June 2020
WMIA Educational Foundation Awards Over $35,000 in Scholarships
For a number of years, the Woodworking Machinery Industry Association’s (WMIA) Educational Foundation has awarded scholarships to those who want to study, and eventually pursue a career in, wood technology, machinery, and related fields. To date, the Foundation has provided more than $480,000 to assist talented students with furthering their educational and career goals.
This year, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees selected eight students to receive a total of $12,400 in scholarships. The Foundation also continued its scholarship endowment program (SEP) this year, in which it provided a fixed amount of scholarship funds to several schools, and the schools determined how many scholarships to award, and in what amounts. Five schools—Pittsburg State University, the New England School of Architectural Woodworking, Seattle Central College, Madison Area Technical College, and the École Nationale du Meuble et de L’Ébénisterie (ENME)—participated in the program, awarding a total of $23,000 in scholarships to 17 students.
The Foundation’s total award in 2020 was $35,400.
The 2020 scholarship recipients are:
- Matthew Arnold, Overland Park, KS – Pittsburg State University
- Kelson Claassen, Hesston, KS – Pittsburg State University
- Gage Davis, Dorchester, TX – Pittsburg State University
- Aiesha Goodlow, Seattle, WA – Seattle Central College Wood Technology Center
- Kyle Gorham, Baldwinsville, NY – SUNY Morrisville
- Jenny Hefferan, Madison, WI – Madison Area Technical College
- Thomas Hill, Rockford, MN –Hennepin Technical College
- Walter Iverson, Coon Rapids, MN – Hennepin Technical College
- Connor Jennings, Overland Park, KS – Pittsburg State University
- Andrew Laufenberg, Madison, WI – Madison Area Technical College
- Patrice Lavoie, Montreal, QC – École Nationale du Meuble et de L’Ébénisterie (ENME)
- Evan Martin, Seattle, WA – Seattle Central College Wood Technology Center
- Celeste McDonald, Seattle, WA – Seattle Central College Wood Technology Center
- Colman Momenee, Francestown, NH – Vermont Woodworking School
- Aline Moreau, Victoriaville, QC – École Nationale du Meuble et de L’Ébénisterie (ENME)
- Travis Perrett, Northampton, MA – New England School of Architectural Woodworking
- Sarah Provard, West Jordan, UT – Pittsburg State University
- Adam Reigel, Star Prairie, WI – Hennepin Technical College
- Madeline Samet, Chapel Hill, NC – NC State
- Aaron Schneider, Madison, WI – Madison Area Technical College
- Jared Spence, Seattle, WA – Seattle Central College Wood Technology Center
- Curtis Taylor, Peyton, CO – Pittsburg State University
- Theodore Vallente, Long Beach, CA – Cerritos College
- Kendra Van Polen, McBain, MI – Pittsburg State University
- Chris Wernimont, Overland Park, KS – Pittsburg State University
Bios on each of this year’s award recipients can be found here.
WMIA Welcomes New Board Members
WMIA wishes to welcome three new Board members, whose three-year terms on the Board officially began in early May. These individuals are:
- Victor Cortes, Altendorf Group America, Mooresville, NC
- Jeff Maguire, Maguire Machinery Group LLC, Aurora, OR
- Brett Reid, WEINIG/HOLZ-HER, Mooresville, NC
Rick Braun, Robotic Solutions LLC, was re-elected to a second three-year term.
The Association wishes to salute outgoing Board members Mark Craig and John Benjamin Henderson for their years of service. They will be recognized during WIC 2021.
2020 Wood Industry 40 Under 40 honorees
“Honorees of the 2020 Wood Industry 40 Under 40 have been announced by Woodworking Network. This year marks the fifth annual awarding of the 40 Under 40, which celebrates the next generation of industry professionals who are making an impact on wood products manufacturing in North America.
Those selected are considered by their peers to be innovators, achievers – and even disruptors – who demonstrate excellence in the categories of: productivity, profitability, social good, ingenuity, peer inspiration, product development, organizational leadership, or another area. More than 140 submissions were received and evaluated by a team of six Woodworking Network editors.”
Congratulations to Vanessa Navarro of Axalta Coatings Solutions, Kristen Riggs of Cefla North America, and Josh Shen of the CNC Factory.
To read the full article, visit Woodworking Network.
IWF 2020 Canceled
IWF 2020 has been canceled. The conditions and circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have made it impossible to stage IWF 2020 without endangering the health and safety of all exhibitors, attendees and the Atlanta community at large. Mark your calendars for IWF 2022, which will be held August 23-26, 2022. To read more, please visit the IWF website.
Virginia Tech Housing Report – April 2020
Virginia Tech – U.S. Forest Service has published its housing market commentaries for April 2020. These commentaries contain in-depth data and comments on the U.S. housing market.
The housing report is a free service of Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and the U.S. Forest Service. The reports are intended to help you gauge future business activity. All past housing reports are archived here.
To read past housing reports, click here.
Where Are They Now? Requests
To date, WMIA has awarded over $480,000 in financial support to students looking to continue their education in the wood industry. But once these scholarship recipients graduate, what happens to them? Do they stay in the industry or do they pursue another path? WMIA has recently begun profiling past scholarship recipients. We’re looking for more past recipients, so if you received a scholarship or know someone who has, please contact Olivia Mueting at [email protected].
Learn more about some of our past recipients by visiting here.
