Our own Luke Barnett stepped in and was today's program following news that our scheduled speaker was not able to be here today! The workshop now has 6 W2 employees and contract with 12 other people who teach classes and they have a great class starting next week. They are serving over 2,500 students this year.Experiencing growing pains which Luke said he is dealing with. One program is the Long-term Diploma program where students begin in September and go to school for an entire year (24 clock hours per week) which=h will earn them a diploma in furniture making. Last year 55 people applied and only 10 were accepted. They were all cash paying customers!
In an effort to offer more opportunities to more people, Luke said, they are going to hire 3 new staff members – head instructor, assistant instructor and a studio manager. “The demand for this program is great and has not even reached it’s full potential”. Coming up in 2022 – veterans will now be able to take the program through the GI Bill! They are working through the process of accreditation currently through the US Department of Education (Title 4 Designation) which is a 4-year process. They are now two years into it and hopefully to be completed in January 2024, vets will be able to use the Pell Grant. The two biggest hurdles are that they don’t have enough space nor enough manpower. Luke said that Planewave is willing to lease the workshop land that they could build on. Luke said that he is also pursuing seeking accreditation from schools who would give students college credit towards an Associate’s Degree!
Luke said that he is also working on adding a Timber Framing Program. Students would need to take 650 clock hours of training that is scheduled to be launched in the summer of 2023. The GI Bill and Pell Grants will also be able to be used for that, Luke said. The Timber Framers Guild originally approached him about this and advised him that he shouldn’t be worried about not having enough indoor space since it could be done outside.
Relative to the Veterans Program (Rotary Woodworking Warriors), Luke said there are currently 198 members and continues to grow very fast and keeping everyone busy. Every Wednesday during the program there are three staff members on hand to assist participants. They have partnered with the Community Health Association of SE Michigan who sends out a counselor once a month to help out. Luke said that the original goal was to raise $50,000 over two years which has been done with our club’s help. Luke hopes to expand the program through funding from the National Endowment for the Arts for up to another $50k.
Relative to investments the Workshop has made are a dust collection system made locally by Aget ($60k), installation of a new boiler ($30k which Planewave may cover), shipping containers etc. Luke mentioned the fundraising project that will be held November 11th. You can register on-line. It is a 0ne hour event. Roy Underhill from the PBS show “The Woodwright’s Shop” will be the guest host. Tickets are $10@. There will also be an auction featuring items made by local veterans which they donated. About 4 of the veterans also had a booth at the Clinton Fall Festival this year and marketed their own goods and made about $2,000 each, Luke said!
Another favorite program, he said, is their annual deer hunting trip at the start of the season. About 15-20 vets go each year. This will be the third year doing this. They rented a cabin and will go up north again and hunt for four days, play cards and drink beer!