Scholarship program turns into an annual initiative to help college students close the skills-gap to meet the growing requirements for quality talent.

CNC Machines announced today that applications are now open for the second year of its Manufacturing Scholarship. The program awards one scholarship, valued at $2,500, to college or trade students pursuing a degree in manufacturing or engineering-related area of study. For this year, CNC Machines decided to make its Manufacturing Scholarship an annual program moving forward.

CNC Machines was recently named to Inc. 5000's list of 2020's fastest-growing American companies for the second year in a row and introduced the CNC Machines Manufacturing Scholarship program in 2018. CNC Machines is a national used CNC machine marketplace that helps manufacturers buy and sell used CNC machines, such as CNC mills and CNC lathes.

"At CNC Machines, we are investing in educational assistance to satisfy the demands of technology and innovation in manufacturing. We have many deserving students, and we want to do what we can to award an exceptional recipient that will make an impact on tomorrow's skilled workforce," said CNC Machines CEO Curt Doherty. "Our vision is to help a student in manufacturing or enrolling in manufacturing to afford education, especially during these trying times of the pandemic."

Since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the US, the manufacturing industry has slowly shown signs of stabilization and steady job-back growth, but employment in manufacturing is 740,000 lower than in February 2020. Yet, according to a May 2020 report from PwC, 60% of manufacturing CFOS said they are confident of retaining critical talent when returning to the workplace (5% higher than the all-industry average)

"Our industry will face critical skills shortages over the coming years. Our manufacturing scholarship will help ensure there is one more trained and qualified applicant with in-demand skills to enter a pipeline of new talent for the industry when the economy rebounds. I believe we will see durable changes to manufacturing workflows that will bring quickly meet the need of many unfilled jobs today," said Mr. Doherty.

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must submit a 1000-1300-word essay via CNC Machines' online form and answer one (1) of the following questions:

1. What are some of the strategies the manufacturing industry should implement in order to grow its need for workers?
2. What evolving technologies can manufacturers adapt in their manufacturing process that can help them grow production without large financial impact?
3. What are some ways manufacturing companies can attract overseas contracts in order to increase the amount of new work for manufacturers?

To qualify for the CNC Machines Manufacturing Scholarship, applicants must:

Be enrolled at an accredited trade school, 2-year college, or 4-year university during the 2019 - 2020 academic year.
Be a student earning a degree in manufacturing, engineering, or related fields are eligible to apply.
Completed applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm (EST) on March 26, 2021, and the winner announcement on May 5, 2021.

For more information about the CNC Machines Manufacturing Scholarship and to apply, go to cncmachines.com/scholarship/apply.

About CNC Machines

CNC Machines is a used CNC machine tools marketplace that helps manufacturers buy and sell CNC machines. Since 2014, CNCMachines.com has completed over 2,300 successful transactions and has appeared in many publications.

Our mission is to help American manufacturers upgrade their technology. Through this process, we also contribute to re-building a stronger manufacturing industry. Our goal is to become the largest and most contributing used machinery dealer in the United States in order to better serve our primary mission.