SkillsUSA is moving forward with plans to enter as many as 20 competitors in the 2011 WorldSkills Competition (WSC), contingent upon financial support. To date, five competitors have been selected to compete in Autobody Repair, Automobile Technology, Cabinetmaking, Car Painting and Cooking. To have adequate time for training and preparation of the team members, competitors will be selected from the 2009 SkillsUSA Championships. This will begin the new process of selecting the WorldTeam members more than one year in advance. Competitors for the 2013 WSC competitions in Germany will be selected from the 2010 and 2011 national competitions. For information on SkillsUSA’s participation in the WSC, please visit www. skillsusa.org/compete/worldteam.shtml. Photos and information regarding the competitors and sponsors to date will be posted soon.

The next WorldSkills Competitions will be held October 5-8, 2011 and will be conducted at the ExCeL London Exhibition and Conference center in England. The event will see almost 1,200 competitors from 52 countries compete in skills ranging from Landscape Gardening, IT Cabling, Wall and Floor Tiling to Restaurant Service, Mechanical Engineering Design and Floristry. Planning is underway and specific information regarding the program, schedules, housing, etc., will be posted on the WorldSkills London 2011 Web site, www.worldskillslondon2011.com as it becomes available.

SkillsUSA has contracted with Jon C. Gonzalez to serve as WorldTeam National Fundraiser. Jon is president and CEO of DC Charity Events and a former Wall Street investment advisor. Jon has extensive fund raising and special event experience as well as fund-raising course work from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He will be working closely with Eric Gearhart and Ada Kranenberg to coordinate fund-raising efforts supporting SkillsUSA’s WorldTeam 2011.

Jon’s work should not be confused with the CEO Champion of the Year fund-raising dinner to be conducted in New York City in October. That effort seeks to raise unrestricted dollars for SkillsUSA’s mission.

Don Hatton will continue to serve as the Technical Delegate to WorldSkills International for the United States and Ada Kranenberg has returned as our Official Delegate to WorldSkills International. Mark Claypool will repeat his volunteer role as Team Leader.

Tags: WorldSkills Competition, WorldTeam

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 5:52 am and is filed under Executive Perspectives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.