Bradbury Community and Outreach

The Bradbury Bowling Team was happy to participate in the 2nd annual Newton YMCA Bowl-A-Thon event in July. The tournament took place at Eastgate Lanes in Newton, where over 50 bowlers came together to raise $10,800 for the Strong Community Campaign. The fundraiser helps "provide life changing programs like SPLASH, Livestrong at the YMCA, Job Prep, Middle School-After School, Late Night, and income-based financial assistance for memberships" as Julie Colborn of the Newton YMCA states. We look forward to participating again next year!

This year, Bradbury is lucky to have 2 bright Welding Interns. In the third edition of our Series of Summer Intern Posts, we feature Chris Leddy and Jeremy Hett.

This year's class of Summer Interns sat down with CEO, David Cox, for lunch last week. Over sandwiches, they talked about their experience at Bradbury and thoughts about the program. The interns came armed with some tough questions and David shared his insight on life lessons. Jeremy Hett, Weld Intern, asked "What moment led you to this place in your life, David?" David shared a story of how as a senior in college he made a goal to run and lead a company one day. Although there were many challenges along the way, he has achieved his goal. He also shared some wisdom and told the interns to be life long learners. Luke Ratzlaff, Maintenance Intern, asked David for a list of books he recommended, and David did not let them down. After lunch, he provided them with a reading list consisting of work from Patrick Lencioni to John Maxwell. Discussions of work ethic, character traits, and hobbies allowed the group to connect. Although, the interns' time with us is short, we know that the experience they gain with us is essential to their future career success. 

In our second edition of our Series of Summer Intern posts, we introduce Zack Ledford, a Business Administration student from Hesston, KS that just completed his sophomore year at Southwestern College in Winfield, KS. This is Zack’s first summer working at Bradbury. Zack has been tasked with supporting the marketing department in varies ways. Some of the projects he has been working on are; working to update the group website, developing customer videos, and creating and publishing promotional materials to support the sales department. Zack has also worked to develop resources that help Bradbury with their strategic marketing plan. Matt Werner, Marketing Manager, said “Zack has jumped in and helped us with some of our day to day marketing duties as well as special projects. He is a quick learner and is genuinely interested in our company and its success.  He has brought some new ideas to the department which we appreciate.  Our goal is for Zack to learn as much as possible about what a career in marketing entails and contribute to the marketing and sales team.”

In the first edition of our Series of Summer Intern posts, we reintroduce Ethan Loyd, a Mechanical Engineering student from Galva, KS that just completed his sophomore year at Oklahoma Christian University. This is Ethan's second summer working at Bradbury. This time around, Ethan has been tasked with designing his own Rollformer. Some of his goals include detailing drawings, calculating speeds and horsepower, and analysis. One area Ethan has been focusing on recently is Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on his design. Ethan says that his reasoning skills have been tested on this project and he has found how practical mechanics and his classes play a role in his real world design. He also mentioned how helpful his coworkers have been and feels that he is gaining a lot of knowledge he can take back to school with him. 

The Bradbury Co., Inc. was proud to support a cause to help address the need for pre-packaged meals in a local community. Max Harman, a recent graduate of Inman High School asked for our support to address his town's need for cheap, nutritional meals for struggling families. His goal was to package 50,000 meals. He accomplished that task with the help of his classmates and donations from various sources. What an accomplishment for Max and Inman, KS! 

April is National Donate Life Month - To support National Donate Life Blue & Green Day, Bradbury employees were encouraged to wear these colors by the Wellness Committee. Employees and their family members have been affected by organ, eye and tissue donation. 115,000 men, women and children await lifesaving organ transplants. 95% of Americans are in favor of being a donor but only 56% are registered.

On April 20, we had the privilege of giving a tour to some bright, young Machining and Welding students from Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy. This week, we will again join these students for a Mock Interview event. Representatives from our Machining and Weld departments will coach them on interview etiquette and discuss career opportunities.