WMIA Honors Stanley, Koetter and High School Wood Educator
Click on the image to open
Click on the image to open
Commitment to Excellence in Technology: Bob Harold of Stanley Furniture, center; accepts the 2013 WMIA Commitment to Excellence Through Technology Award from Mark Sitz of Doucet Machineries, left; and Jason Howell of Weinig USA.
Click on the image to open
Commemorating the presentation of the 2013 WMIA Innovator of the Year Award to Koetter Woodworking are Jason Neafus, Hoosier Woodworking Machines, left; Brian Koetter; Tom Koetter; Jerry Koetter; and Jason Howell, Weinig USA.
Click on the image to open
Dean Mattson of North Salem High School, left, accepts the 2013 WMIA Educator of the Year Award from Andreas Muehlbauer of Stiles Machinery.

TEMPE, AZ - The Woodworking Machinery Industry Association (WMIA) presented its 2013 Wooden Globe Awards to Stanley Furniture, Commitment to Excellence Through Technology; Koetter Woodworking, Innovator; and North Salem High School, Educator of the Year.

The WMIA Wooden Globe awards were presented during the Woodworking Industry Conference held Apri. 22-25 in Tempe.

Commitment to Excellence Through Technology: Stanley Furniture
Stanley Furniture of Robbinsville, NC, was recognized for its reshoring iniative to bring production of its Young American wood furniture line from Asia to the United States.

To make this happen the company knew it had to invest in new machinery and technologies that would allow it to drive down production costs while maintaining high quality standards.

Bob Harold, in accepting the award for Stanley, recalled how he and his colleagues attended LIGNA Hannover in 2011 on a shopping spree. Significant investments included new packaging systems, finishing lines, material handling equipment and advanced rough milling solutions.

Innovator of the Year: Koetter Woodworking
Koetter Woodworking,Inc. a manufacturer of architectural mouldings and millwork based in Borden, IN, implemented a new business strategy to combat the Great Recession. The company consolidated operations, and invested in technologies and employee training that allowed it to reduce inventories and labor, while cutting lead times on orders in half.

Central to this new strategy, Koetter Woodworking created EnvisionIT; a profile library and architectural design program. EnvisionIT not only catalogs Koetter Woodworking's extensive stock residential and commercial millwork profiles, it also helps streamline the creation of made-to-orderr custom profiles.

A second-generation business, Koetter Woodworking manufacturing capabilities include mouldings, doors, stair parts, wood flooring and custom millwork.

Educator of the Year: North Salem High School
Dean Mattson earned a standing ovation for his acceptance speech for WMIA Educator of Year. The Cabinet & Woods Manufacturing teacher at North Salem High School in North Salem,provided a heart-tugging tale of how his program is changing the lives of many impoverished youths for the better.

North Salem High School's woodworking program uses a STEM and CTE Model that brings together cabinet manufacturing, mathematics, engineering and the business community.The wood shop operates as a cabinet factory, making products that are sold to help fund course expansion and improvements.

The program has been widely written about. Industry and local businesses have donated more than $650,000 to support it.

Learn more about the WMIA Wooden Globe Awards, including a list of past winners.

Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.