Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs did a great job in reaching out to youth to get them exposed to the manufacturing industry through the grant money given to hold camps in communities like ours.
I’m writing to let you know about a wonderful Tech Camp that we conducted on the Green Bay campus that led to significant media attention for North East Wisconsin Technical College - and the process, heightened awareness of non-tradition career options for women. Many are familiar with the Tech Camp concept (we have been running these camps for years). But this one was a little different in that we had a national partner with this particular camp. Our partner was the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation and they provided us with a grant for $4,000 to help get a new generation of young people interested in “tinkering with things”. A division of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International, the goal of this foundation is to introduce manufacturing careers as a viable career pathway to our current young people. My name is Andy Clark - I helped get the grant and conducted the entrepreneurship component to the camp - teaching these young ladies about business concepts from customer focus to cash flow. With this fantastic grant, were able to create a one-of-a-kind Girls-only Tech Camp called Dream It, Scheme It, Make It, Take It. It was to be the largest girls camp of its kind in the nation! This was a jewelry tech camp that combined hands-on jewelry fabrication skills with basic business (entrepreneurship) skills. The camp ran for 4 days, running from 8:30AM – 3:30PM, July 19th - July 22nd, 2010. We got great media coverage. If you would like to see it, and see the ladies in action talking about their experience in the camp, please let me know. I've got the footage. NONE of this would have been possible without the help and financial support and amazing curriculum provided by the foundation. We thank the Nuts Bolts and Thingamajigs Foundation for all their support and help! Thank you for the opportunity to be involved. Andrew Clark Micro-Business Educator NWTC - Green Bay, WI
It was such a blast working with the kids. They all were excited and competitive when it came to building their robots. I hope this program continues for years to come.
I loved watching John Ratzenberger on Cheers. So when I heard he was going to on Mike Huckabee’s Saturday night show a few months back I could not wait to see what he was up to. Nuts Bolts and Thingamajigs is just a great idea to help revitalize manufacturing in America. I have been in manufacturing for 47 years from working on assembly lines as a kid to now owning my own business. Manufacturing is more than just making things; it is complex process that requires planning, design, finance, safety, environment, transportation, facilities and most of all different types of workers. For some it is like a family away from home for others it is like a military exercise for all it is a great builder of the American spirit of excellence through hard work and cooperation. What a great service John is offering to our children and grand children. God Bless you John for this wonderful endeavor for America.
Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation provided funding and excellent support for us to run a two-week welding, robotics and entrepreneurship camp, titled Camp Fusion, for foster youth. They provided a very well written curriculum for the entrepreneurship piece, and were quite flexible with the design of our program so that it would fit our local needs. They were responsive to questions and quick to offer help, even from one of the leadership staff who was out on a brief medical leave! The funding enabled us to pay the instructors, provide materials for the welding component, and provide food and refreshments throughout the camp. NBT Foundation provided each of the youth with a t-shirt. My time was provided in-kind to the project.