MARION, IN - Advanced Cabinet Systems (ACS) has partnered with local schools and developed a program encouraging students to consider careers in the woodworking industry. The manufacturer of plastic laminate casework and retail store fixtures developed its myShop program as an extension of the Architectural Woodwork Institute’s (AWI) Adopt-A-Shop program. It involves hosting students and discussing careers in the industry such as sales, marketing, regulatory compliance, engineering, and carpentry. Students participate in discussions with employees in all fields of the woodworking industry and attend a guided facility tour where they will learn how a woodworking facility operates. ACS plans on expanding the myShop program to include job-shadowing and internship opportunities.

myShop was born in 2012 by ACS in response to many schools discontinuing woodshop in their industrial arts programs. The firm saw a need to educate students who five and 10 years ago would have had the opportunity to take a woodshop class in school, says Marc Dunker, creative director at ACS. “With so many schools eliminating those programs, it’s becoming paramount for companies like ACS to get them involved in woodworking,” Dunker adds. “Not only did we want them to learn about woodworking, but also about the different technologies in a modern manufacturing facility such as ours.”

Wednesday, May 1, was ACS’s first myShop day with a group from the Crossing Educational Center in Marion, IN. “We’ve generated interest from the local schools with our program and are excited to have an opportunity to encourage young people to become interested in the vast career choices in the woodworking industry,” Dunker notes.