{"id":2002,"date":"2026-04-09T13:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T13:15:23","slug":"from-classroom-to-career-inspiring-area-students-with-facility-visits-industry-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/news\/2026\/from-classroom-to-career-inspiring-area-students-with-facility-visits-industry-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"From Classroom to Career:\u00a0Inspiring\u00a0Area\u00a0Students with\u00a0Facility\u00a0Visits\u00a0&amp; Industry Insights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>ARCADIA, Wis.<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC (Ashley)&nbsp;recently hosted&nbsp;a series of Career Day events&nbsp;to inspire students local to&nbsp;the company\u2019s Arcadia&nbsp;facility about&nbsp;their futures and provide&nbsp;real-world&nbsp;career exposure.&nbsp;Nearly 100&nbsp;high school students from&nbsp;Arcadia, Blair-Taylor, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau,&nbsp;Independence&nbsp;and Whitehall&nbsp;explored&nbsp;career areas&nbsp;across the business.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During their visit, students&nbsp;engaged in&nbsp;the areas of:&nbsp;Design;&nbsp;Distribution and&nbsp;Transportation;&nbsp;and&nbsp;Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology.&nbsp;The groups&nbsp;toured&nbsp;Ashley\u2019s world-class&nbsp;facilities&nbsp;and workspaces, gaining first-hand&nbsp;insight&nbsp;into&nbsp;the industry and met with leaders across departments, sharing their skills, job&nbsp;duties&nbsp;and experiences.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students explored a range of opportunities&nbsp;during&nbsp;the Career Events:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Design\u00a0Day:\u00a0participants\u00a0stepped behind the scenes in the design studio\u00a0and showroom\u00a0where they\u00a0explored swatches, materials, and finished products while learning how\u00a0Ashley\u00a0design teams\u00a0turn\u00a0concepts into reality.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Transportation and Distribution\u00a0Day:\u00a0participants\u00a0learned about Ashley\u2019s advanced technology\u00a0systems\u00a0and\u00a0expansive\u00a0transportation network during their\u00a0tour of the distribution center and truck shop.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Advanced Manufacturing and I.T.\u00a0Day:\u00a0participants\u00a0gained a\u00a0real-world\u00a0look at modern manufacturing processes and 3D printing capabilities while exploring Ashley\u2019s manufacturing facility, Automation Lab, and Advanced Technology Makers Center.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBefore visiting Ashley, I didn\u2019t really know what to expect,&nbsp;but I was excited to get a better understanding of the industry,\u201d&nbsp;stated&nbsp;Cayden Platteter, Student, Whitehall&nbsp;School District. \u201cI liked touring the&nbsp;facility and learning&nbsp;how all the teams work together.&nbsp;If I get the opportunity&nbsp;again,&nbsp;I&nbsp;would&nbsp;definitely go&nbsp;back&nbsp;and I hope that more students get to experience a visit like this.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Career day provided a great opportunity for students to learn&nbsp;first-hand from&nbsp;designers&nbsp;at Ashley,\u201d&nbsp;stated&nbsp;Jenna Irvine, Art Teacher, Whitehall School District.&nbsp;\u201cDuring their visit they got&nbsp;a better understanding of the background of each designer, what they work on daily and how they started their design journey.&nbsp;Students&nbsp;enjoyed&nbsp;meeting with the team,&nbsp;touring the facility and left feeling inspired!\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ashley is proud to continue strengthening educational partnerships that add value to&nbsp;students and&nbsp;the communities. By&nbsp;providing meaningful&nbsp;STEM (Science, Technology,&nbsp;Engineering,&nbsp;and Math) based&nbsp;learning experiences for K-12 and post-secondary students,&nbsp;the company aims to help students envision and shape their futures while exploring diverse career pathways.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC&nbsp;<\/strong>(Ashley) feels that every person deserves more value for their money. Established in 1945, Ashley is the largest manufacturer of home furnishings in the world and strives to be the most innovative and competitive home furnishings company on the planet. From design through fulfillment, Ashley is committed to delivering the world\u2019s best home furnishing values,&nbsp;selection&nbsp;and service, and earning the loyalty and trust of its customers every day. Visit Ashley online at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ashleyglobal.com%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CEOttman%40Ashleyfurniture.com%7Ce95e36b47e9e48643cff08dc658b68e9%7C5a9d9cfdc32e4ac1a9edfe83df4f9e4d%7C0%7C0%7C638496896640541500%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=N6vpwF0STJPXovt91UxlUygmEtRd%2BJzJPlzNDlI0WkM%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.ashleyglobal.com<\/a>&nbsp;and \u201clike\u201d Ashley Furniture Industries on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAshleyFurnitureIndustries%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CEOttman%40Ashleyfurniture.com%7Ce95e36b47e9e48643cff08dc658b68e9%7C5a9d9cfdc32e4ac1a9edfe83df4f9e4d%7C0%7C0%7C638496896640554084%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=FXjfIH8kxAGu2qW64bvZDcRsT5ck6h%2BTt3WooTd%2FXE4%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ARCADIA, Wis.&nbsp;\u2013 Ashley Furniture Industries, LLC (Ashley)&nbsp;recently hosted&nbsp;a series of Career Day events&nbsp;to inspire students local to&nbsp;the company\u2019s Arcadia&nbsp;facility about&nbsp;their futures and provide&nbsp;real-world&nbsp;career exposure.&nbsp;Nearly 100&nbsp;high school students from&nbsp;Arcadia, Blair-Taylor, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau,&nbsp;Independence&nbsp;and Whitehall&nbsp;explored&nbsp;career areas&nbsp;across the business.&nbsp;&nbsp; During their visit, students&nbsp;engaged in&nbsp;the areas of:&nbsp;Design;&nbsp;Distribution and&nbsp;Transportation;&nbsp;and&nbsp;Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology.&nbsp;The groups&nbsp;toured&nbsp;Ashley\u2019s world-class&nbsp;facilities&nbsp;and workspaces, gaining first-hand&nbsp;insight&nbsp;into&nbsp;the industry and met with&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-04-april","category-71"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":75,"label":"04-April"},{"value":71,"label":"2026"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/900x360_Career-Day-2026.png?w=900",900,360,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Betsy Ottman","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/author\/eottman\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":75,"name":"04-April","slug":"04-april","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":75,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":71,"count":3,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":75,"category_count":3,"category_description":"","cat_name":"04-April","category_nicename":"04-april","category_parent":71},{"term_id":71,"name":"2026","slug":"2026","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":71,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":7,"count":14,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":71,"category_count":14,"category_description":"","cat_name":"2026","category_nicename":"2026","category_parent":7}],"tag_info":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/900x360_Career-Day-2026.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ashleyfurnitureindustriesllc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}