WEDC awards Albany School District $25,000 Fab Lab Grant
Albany, WI. MAY 1, 2025 – Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) announced today that the Albany School District is the recipient of a state grant to fund new fabrication laboratory (fab lab) facilities, which will equip Wisconsin students with essential skills for the 21st century’s global economy. Albany was awarded $25,000 to expand and modernize their fab lab.
“Fab labs provide students throughout Wisconsin with access to high-tech equipment for hands-on experience and training necessary to prepare them for the jobs of the future,” Governor Tony Evers said.
“We are pleased to award more than $496,000 to 20 school districts today so they can establish or expand their fab lab programs,” Governor Evers said. “These great spaces for learning are of enormous benefit to students directly, of course, but also their communities by fostering collaboration, bolstering access to technology, encouraging innovation, and inspiring the next generation of leaders.”
WEDC’s Fab Labs Grant Program is designed to support hands-on learning in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) by assisting public school districts with equipment purchases such as 3D printers, laser engravers, computer numerical control routers, and plasma cutters for instructional and educational purposes.
“WEDC has invested over $5.5 million over the past 10 years to 133 school districts across the state, funding for the equipment necessary to help students learn high-demand skills, including technology, manufacturing, and engineering,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC.
“Fab labs benefit the students themselves with important technology and career skills, as well as Wisconsin employers, who will be able to find workers with the right skills to allow their companies to grow and thrive,” Secretary Hughes said.
Including Albany, 20 school districts throughout the state are being awarded over $496,000 in Fab Lab grants this year to establish or expand their fab labs.
“We will modernize our classroom space to allow for a better collaborative production experience. Our focus is on equipping our students with modern skills to match modern challenges as we continue to build our program,” Albany Superintendent Kurt Soderberg said.
Fab labs have the potential to benefit individual students, school districts, the surrounding community, and Wisconsin’s economy as a whole. For more information, visit WEDC’s fab lab resource page or follow #WIFabLab on Twitter.
About Albany School District
The Albany School District is committed to providing our students with a modern design and production experience. To maximize that opportunity and minimize the financial impact, we applied for a Fab Lab grant through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to support technology upgrades in our program.
Building a foundation of excellence in technical education requires a strong base of knowledge and skills. This space will serve our 6-12 students through middle school exploratory classes and high school technology and computer courses. Every middle school student will be able to experience the wide-ranging tools provided. We recently added a large-format printer, enabling students to produce stickers, banners, posters, and many other products on materials up to 54 inches wide. This upgrade offers hands-on experience allowing students to develop essential design and production skills to help them prepare for future career opportunities.
We also repurposed our desktop computers and moved to a more powerful and flexible laptop platform. This allows students to change their workspace to meet the challenges of a specific project. Our 6-12 students will be introduced to Adobe Illustrator and Versaworks beginning in middle school and continue to hone their skills throughout high school, resulting in the creation of high-quality printable designs to promote our school and community.
We will modernize our classroom space to allow a better collaborative production experience. Our focus is on equipping our students with modern skills to match modern challenges.
In recent years, we added video production software, 3D printers, and a plasma cutter to our array of modern tools. Students are regularly engaged in projects that serve our school and community. Many of these things wouldn’t be possible without the support of our WEDC partners.
About the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) leads economic development efforts for the state by advancing and maximizing opportunities in Wisconsin for businesses, communities, and people to thrive in a globally competitive environment. Working with more than 600 regional and local partners, WEDC develops and delivers solutions representative of a highly responsive and coordinated economic development network. Visit wedc.org or follow WEDC on Twitter @WEDCNews to learn more.