Tag Archive for: WCA Board of Directors

Richard Christianson

President’s Message: WCA Membership Grows Amid Board Changes

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I hope 2023 is continuing to be a prosperous year for all. For WCA, 2023 is starting out with much of the same enthusiasm that we experienced last year when we enrolled a record 1,400 potential future employees in the WCA Passport Credentialing Program. We are once again on a record pace through the first two months of the year. I feel our education systems are finally recognizing there are valuable careers in the secondary wood processing industry and as a result, WCA EDUcation member programs are attracting greater numbers of students.

We’ll be looking to build our support with the woodworking industry this July at the AWFS Fair in Las Vegas. The WCA will offer a 3-hour workshop focused on providing information that companies can use to set up an in-house training program. We will also cover training resources that are available to WCA members as well as how to go about evaluating your employees’ progress.

Plans are also in the works for the WCA to conduct a workshop for woodworking teachers. The workshop will explain how to implement the WCA’s Skill Standards and Credentialing Program so that students can be evaluated to earn their Sawblade certificate and Core credential.

Through the support of our sponsors, WCA is offering financial assistance through our newly named Greg Heuer EDUcation Scholarship Fund to help EDUcation member instructors defray the cost of attending the AWFS Fair. Click here to apply for the scholarship. The WCA Education Committee will select qualifying scholarship recipients who apply by April 30.

On a personal note, I want to welcome Bruce Bagnall, construction teacher of Bowness High School of Calgary, Alberta, and John Stearns, Career Technical Education Director at Amity School District of Amity, Ore., to the WCA Board of Directors. I also want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to three colleagues who have retired from the board. Duane Griffiths, Greg Heuer and Mick McGowan each provided years of dedicated service and a multitude of contributions not only to the WCA, but to the North American woodworking industry as well.

Good luck to one and all!

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

Richard Christianson

Spitz Joins WCA Board of Directors

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NELLYSFORD, VA – The Woodwork Career Alliance of North America welcomes Bruce Spitz to the WCA Board of Directors. Spitz, is the owner of Classic Millwork & Products of El Paso, TX.

Spitz has a long history of leadership and activism with the Architectural Woodwork Institute. He is the immediate past president of the AWI and is immediate past chairman of the AWI Quality Certification Corporation. He has also served four years as AWI treasurer and a long list of committees, including chairing the AWI Education Committee.

“As a business owner, I’m concerned about the availability of a skilled workforce for our industry,” Spitz said. “Through my involvement on the AWI Board I have had a chance to work with the WCA and watch it develop a credentialing program that can help us develop the next generation of woodworkers.”

“We’re thrilled to have Bruce on the board,” said Scott Nelson, president of the WCA. “He has been supportive of the WCA since the beginning and has created an apprenticeship program for his own business that could be very instructional for a lot of woodworking companies looking for ways to sustain a skilled workforce.”

Spritz joins a board of directors that includes:

  • Duane Griffiths, chairman, retired president Stiles University;
  • Thomas Allott, manager, Stiles University;
  • Brian Bond, professor of sustainable biomaterials, Virginia Polytechnic Institute;
  • Kristine Cox, president, Rowland Woodworking;
  • Kent Gilchrist, director of operations, Purposeful Design;
  • Greg Heuer, retired director of education of the AWI;
  • Greg Larson, owner/director of New England School of Architectural Woodworking;
  • Scott Markwood, sales representative, Hafele America;
  • Mick McGowan, cabinetmaking instructor, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology; and
  • Patrick Molzahn, program director of Cabinetmaking and Millwork, Madison Area Technical College.

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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 240 woodworking machine operations. In addition, WCA has issued more than 2,500 credentials, a portable, personal permanent record documenting each holder’s record of woodworking skill achievements. More than 100 high schools and post-secondary schools throughout North America are WCA EDUcation™ members. To learn more about the WCA and how to get involved with its programs, including sponsorship opportunities, visit WoodworkCareer.org.