Bradbury Community and Outreach

Construction crews have been hard at work building a new gymnasium, storm shelter and updating the interior and exterior of the facilities at Moundridge USD 423 schools after passing a bond issue (view time lapse here).  With Company headquarters located in Moundridge, KS, this project hits close to home for many of The Bradbury Group's employees.

http://alloyarchitecture.com/

The Bradbury Group has called Moundridge home for more than 60 years. As the world leader in Coil Processing and Roll Forming Solutions, Bradbury employees pride themselves on making top of the line equipment for our customers, which in turn make products you use and see every day. 

Upon taking a closer look at the materials used in the school bond project, employees were delighted to see components in use from Bradbury's customer base. 

https://www.usd423.org/bond

"It is always rewarding to be able to re-hire former interns" says Shonda Fast, Bradbury Recruitment & Employee Development Coordinator.

 Jeremy Hett spent the previous two summers as a Weld Intern, while he finished school, at Bradbury's Headquarters in Moundridge, KS. Hett is local to the Marion, KS area but relocated to Stillwater, OK while his wife finished her schooling.

In our Seventh edition of our Series of Summer Intern posts, we introduce Ethan Williams, an Automation Engineering Technology student at Hutchinson Community College. Ethan is from Arlington, KS.

In our sixth edition of our Series of Summer Intern posts, we introduce Austin Bickel, a Mechanical Engineering student at Kansas State University. Austin is from Buhler, KS but currently lives in McPherson. This is Austin's First summer working at Bradbury, but he did spend time with us this winter. Austin has been tasked with working half of his summer in the Assembly Department and the other half in Engineering. He has learned different assembly processes, as well as the engineering applications in assembling machines. Some engineering applications include, reading and interpreting engineering prints, finding the most efficient way to assemble, and learning how to improve the process. During his time in the Engineering Department, Austin has been working on a special concept project. He was tasked with designing both inboard and outboard fixtures to form a return lip on a cee purlin to 90 degrees. Part of the project parameters included the criteria of having four different parts be adjustable using pneumatic cylinders, pin locations, and on a centerline. Austin said "this was an extremely fun project and proved itself challenging in trying to figure out the most practical and most cost effective way to be designed". Gary Janzen, Mechanical Engineering Manager, said "The mechanical engineering internship is designed to give interns a feel for what is involved in a career in engineering.   Austin was assigned with the job of designing a roll tooling fixture. Austin has excelled in modeling components along with the required calculation.  Austin has a bright future in a career of mechanical engineering." 

In our fifth edition of our Series of Summer Intern posts, we reintroduce Cade Papes, a Mechanical Engineering student from WaKeeney, KS that currently lives in Wichita and is attending Wichita State University.  This is Cade's second summer working at Bradbury. This year, he has been tasked with working on a Garage Door project.  In this venture, he assisted other engineers with certain design elements, updated drawings, and completed a report compilation.  He was also given a mock project of his own once the first project was completed.  The task was to design his own rollformer and perform a stress analysis based on the specifications given to him by his supervisor, Gary Janzen. Cade will continue to work for the company part-time in the fall while he works to complete his degree in December. Gary Janzen, Mechanical Engineering Manager, said "The mechanical engineering internship is designed to give interns a feel for what is involved in a career in engineering. Cade has excelled in modeling components along with the required calculation. He has a bright future in a career of mechanical engineering." 

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.”