HAAS Foundation Awards $15,000 in Scholarships
The Gene Haas Foundation recently presented representatives from Nash-Rocky Mount Schools with three checks totaling $15,000. These funds will be used to support the NCC Foundation scholarship program. Scholarships will be given to students currently enrolled in, or who will be enrolling in, a machining-based training program at Nash Community College. Students in the Computer Integrated Machining or Engineering programs at NCC will benefit from the generous gift.
Pictured from left: Nash Rocky Mount Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelton Jeffries, Board of Education Chair Reginald Silver, Phillips Corporation Sales Engineer Steve Price, Board of Education Vice Chair William “Bill” Sharpe, Nash Rocky Mount Schools Director of Career and Technical Education Pamela Lewis.
In 1999 Gene Haas founded the Gene Haas Foundation. Growing up with a strong social conscience instilled by his family, Haas initially formed the foundation to fund the needs of the local community and other deserving charities. Haas is the owner Haas Automation, Inc., America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools, which he started in 1983. Haas Automation is a now a billion dollar company and this extraordinary growth has all come in an era when American’s were being told that the United States doesn’t manufacture anything anymore. Those perceptions and decisions made in our education system regarding vocational education have led to dire statistics. A recent report called The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing 2015 and Beyond projects that, “over the next decade, nearly three and a half million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled, and the skills gap is expected to result in 2 million of those jobs going unfilled.” Gene’s commitment to the importance of U.S. manufacturing has incited him to grow his personal foundation and direct his foundation board to focus on manufacturing education in the form of scholarships for CNC machinist training. Grants are also funded that help some strong technical programs that teach these skills grow and expand.
