NIMS, the precision manufacturing industry’s premier standards and certification body, and the Gene Haas Foundation (GHF), which provides scholarships to schools for students entering technical training programs, are partnering to provide scholarship funds directly to the near-future workforce. The scholarships will be awarded to all SkillsUSA CNC competitors students.

During the week of June 19-23, nearly 150 students competed in precision manufacturing skills challenges at the 53rd annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). Competitors included high school and college students from nearly forty states who have won CNC Technician, CNC Milling Specialist, and CNC Turning Specialist state-level competitions.

At a June 20th luncheon celebrating the 145 CNC competitors and their educators, NIMS and the Gene Haas Foundation announced the continuation of the GHF-NIMS SkillsUSA Scholarship Program, which will award over $200,000 in 2017 scholarship funds. The GHF-NIMS SkillsUSA scholarship awards:

• $1,000 scholarships to all 145 competitors to support continued training in precision manufacturing
• $4,000 for all gold medalists, $3,000 for all silver medalists, and $2,000 for bronze medalists
• Free registration and waived test fees for earning up to four NIMS Level I CNC national skills credentials

“These students are the future of the manufacturing industry,” said Montez King, Interim Executive Director, NIMS. “Their skills, experiences, and work ethic will enable our industry to innovate and compete in the global marketplace.”

To view the medalists of the 2017 SkillsUSA CNC competitions, visit http://skillsusaregister.org/rpts/EventMedalists.aspx

About the Gene Haas Foundation

The Gene Haas Foundation was formed in 1999 to fund the needs of the local community and other deserving charities, at the discretion of its founder, Mr. Gene Haas. High on the list of priorities of the Gene Haas Foundation is supporting manufacturing education, which encompasses many types of programs that inspire and educate young people about careers in manufacturing. In addition, GHF provides scholarship funding for students to attend colleges that teach machining based skills.