Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Furniture Foundation Awards 4 Education, Training Grants
May 3,
2017 by Larry Thomas in Community / Charitable Support, Designer Weekly, Industry, Special Events 
The Furniture Foundation, a research and education fund administered by the American Home Furnishings Alliance, announced it has awarded grants totaling nearly $75,000 that will benefit education programs targeting rising furniture designers, factory workers and front-line manufacturing management personnel.
The 2017 grants included $9,000 to Appalachian State University; a pair of grants totaling $20,500 to the Catawba Valley Community College campus in Taylorsville, N.C., and $44,900 to Mississippi State University’s Franklin Furniture Institute.
The Appalachian State grant will continue the school’s scholarship program for furniture design students, funding three $3,000 scholarships for the 2017-2018 school year.
ASU’s furniture design program provides students with a bachelor of science in industrial design degree, focused on product development, creative problem-solving, environmental concerns and manufacturing requirements.
The two Catawba Valley Community College grants support the new CVCC Alexander County Furniture Academy.
One $5,500 grant is earmarked for the purchase of a new industrial sewing machine to help increase the training capacity in the Furniture Academy’s sewing class, while the second grant, in the amount of $15,000, will provide 60 scholarships covering the Alexander Furniture Academy’s $250 tuition for 30 students each semester.
The Alexander Furniture Academy is modeled after the highly successful CVCC Furniture Academy launched at the school’s main campus in Hickory, N.C., in 2015. Local furniture manufacturers designed the industry-driven training programs to prepare students for sewing operator and upholstering positions that are in high demand by the region’s largest employers.
A Furniture Foundation grant last year provided scholarships for the first 30 students in the Alexander County program.
The Mississippi State University grant will allow the Franklin Furniture Institute to offer four manufacturing management programs in Mississippi. Each will provide front-line supervisors in the furniture industry with basic training in the areas of modern manufacturing, leadership and management.
The course will be offered to up to 15 individuals in four different locations between August 2017 and July 2018. The training is presented at a manufacturing facility – rather than at the Franklin Institute – so that actual manufacturing issues can be addressed during study. Results of previously delivered programs include a stronger supervisory team with improved leadership skills.
The Foundation was established in 1948 to support research and educational initiatives aimed at improving management, manufacturing and marketing within the home furnishings industry. Since 1990, the Foundation has distributed more than $3.5 million in scholarships and grants.
Grant proposals are accepted in March each year. The Foundation board reviews the proposals and makes funding decisions in April.