San Diego, CA – At a recent open house held at their San Diego industrial training center, Workshops for Warriors hosted an audience comprised of business, community, and organization leaders gathered from around the country. They were there to honor Workshops’ founder, Hernán Luis y Prado, a former U.S. Naval officer, and to tour the facility, located across from the San Diego Naval Base. The center, which offers industrial manufacturing classes free of charge to U.S. service veterans, was established by Luis y Prado a few years ago in a 7,500 square foot facility, has grown to its current 28,000 square feet, and boasts enough CAD/CAM training stations and CNC machine tools to rival most technical schools.

Workshops for Warriors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and trains, certifies, and places veterans into manufacturing careers at no cost to the veteran. Eight-week courses leading to certifications in machining, fabrication, and welding provide each veteran with an opportunity to gain practical work experience in a real-world environment. With no federal, state, or municipal funding, Workshops for Warriors depends on the support of many of the country’s industrial manufacturers for the equipment and financial support they need for viable capabilities and growth. Representatives from CNC Software, Inc. (developer of Mastercam CAD/CAM software) and Haas Automation (CNC machine tools) were on hand at the open house to assist with answering attendees’ questions about the center’s systems and equipment.

“Over 70 of our veterans have earned 157 certificates and have been placed in manufacturing companies. We enjoy a 100% success and placement rate,” said Luis y Prado. “Once our full funding target is reached, we will be able to graduate more than 950 veterans each year.”

Says Will Slota, Educational Applications Engineer at CNC Software, Inc., “Lieutenant Luis Y Prado’s dedication, motivation, and commitment to his fellow servicemen are an inspiration. 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. I’m so proud to be affiliated with an organization like CNC Software, Inc. that has chosen to supply software, curriculum, time, and other resources to such a truly worthwhile cause.”

For more information, or to find out how you can help, please contact Amy Catalino at Workshops for Warriors, 619-550-1620, or email her at [email protected].

Source: Mastercam