Memphis, TN – The National Hardwood Lumber Association celebrated the graduation of the 193rd class of the Inspector Training School recently. Four students completed the 12-week traditional program.
Dana Spessert, NHLA Chief Inspector and ITS Dean of Education, welcomed and thanked the families, friends, and employers who supported the students during their time away from home.
Gary Snider, father to Class President Michael Snider and himself a graduate of the 96th Class of the Inspector Training School, gave the keynote address. “You are going to leave the NHLA Inspector Training School with a unique opportunity. It doesn’t make any difference if you deal in square inch Hardwood lumber, or if you deal in dimensional lumber, panels, ties, or cants, the one common denominator is grade. They’re all marketed by grade, and that is what you have learned here. You now have a skill that the industry is clamoring for.” He then congratulated the graduates and challenged them to “take what you’ve learned at NHLA Inspector Training School and apply it in an industry at a company where you can not only make a difference but where you can grow as an individual.”
Class President Michael Snider addressed his fellow students, following his father’s remarks. “My grandfather built an amazing career through the lessons he learned at the NHLA Inspector Training School, and he laid the foundation for my father and my uncle to come here and also build great careers,” he stated. “I have no words to explain how proud I feel that I’ve been able to carry on the legacy of being a lumber inspector and being trained by the great minds at this School. I hope that one day I can give back to the NHLA all the things it has given my family and me over the course of the past three generations of Sniders.”
Graduates of the 193rd class were:
Sean Powell, B&B Sawmill
Michael Andrew Snider, Independent
Nick Todd, T.J. Moss Lumber
Austin Wuesten, Superior Hardwood, LLC
School Instructor Roman Matyushchenko presented the individual achievement awards.
Outstanding individual awards recipients were as follows:
Michael Andrew Snider, ITS Educational Foundation Award for Highest Overall Average
Benjamin Nicholas Todd, Howard Hanlon Award for Second Highest Overall Average
Michael Andrew Snider, Westside Hardwood Club Award for Highest Board Run Average
Sean D. Powell, NHLA Award for Best Attitude/Citizenship
Austin Andrew Wuesten, Lumberman’s Club of Memphis Most Improved Award
Michael Andrew Snider, Willard Scholarship Award
Enrollment is now open for the 194th class, which begins on January 5, 2021. To learn more about the program, please visit www.nhla.com.
The NHLA Inspector Training School has a proud and rich 70+ year history, graduating more than 7,500 students since its conception. The Program teaches the rules and applications of the NHLA grading system and prepares students for a career in the Hardwood industry. This unique program has earned worldwide respect, consequently attracting students from throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.
The world’s largest and oldest Hardwood industry association, NHLA represents companies and individuals that produce, use, and sell North American Hardwood lumber or provide equipment, supplies, or services to the Hardwood industry. It was founded in 1898 to establish a uniform system of grading rules for the measurement and inspection of Hardwood lumber. Since 1979, its headquarters have been in Memphis.
To learn more about NHLA, please visit www.nhla.com.
