GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ashley Frank is in the process of establishing a CNC machine in the Gene Haas Center for Advanced Machining at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay.
She’s got about eight more months before she gradates from the CNC Technician program.
“It’s been a lot of hands on,” Frank said. “This is a place you can feel comfortable making a mistake and then the instructor will come in behind you and say, ‘This is how you improve on this.’”
Frank said a sense of accomplishment is what’s drawn her to a career in manufacturing.
“I like to make the things we use every day. There’s something so satisfying,” she said. “You get done for the day and you know that it’s being utilized. The show ‘How It’s Made,’ it’s like doing that every single day.”
Haas Automation is one of the biggest names in the world when it comes to CNC machines and other automated equipment used by manufacturers.
The Gene Haas Foundation recently donated half a million dollars to the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Program.
Kathy Looman, director of education grants with the foundation, said the donations are part of an effort to keeping manufacturing in the United States.
“(Gene Haas) is very much a believer that a strong manufacturing foundation makes a country strong,” she said. “Without employees, manufacturing goes somewhere else where there are more people.”
College officials said the donation will be used to help students overcome barriers to education. That includes helping to pay for things like child care or tools needed for school.
“It will allow us the flexibility to work with students in the manufacturing programs on a case-by-case basis to make sure that we’re getting them the funds they need at the time they need it,” said NWTC President Kristen Raney.
The foundation is helping similar programs at other technical colleges in the state and around the nation.
“So many of these manufacturing programs are doing capital projects or just expanding their shops to provide more training,” Looman said. “Our scholarship program grows every year to accommodate the needs of the schools around the country.”
Frank said there’s no shortage of job opportunities in manufacturing. Donations like this resonate with her.
“The future is looking so much brighter with people like this and foundations like this that are actually pouring into the trades,” Frank said. “It also shows it’s not all about four-year degrees and doing all of those things. It’s okay to go get your two-year degree and go work with cool stuff like machines.”