2019 was a very productive year for WCA! We added 507 new individuals to our Passport credentialing program and awarded 418 certificates or credentials to individuals. This represents the largest number of credentials awarded in any one year in the history of WCA.

We’re looking to build on the success of our credentialing program by certifying more Accredited Skill Evaluators (ASE) beginning this spring. We’re accepting online enrollment for ASE training scheduled for April 17 at Madison College in Madison, WI. We’re also working on the date for ASE training at Western Technical College in La Cross, WI. Contact me at snelsonwca@gmail.com if you want to receive details when they become available. Our busy spring schedule includes private ASE trainings in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Also on tap in 2020, we will be concentrating on creating WCA 4.0. We are partnering with Woodworking Network on a survey of industry professionals throughout the U.S. and Canada. The results of this survey will help guide the development of WCA 4.0.

We’ll have more information to share about Industry 4.0 at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta this August. At IWF, WCA will offer a workshop on how to set up an in-house training program. Workshop attendees from all sizes and types of woodworking operations will receive a template that they can use to jumpstart developing a training program tailored to their specific needs. Plan on visiting us at IWF booth BC922.

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