Founded in 2000 by Phil Stevenson, AWFI provides training, consulting, and process engineering services to the coatings industry. Headquartered in South Boston, VA, AWFI has worked with companies all over the United States, as well as with companies in Canada and Europe. Through the use of state and federal grants, AWFI has been able to train incumbent workers in order to upgrade their skills and provide them with pathways to better jobs and higher wages. In addition, AWFI has served in a consulting capacity to many companies in order to help them achieve a higher level of profitability and sustainability by streamlining their processes, developing standard operating procedures (SOP’s), installing quality control systems, upgrading their equipment, or researching and developing new products. During the past few years, AWFI has been asked to provide environmentally sound solutions, such as working with water based finishes and using green technology and techniques to lower VOC’s and reduce waste and reworks.
Contact References
Grants Obtained for Companies Throughout the United States through the following:
Southern Virginia Higher Education Center
Halifax County Industrial Development Authority
California Community College/San Bernadino Community College District Economic Workforce Development
Georgia Institute of Technology/SETAAC
Workforce Florida/Florida Incumbent Workforce Training Program
Indiana Workforce Development Program/TAG
Grant Recipients/AWFI Vendor
Duralee Fine Furniture, Morganton, NC – Provided two weeks of training in Industrial I and II, Quality Control, and Antiquing and Glazing
Creative Wood Designs, Indiana – Two year contract to overhaul finishing department
Blue River Cabinetry, Indiana – Two year contract to overhaul finishing department
Smart Cabinetry, LLC, Indiana – Produced a quality control manual bringing Smart into FEMA compliance, allowing them to handle FEMA contracts
Other References
Northrop Grumman - Training & Process Engineering
Bombardier – Training & Process Engineering
LK Industries, Jacksonville, FL – AWFI created new finishing procedures and color development systems for their Starbucks client; also wrote and implemented SOPs
Decore-ative Specialties, Monrovia, CA – Two year consulting contract to provide assistance with the design, engineering, and training on the use of a $5 million, 100% Green water based finishing system
Burger Boat Company, Manitowoc, WI – Retainer contract to provide assistance in the finishing department
Hodgdon Yachts, Eat Boothbay, ME – Contract to provide assistance and on-going consultation in finishing department
Millwork and More, NJ – Provided product development – stylized over 500 new designer finishes for new product line
U.S. House of Representatives – Training members of Larry Carter’s team in all aspects of Wood Finishing as needed.
Kemp Cabinets, Indiana – Designed and developed new marketing strategy to diversify the product line – this included the production of over 500 new designer finishes
Wholesale Door – AWFI assisted with purchasing and setting up a new automated spray system
Crown Point – Provided performance testing and evaluations of the coated trial run test panels. Assisted with the selection of the coating vendors. Wrote and implemented SOP’s
Fleetwood Industries – Trained Spray Operators
Conestoga Wood Specialties – Trained Spray Operators
Other Affiliations
Some of the material and equipment companies with whom AWFI has done training or is affiliated with include:
ML Campbell
Graco
Renner Coatings
Becker Acroma
Krautzberger
Mohawk
EXEL/Kremlin
C.A. Technologies
Superfici America
Cefla
Acorn Equipment