Karen and Jim Morris gift laser cutter to Blinn’s A.W. Hodde Jr. Technical Education Center

Equipment puts Hodde Center on cutting edge of new technology for training students

June 5, 2026

Karen and Jim Morris have made sure – literally – that Blinn College’s A.W. Hodde Jr. Technical Education Center stays on the cutting edge of training future generations for marketable skills.

Through a $50,000 gift to the Blinn College Foundation, the Morrises have funded the purchase of a new laser cutter for the A.W. Hodde Technical Education Center. Laser cutters use high-powered beams to precisely cut, engrave, and mark materials such as metal, wood, acrylic, and plastic. Guided by computer designs, the equipment allows users to create detailed parts, patterns, signs, prototypes, and other projects with speed and accuracy.

The gift will provide students hands-on experience with advanced equipment used in today’s manufacturing and technical industries. The Morrises also established the Morris Technical Scholarship Fund, further supporting students pursuing technical education and workforce training at Blinn.

“We strive to provide our students with the latest industry standard equipment to train on,” said Cody Stelter, Assistant Dean of Applied Technology, Workforce, and Economic Development. “This type of training and education prepares them to enter the workforce with the most up-to-date, hands-on experience with the newest technologies that are found in industry.”

For the Morrises, the gift reflects a longtime commitment to education, workforce development, and the skilled trades.

“We’ve always wanted to help local students and local industry,” said Jim Morris. “It’s a big thing for us. We wanted to provide something that would help students and give them more opportunities. Learning new technology and skills is important. We’re very big in the trades. We need more tradesmen.

“We need more welders, plumbers, electricians. We talk about artificial intelligence and everything, but somebody still has to build it, and these are really good jobs for students to have coming out of school.”

Karen Morris said she and her husband, who now live in Industry, Texas, after moving to the state in 1981, asked Stelter what equipment would make the greatest impact for students.

“We talked to Cody and said, ‘What do you need?’ We didn’t know what we wanted to do,” she said. “We’ve been giving scholarships for about four years now, and we thought ‘What else can we do?’

“Scholarships are great, and they need those, but what about equipment? They presented the laser cutter proposal, and it didn’t really take us long to realize that’s what we wanted to do.”

Stelter said the new laser cutter, which has been delivered to the Hodde Center, will be used in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) classes to design and cut parts.

“The laser cutter can do some amazing things,” he said. “They can design, cut it out, and fabricate it at the same time. There are manufacturers where workers do nothing but cut components out. If you know how to run all of this equipment, you’re got a leg up. It puts us ahead of the curve as far as industry technology.”

The Hodde Center provides training in welding, construction management, health care, and machining. Stelter said welding and machining students will use the laser cutter immediately, and Blinn hopes to incorporate the equipment into construction management training as well.

“Mr. and Mrs. Morris have provided a state-of-the-art piece of equipment for our students to train on to be ready for the workforce and created a scholarship to help students financially going through these programs.,” said Gentry Woodard, Executive Director of the Blinn Foundation. “Blinn College Foundation is honored and appreciative of their gift.”

Stelter said he has an idea for the first use of the laser cutter.

“As a thank-you, we’d like to fabricate the Morrises’ names and mount it on the new laser cutter itself,” he said. “We thought it would be a nice thing to do.”

The Hodde Center opened in 2010 at the Brenham Business Center and was expanded in 2014 to add additional classroom and technical education space. It supports traditional post-secondary students seeking entry into their first career position, existing employees of local businesses updating skills and certifications, and transitioning employees working to better their skill set for the highly technical jobs that are in high demand.

For more information on certifications and associate degrees offered at the Hodde Center, visit www.blinn.edu/workforce.