The WCA Board of Directors held its biennial face-to-face meeting in April. It was a day and a half full of information sharing, brainstorming and future planning.

We were joined by representatives of the National Woods Board (NWB) and worked out final details for a strategic partnership, a fellow non-for-profit organization that is reformatting the MiLL Method curriculum for use by high school and postsecondary woodworking programs throughout the nation. As a result of our agreement, the NWB will incorporate the WCA’s skill standards and credentialing program in the woodworking curriculum. You can read more about this exciting announcement here.

I am pleased to report that Brian Bond, a long-time member of the WCA Board and Professor of Sustainable Biomaterials at Virginia Tech, is our new chairman. In addition, Mark Smith, industrial technology teacher at Reed-Custer High School, is new chairman of the WCA Education Committee. Mark and his committee’s first job was to vet the seven applications we received from woodshop instructors for scholarships to defray the cost of attending IWF. Read our press release. Meet the entire WCA Team.

All of the board members present at our April meeting participated in a demonstration of the new online training modules presented by WCA Vice President Greg Larson. The modules are now being beta tested by a select group of wood products manufacturers. We look forward to using the testers’ feedback to improve the training classes. We anticipate rolling out the first four modules, as well as the WCA Overview Module, later this summer. They include:

• Math, Measuring and Layout;
• Wood Theory;
• Woodworking Fundamentals; and
• and Milling and Machining.

We’re happy to be teaming up with IWF once again to present a workshop dedicated to developing or improving an in-house woodworking training program. I hope you will join us at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7. WCA Board Member Bruce Spitz and I will share our knowledge, including how to incorporate the WCA skill standards and online training modules into a training program. All of those who attend the workshop will have the opportunity to join the WCA as a MANufacturing member for $100, a $150 savings off the annual membership fee.

It never gets old to report that WCA schools continue to credential candidates at a record rate! This spring semester, WCA schools entered 1,185 candidates into the Passport Credentialing Program and awarded 1,010 credentials.

Finally, I want to thank the new Woodwork Industry Association (formerly the WMMA/WMIA) for their continued support of WCA!  Their fundraising efforts at the Wood Industry Conference (WIC) and the actions of their board of directors resulted in a $5,000 donation to WCA. This support is extremely important for the continued success of WCA and our mission of a trained workforce in the secondary wood processing industry.

Stop by and see us at IWF booth BC424.

Sincerely,

Scott Nelson
President
snelson.wca@gmail.com