Knox County Career Center’s (KCCC) Precision Machining program recently received an $18,000 grant from the Gene Haas Foundation to support scholarships.
Scholarships are to be awarded to students who are currently enrolled or will be enrolling in a CNC Technology Training or CNC Machining-Based Engineering program. The criteria for determining recipients of these scholarships will be determined by the program’s instructor and/or advisory committee.
The Gene Haas Foundation was established in 1999 by Gene Haas, founder and owner of Haas Automation, Inc., to support the needs of the local community through grants to local charities like the Boys and Girls Clubs, Food Share, Rescue Mission, and others.
Seeing a growing need for skilled manufacturing employees industry-wide, the foundation expanded its mission to include support for manufacturing training programs throughout North America and beyond. By providing scholarship grants, sponsoring individual and team CNC competitions, and partnering with the best CNC training programs in the world, the foundation helps expand the availability of high-quality manufacturing technology training worldwide.
The Gene Haas Foundation donates millions of dollars every year to manufacturing education and the community. In 2022, the Gene Haas Foundation provided more than $27 million in grants, bringing the total since inception to more than $175 million.
“We are so thankful that our program has been awarded this grant. The Gene Haas Foundation is a staple of the manufacturing world when it comes to education. Not only have they made a very solid name for themselves in the industry but the fact that they cater to education is such a gracious thing. We are thankful and grateful!” said Joe LaFevre, KCCC’s Precision Machining instructor.
