Gene Haas Foundation Gives Grants To Support Young Manufacturing Academies

The Gene Haas Foundation has awarded $65,000 in grants to various Arkansas colleges to conduct Young Manufacturing Academies early next month.

The academies will be held from Aug. 3 to Aug. 7, according to Kathy Looman, Executive Director of the Gene Haas Foundation.

Young Manufacturers Academies are designed to reach young people from grades 6 through 11 who are interested in technical professional careers in manufacturing. More than 600 young people participated in YMAs in 2014, Looman said.

The academies have received support from several companies including Entergy Arkansas, Albemarle Corporation and Lockheed Martin.

This year, the academies will be hosted by Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, SAU Tech in Camden, South Arkansas College in El Dorado, and UA Community College in Morrilton. An additional Academy is in development at Goodwill Industries Education Center in Little Rock.

In addition to a $15,000 grant awarded to the Associated Industries of Arkansas Foundation to support this year’s Young Manufacturing Academies, the Gene Haas Foundation made additional direct awards totaling $50,000 to Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville, Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale, Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff, North Arkansas College in Harrison, National Park Community College in Hot Springs, and College of the Ouachitas in Malvern.

These funds will provide operational support, supplies and curriculum for these Academies and promote technical learning opportunities for students, Looman said.

A state chamber official said the grants will help create more interest in manufacturing and other fields.

“Through the extraordinary support of the Gene Haas Foundation and cooperating colleges, the Associated Industries of Arkansas Foundation will oversee 10 Young Manufacturing Academies in 2015 to educate approximately 250 seventh-to-ninth grade students about the benefits of a STEM-related education and the opportunities within Arkansas’s manufacturing sectors,” said Randy Zook, AIA Foundation President & Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas President & CEO.