SFIC Institute Pte Ltd was founded in 2010 as the official training and consultancy arm of the Singapore Furniture Industries Council. It came out of a straightforward observation: Singapore's furniture and design industries were growing, but the workforce development infrastructure hadn't quite kept pace.

The Institute set out to change that by building something solid, a pipeline of skilled, properly certified professionals who could carry the industry forward. From the very beginning, the ambition was to be more than a training provider. The goal was to be a long-term partner to the industry, committed to the unglamorous but genuinely important work of bridging education and practice.

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In 2011, SFIC Institute received its first major government endorsement. The Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) issued a Letter of Offer under the Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP), providing funding support for workforce training initiatives across the furniture and design sector. The programme ran from June 2011 through to March 2014.

It was a meaningful moment. Being recognised by a national workforce development body so early in the Institute's life was a signal that what SFIC Institute was building had genuine credibility. It also opened the door to the deeper, more structured government partnerships that would follow in the years ahead.

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January
WDA Letter of Offer: Appointed as Programme Manager for Industrial Design (Furniture) Industry training

July
SPRING Singapore grant awarded — SS$3,463,247 for Singapore Furniture Industries Capability Development Scheme

October
WDA Letter of Offer: Appointed as Programme Manager for Creative Industries (Industrial Design) Master Class

2012 was the year we landed three significant endorsements landed within the space of ten months.

In January, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) appointed SFIC Institute as a Programme Manager for the Industrial Design (Furniture) Industry, tasking the Institute with delivering competency-based training and assessments leading to the WSQ Advanced Certificate in Industrial Design and Design (Furniture).

In July, SPRING Singapore awarded a grant of S$3,463,247 under the Singapore Furniture Industries Capability Development Scheme, recognising SFIC Institute's role in building sector-wide capability across the furniture industry's workforce.

Then in October, WDA came back with a second appointment: Programme Manager for a Creative Industries (Industrial Design) Master Class, extending the Institute's reach to train educators, working professionals, and final-year design students at Institutes of Higher Learning.

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November
e2i CCAP (Carpentry Place & Train Programme) — $3,452,760 grant for 180 trainees (funding: Dec 2013 – Mar 2016)

Carpentry Takes Centre Stage
e2i Carpentry Place and Train Programme: $3.45 million grant for 180 trainees

In November 2013, SFIC Institute was awarded an e2i Training Grant of $3,452,760 to run the Carpentry Place and Train Programme. It was one of the most hands-on, people-centred initiatives the Institute had taken on to date.

The programme aimed to not simply training people, but to place them as well. All 180 participants were taken on as full employees at participating companies, then put through a structured curriculum covering classroom theory, vocational skills, and on-the-job training. By the end of it, they walked away with WSQ certifications, qualifications from Polytechnic West Australia, and a genuine set of trade skills covering everything from technical drawing to furniture assembly and machine operation.

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January
e2i Matured Workers Programme — $99,600 grant for 8 matured workers (funding: Jan 2016 – Dec 2017) e2i Place and Train Programme for Matured Workers: supporting 8 industry professionals back into work

In January 2016, SFIC Institute was awarded a further e2i Training Grant of $99,600 to run a Place and Train programme specifically designed for mature workers. These were people returning to the workforce, or making a considered move into the furniture and related trades for the first time.

The programme gave eight individuals structured traineeship opportunities at participating companies, backed by WSQ-certified training, on-the-job mentorship, and proper employment terms. Everyone started on a minimum monthly salary of $1,500, with increments tied to performance and time in role.

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Artisan Academy launched
Artisan Academy was established as a dedicated carpentry education brand, drawing on more than a decade of hands-on trade training experience. It was designed to make carpentry skills genuinely accessible to a new generation of learners, offering structured programmes that take craft seriously without losing sight of modern industry needs.

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Momentum Strategies launched
Momentum Strategies came to life as a consulting brand, helping businesses think clearly about workforce challenges, capability development, and organisational growth. It brings the same practical, sector-informed perspective that SFIC Institute has always applied to training, now pointed at the strategic questions businesses are actually wrestling with.

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