Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Two representatives of the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America (WCA) will present a nuts-and-bolts workshop focused on helping woodworking companies develop effective in-house training programs at the 2022 International Woodworking Fair.
The session, “Building a Training Program for Your Workers,” will be led by Scott Nelson, president of the WCA, and Bruce Spitz, former owner of Classic Millwork & Products and a member of the WCA Board of Directors. It is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Georgia World Congress Center.
During the workshop, attendees will receive guidance for creating the first-year training template for new hires based on their production shop’s unique needs and incorporating the WCA Skill Standards.
They will also learn how to:
Attendees of this program are eligible for a $100 discount on a one-year MANufacturing™ membership of the WCA, a 40% savings.
“According to a workforce study we helped conduct last year, 40 percent of woodworking companies have no established formal training program for their production workers. Most companies rely on one-on-one mentorship, which can detract from production output,” Nelson said. “Considering how challenging it is to find and retain qualified workers, it really is essential that companies develop in-house training programs tailored to their specific requirements to minimize hiring headaches and hiccups on the shop floor.”
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 300 woodworking machine operations. More than 150 high schools and post-secondary schools throughout North America are WCA EDUcation™ members and a growing number of woodworking companies have joined the WCA as MANufacturing™ members.
Tags: COVID-19, North America, wood event, Woodwork Career Alliance of North America (WCA), woodworking, woodworking and manufacturing, woodworking industry, woodworking USA