SAN DIEGO, CA – A veterans' industrial training center, Workshops for Warriors, held an open house last month to demonstrate its current operation, which has quadrupled in size and includes CNC machining and CAD/CAM software used in the woodworking industry.

Since it opened a few years ago in a 7,500 square foot facility, it has grown to 28,000 square feet, and includes CAD/CAM training stations and CNC machine tools comparable in numbers to most technical education centers.

Over 70 of our veterans have earned 157 certificates and have been placed in manufacturing companies, according to Workshops for Warrors founder Luis y Prado, a former U.S. Naval officer.

“We enjoy a 100 percent success and placement rate," Prado says.

CNC Software, Inc., developer of Mastercam CAD/CAM software, and Haas Automation, whose CNC machines are seen in woodworking shops, have both stationed systems at the center, and were on hand at the open house to assist with answering attendees’ questions about the center’s systems and equipment.

Workshops for Warriors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that trains, certifies, and places veterans into manufacturing careers at no cost to the trainee. Eight-week courses lead to certifications in machining, fabrication, and welding, providing veterans with practical work experience in a real-world setting, says Workshops for Warriors.

Using no federal, state, or municipal funding, Workshops for Warriors (phone number is 619-550-1620) depends on U.S. industrial manufacturers for equipment and financial support. "Once our full funding target is reached, we will be able to graduate more than 950 veterans each year,” says Prado.

CNC Software, Inc. supplies software, curriculum, time, and other resources says Will Slota, educational applications engineer at CNC Software, Inc.

"Once I was able to grasp a larger vision of the kind of impact Workshop for Warriors delivers to our veterans, in the greater San Diego area and globally as well, it was inevitable that they would garner my complete personal, as well as professional, support."