Gus Lozana (far left) presents a $20,000 grant from GHF to Palm Beach State College Foundation.
Dave Thomas (3rd from left) presents a $10,000 grant from GHF to Immokalee Technical College.
Dave Thomas (far right) presents a $10,000 grant from GHF to Pinellas Technical College.
Three Florida based schools received a combined $40,000 in grants from the Gene Haas Foundation, which were presented recently by representatives of the Haas Factory Outlet Florida, based in Tampa. The schools receiving the donations included Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Immokalee Technical College in Immokalee and Pinellas Technical College in Clearwater.
Gus Lozana, Haas Factory Outlet Sales Engineer, presented Palm Beach State College Foundation with a $20,000 grant from the Gene Haas Foundation for scholarships that will go to students in the college's Machining Technology Program.
Palm Beach State College's Machining Technology Program is a 1,500-hour program accredited by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS). The college awards students who complete the program with a Post Secondary Adult Vocational Training Certificate. Opportunities for those with the certificate include manufacturing industry careers as machine tool operators, precision machinists, tool and die makers, CNC operators and programmers and quality control inspectors.
The Gene Haas Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to Pinellas Technical College's Machining and Machining Apprenticeship program. The generous grant will go towards defraying the costs of student certification tests. Dave Thomas, Sales Engineer with Haas Factory Outlet Florida, presented the check to Pinellas Technical College administrators, instructors and machining students on the Clearwater campus.
"Graduates of the Machining and Machining Apprenticeship at Pinellas Technical College are well prepared for employment as entry-level machinists and toolmakers, with experience operating and programing modern CNC machine tools," said a spokesperson.
Dave Thomas also presented Immokalee Technical College in Immokalee, FL, with a grant valued at $10,000, from the Gene Haas Foundation, for its Precision Machining program. The goal of iTech's program is to prepare students for careers as precision machinists whose primary responsibilities are to operate machine tools such as mills, lathes, grinders and CNC equipment. Training in CAD, CNC operation and CNC programming, as well as more complex machining skills and set-up work, are all part of the two-year program.
"The Gene Foundation was created in 1999 by Gene Haas, Founder and President of Haas Automation, Inc. and reflects Haas' commitment to the manufacturing industry in the U.S.A. and manufacturing education," said Kathy Looman, Foundation Administrator. "In 2015, the Gene Haas Foundation granted over $9 million dollars to manufacturing education in the form of scholarships."
For more information contact:
Gene Haas Foundation
2800 Sturgis Rd.
Oxnard, CA 93030
805-988-6979
info@ghaasfoundation.org
www.ghaasfoundation.org
Scott Myre
HFO - A Div. of
CNC Machine Tools
913 S US Hwy. 301 South
Tampa, FL 33619-4338
813-628-0665
www.haasflorida.com