The Students at Clarke Community Schools, through their connection with the Clarke County Industrial Tech Advisory board, and facilitated by Clarke industrial tech instructor Mike Spalding, worked with the Miller Products Company team to help fabricate three unique, laser-cut signs in celebration of Miller’s history and the recent ownership transition from the McFarland family to the Richardson family. The signs, all designed, and laser cut by Clarke industrial tech students represent the historic “Since 1936” Miller Products Company logo and will go on to be finished by the Miller team.
“We were thrilled when Mr. Spalding reached out with the idea to have the students work through the design and fabrication,” said Kerry Richardson, Miller Products Company Owner, and President. “Their design and ideas for finishing will really add to the updates we’ve made around the plant and be a lasting representation of our partnership with our local students.”
Since 2017, the Clarke County Industrial Tech Advisory Board has been bringing local and regional manufacturers and employers together with Students from Clarke Community Schools. Each month, the board meets and discusses the future of industrial tech, from machining and manufacturing to fabrication and general business best practices. Students who’ve participated in the program have used the connections and the education they’ve gathered to take their first steps into careers after high school and beyond. the board has also been instrumental in helping the Clarke district acquire the necessary equipment and technology to keep the industrial tech curriculum current.
For the Miller signs, the Clarke students, through the SOLIDWORKS Computer Aided Design (CAD) program plotted out the design specifically for laser cutting table in the Clarke Industrial tech department. Miller Products provided the original art and sheet metal, and within a couple weeks, the students had it cut with precision into three, beautiful, 3-foot-wide steel signs.
The first sign, designed to be painted in high gloss with the Miller red and black now hangs in Mr. Richardson’s office above a historical display of Miller Products photos, parts, and documents like the very first Miller kickstand patient from 1938. The other two signs will be finished; one with a clear coat over the steel artwork – no color added, and two, a rough, ground-metal, industrial finish indicative of the source materials the Miller team uses in their daily manufacturing process.
“These students really did a spectacular job,” said Richardson. “The Clarke (industrial tech) program is churning out some real talent and the Miller team was thrilled to work with them.”
If you’d like more information about the Clarke Industrial Tech advisory Board program, you can reach out to the Clarke County Development Corporation, c/o Bill Trickey, Executive Director at 115 E Washington Street, Osceola Iowa 50213 or call 641-342-2944.