IWF 2012: Cabinetmaker Certification Classes

ATLANTA - The Cabinet Makers Association will launch its live core curriculum class schedule for CMA Professional Certification Program Wednesday, Aug. 22, at the International Woodworking Fair 2012 in Atlanta. A total nine classes will be offered that earn Continuing Education Credits and also count toward the CMA Professional Certification Program. 

Applicants completing the classes and successfully passing a exam earn the Certified Cabinet Maker designation from CMA. The program is available to any woodworker; they need not be association members.

The CMA announced the program a year ago and has offered select classes at other venues since then.This is the first time the entire core curriculum will be available live at one location.

The Certifed Cabinet Maker Professional Certification Program is detailed in a digital edition of the CMA Profiles magazine.

At IWF 2012, the core curriculum classes will be:

• Pricing 101 The Art of Pricing

• Marketing 101 Basic Marketing and Advertising Techniques

• Marketing 102 Business Strategies in Changing Markets

• Sales 101 Basic Sales Techniques

• Finance/Insurance 101 Seeing Beyond Numbers

• Finance/Insurance 102 Making your Business Attractive to Insurers  

• Finance/Insurance 103 Cost/Benefit Analysis Systems for Major Business Investments

• Ethics 101 Ethics for Shop Owners

• Wood 101 The Basics of Wood Properties, Sawing, Shaping, Gluing and Fastening

Sessions will be delivered by CMA members and other industry experts and will approach the subject matter from a business owner’s or manager’s perspective, according to Dave Grulke, CMA executive director. Though structured to support the CMA Professional Certification Program, classes are also open to any woodworker. Likewise the CMA members and to

"All sessions within the CMA Professional Certification Program curriculum are 100 percent business management related," says Grulke. Noting that even technical classes emphasize management evaluation and systems, rather than technique, Grulke says, "By approaching this program from an owner’s perspective, we will be able to offer the tools and techniques to enrollees in our program to take the guess work out of operating a successful, sustainable and ethical custom woodworking business."