AHFA awards annual Furniture Foundation grants

The American Home Furnishings Alliance’s Furniture Foundation recently awarded $49,000 in grants to support furniture industry training programs.

“The Furniture Foundation was established in 1948 to fund research and educational initiatives aimed at improving management, manufacturing and marketing within the home furnishings industry. Since 1990, it has distributed more than $4.2 million,” says Patricia Bowling, vice president of communications.

The 2020 grants include:

• $12,000 to the furniture design program at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. The program offers a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial design focused on product development, environmental concerns and manufacturing requirements.

• $15,000 for 60 student scholarships to the Alexander Furniture Academy in Taylorsville, N.C., part of Catawba Valley Community College. The academy trains students for the upholstered furniture industry.

• $7,000 in scholarships to the Catawba Valley Furniture Academy developed in Hickory, N.C. The academy offers credentials in the areas of automated cutting, manual cutting, pattern making, sewing, inside upholstery, outside upholstery and spring-up assembly.

• $15,000 for 82 student scholarships at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute’s Furniture Technology Institute in Hudson, N.C. The institute trains for careers as industrial sewing machine operators and upholsterers.

The foundation accepts grant proposals in March each year. For more, visit www.ahfa.us.