacturing companies in the region. Given the Piedmont’s long history in furniture and woodworking, I believed there was an opportunity to create a program specifically focused on modern wood-products manufacturing.
I began contacting local businesses and formed an industry advisory group representing kitchen cabinets, architectural woodworking, store fixtures, displays, furniture, and related manufacturing.
Although much of the traditional casegoods furniture industry has disappeared from this region, woodworking has not. Cabinetry, architectural millwork, components, fixtures, displays, closets, and other wood-products manufacturers continue to need skilled employees. Upholstered furniture manufacturing also remains an important part of North Carolina’s economy.
The question became simple: Could we build a modern training pathway connecting these employers with people who want good careers?
From a Tape Measure to CNC
The proposed program at Davidson-Davie begins with one of the most fundamental skills in manufacturing: accurately reading a tape measure.
From there, students progress through woodworking fundamentals, safety, materials, machinery, production methods, and ultimately CNC technology and programming.
Just as importantly, students learn what it means to work in a production environment: safety, quality, reliability, communication, problem solving, teamwork, and personal responsibility.
The curriculum comes from the National Woods Board Education Program and is based on the educational model developed at The MiLL, the Manufacturing Industry Learning Lab in Colorado Springs. The three-phase program combines hands-on technical instruction with industry-recognized standards from the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America combined with an essential ecosystem of collaboration between Industry and Education.
Students can demonstrate their competency through WCA assessments and work toward industry-recognized credentials, beginning with the Sawblade Certificate, Core and Green credentials. The program also uses Modern Cabinetmaking as an instructional resource, while WCA provides standards and training for instructors who evaluate student competencies.
Davidson-Davie has secured a facility in downtown Thomasville and is working to obtain equipment, industry support, and students for a program planned to begin instruction in January 2027.
Manufacturing has Changed
The wood products industry recognizes that advanced skills and advanced equipment are necessary to remain competitive.
The modern woodworking plant is not your grandfather’s shop, or even your father’s shop. Today’s facilities increasingly combine craftsmanship with sophisticated manufacturing technology. CNC routers, automated material handling, optimization software, computerized saws, edgebanders, finishing systems, robotics, and digital production management all require employees who understand far more than how to operate a saw.
That is precisely why education and industry must work together.
America is wealthy enough to buy virtually any product that consumers demand. But there is no guarantee those products will be manufactured in America.
If we want them made here, we need people capable of making them competitively.
The Opportunity
The skilled workforce challenge will not be solved by one company, one trade association, one high school, or one community college. It requires employers, educators, associations, government, parents, and students to recognize that modern manufacturing offers legitimate, technically demanding career opportunities.
Four-year college is an excellent pathway for many students. It is not the only pathway to a successful career.
We need to give young people more choices and make sure they understand what those choices can lead to.In Davidson and Davie counties, we now have an opportunity to build one of those pathways for modern wood-products manufacturing.
The need is real. The curriculum exists. The employers are here. The educational partner is here.
Now we need industry to become involved.
Companies can help by providing equipment, materials, technical expertise, internships, apprenticeships, plant tours, instructors, financial support, and, ultimately, jobs for graduates.
If you would like to participate in building the next generation of America’s wood-products workforce, please email me: gleblanc@richelieu.com.
Gary LeBlanc is Organizational Development Director of Richelieu America. His involvement in woodworking workforce development initiatives extends through his participation with a variety of organizations including the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association, Architectural Woodwork Institute, Cabinet Makers Association, Association of Closet and Storage Professionals, and National Woods Board Education Program.
