The group Combining Resources for Advancement of the Furniture Trade, or CRAFT, said the possibilities are endless.

Workers and their bosses said they know for sure that the furniture industry is alive and well in High Point.

“We have grown over 50% in six years,” Ken Neves, general manager of furniture company KI, said. “We have the same number of people working here as we did six years ago, we have a long term commitment to the area. Our business was up dramatically.”

KI uses their High Point facility to create high end furniture for healthcare and universities.

Neves said every day his workers create furniture made in High Point, they are working to dispel the myth that furniture can't make it in North Carolina.

“We are surrounded by empty furniture buildings in this area of town that have followed importers, importing furniture, but their business is down,” Neves said. “There's nothing better than American made furniture.”

But Neves said as their workforce gets older and starts to retire, there aren't new workers to take their place. That's where officials at the CRAFT hope to make a difference.

CRAFT officials said they're working with industry leaders to train the next generation of furniture makers.

“The goal is, the companies that are involved will hire the folks as they come out of the training program not three months later, not six months later, but directly out of the program,” Joe Alston, team coordinator for CRAFT, said.

People enrolled in the program will complete 720 hours of training over 32 weeks and at the end they'll be ready to work in upholstery and sewing.

“They will leave with transferable skills,” Alston said. “They might not go into the furniture industry but Honda Jet needs upholsters and sewers.”

Neves said he needs all the trained workers he can get and in this economy, that's a good thing.

CRAFT is currently accepting applications to go through the upholstery and sewing training courses. All of the classes will be held at Guilford Technical Community College’s High Point campus and start in February. There are only 18 spots available.

Funding for the project is a joint effort of the federal Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Program (WIRED) grant administered by the Piedmont Triad Partnership, Greensboro-High Point-Guilford County Workforce Development Board, GTCC and the furniture manufacturers.