Sedalia, Missouri – Jan. 18, 2021 –State Fair Community College Foundation recently received another $18,000 gift from the Gene Haas Foundation for the college’s Precision Machining Technology program. The Gene Haas Foundation’s primary goal is to build skills in the machining industry by providing grants and scholarships for CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine technology students and NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills) credentials.
SFCC’s relationship with the foundation developed about seven years ago when the college purchased nine CNC machines for its machining program from Haas Automation, Inc., headquartered in Oxnard, California. The company, founded by Gene Hass in 1983, is the largest machine tool builder in the western world, manufacturing a complete line of CNC vertical machining centers, horizontal machine centers, CNC lathes, and rotary products. (Source: haascnc.com)
“The Gene Haas Foundation is so much more than just a scholarship; it is truly a partnership between a top CNC manufacture and SFCC,” said Justin Wright, SFCC’s Precision Machining program coordinator and instructor. “The SFCC machining program sees Haas as a primary partner in creating one of the strongest Machining programs in the state of Missouri. This partnership, coupled with the drive for SFCC to offer the best technical training, is the catalyst that drives all of SFCC’s technical programs. The machining program at SFCC has positioned itself to be a direct pipeline to the Machining industry by recently hiring another full-time instructor, adding new equipment throughout the classrooms and shop space, not to mention the new Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center, which will double the size of the existing Machining and Welding programs.”
Haas created his foundation in 1999 because of a strong social conscience instilled in him by his family. The foundation awards grants and scholarships for CNC machinist training to high schools, community colleges and trade schools in the United States and Canada. The Gene Haas Foundation donates millions of dollars every year to manufacturing education and the community. In 2020, the Gene Haas Foundation provided more than $17 million in grants, bringing the total since inception to more than $100 million. (Source: ghaasfoundation.org)
SFCC’s Precision Machining Technology program offers Skills Certificates in Machinist Level I, a Professional Certificate in Machine Tool Technology, and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Manufacturing Technology with emphasis in Precision Machining Technology. Later this spring, the program’s classrooms and labs will be moving from the Fielding Technical Center into the new Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center. The new center will increase the college’s capacity to deliver workforce training to more students.
For more information about the program go to www.sfccmo.edu/machinetool or contact Wright at (660) 596-7392 or jwright4@sfccmo.edu. To learn more about the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center project and capital campaign, go to www.sfccmo.edu/OHWIC.
