Wausau School District Awarded Fast Forward Program

Monday, April 8th, 2024 -- 11:01 AM

Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), announced that 2,927 students in 17 school districts statewide will benefit from advanced manufacturing training in preparation for high-demand job opportunities thanks to grants from the Wisconsin Fast Forward Program.

The current round of Wisconsin Fast Forward grants from DWD totals $495,106 for school districts across the state to train students for career paths involving robotics, welding, plasma cutting, 3D printing, drones, and more.

These grants reimburse school districts for the costs of purchasing and installing technical education equipment used for vocational training and technical education in advanced manufacturing fields.

This includes the purchase of new equipment such as computer numerical control machines, robotic welders, fiber laser cutting machines, 3D printers, and more.

High school students will train in advanced manufacturing fields to prepare for stable careers while they obtain dual enrollment credits, industry-endorsed certificates, and technical endorsements on high school diplomas.

Advanced manufacturing refers to a family of manufacturing activities that depend on the use and coordination of information, automation, computation, software, sensing, and networking, and/or use of cutting-edge materials and emerging production capabilities enabled by the physical and biological sciences (e.g., nanotechnology, chemistry, and biology).

This involves both new ways of manufacturing existing products and manufacturing new products emerging from advanced technologies. The Wausau School District will receive $12,062.

The school district will use grant funds for an Afinia Dobot Bundle and FANUC ER-4iA Fenceless Robot CERT Cart, allowing students to use authentic industrial technology.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.