Master craftsmen impart wisdom on local students at award ceremony

Many local craftsmen share stories of their craft at the 5th annual Master Craftsmen Awards.

Georgia State Senator Butch Miller sat down with each one of the nine award winners in attendance at the Lanier Technical College Business Incubator at Featherbone Communiversity in Gainesville to ask them about their many years of experience in their respective fields.

Several high school students from Gainesville High and Lakeview Academy interested in becoming professional craftsmen were there to learn from those who have mastered the art and what benefits these career fields entail, as well as the impact craftsmen have on the economy.

“You’re really not creating wealth unless you’re making stuff or you’re mining stuff or you’re making stuff,” said Tim Evans, Vice President of Economic Development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. “We do so much in the economy to provide services to each other but these folks are actually building and making stuff and they are highly skilled at what they do.

“They are able to share with young people how they became masters at their trades, and that’s what this is all about.”

While the Master Craftsmen Awards was a ceremony to recognize those individuals in the community with outstanding skills in their trade, perhaps more importantly, it was a forum to potentially inspire students to take the trade school route and master a craft.

“When we talk about careers,” said Carroll Turner, Director of the Lanier College Business Incubator. “We forget this is a great career path and usually these guys make three to four times (more) than people with bachelor’s degrees.”

During the Q&A session with Miller, the master craftsmen were able to share their advice to the students which included having a positive attitude, believing in your abilities and not being afraid to fail.

Turner closed the ceremony by talking about the effect quality craftsman have on the United States economy.

“When you look at the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and this is talking about national growth,” Turner said. “Craftsmen make up 73 percent of our total national GDP.

“Think how important that is. I think people are just now getting around to understanding the importance of that.”