Redfield Ag Education Department Receives a $2,500 grant for Welding Technology Update

Redfield Ag Education Department Receives a $2,500 grant for Welding Technology Update

Grant provided by Farm Credit Services of America Working Here Fund
for Agriculture Education

HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA – Redfield Ag Education Department received a $2,500 grant for a welding technology update.  The grant is provided through Farm Credit Services of America’s (FCSAmerica) Working Here Fund.

Funds from the Working Here Fund grant will help to fulfill some of the needs of the Redfield Ag Education Department as they expand their agriculture education program.  Funds will help to purchase things such as 10 new wire feed/stick welders with a TIG option, a plasma table, two portable air filtration systems, two stand-alone plasma cutters, a new dust collector and a wire feed/stick welder simulator.   The new equipment will provide students with a hands-on safe experience and help them to gain the skills needed to enter welding careers.
“We will be providing job entry level skills to students that are interested in the welding area,” said Lynn Brace, ag education instructor.  “We have various businesses in town from manufacturing to implement dealers that are looking for individuals that are skilled in welding; we hope to meet that demand.”
The goals of the updated equipment include providing students with safe instruction on the proper use of equipment, job-entry skills in the welding area, and to share our advances in welding technology with students and the community.
“Supporting projects that positively impact the communities in which we live and work is one way we can give back to the people we serve and the rural life we value so highly,” said Michelle Pluta, vice president of retail operations at FCSAmerica’s Huron office.
Redfield Ag Education Department is one of 20 organizations to receive an expanded Working Here Fund grant. FCSAmerica awarded each organization up to $10,000 for a total of $100,470 to support projects focused on agricultural education, hunger and nutrition, young and beginning producers or essential services and rural disaster relief.
About Redfield Ag Education Department
The Redfield Ag Education is an 8-12 grade program that offers a variety of ag education classes to students to prepare them for the world of work.

About Farm Credit Services of America
Farm Credit Services of America is a customer-owned financial cooperative proud to finance the growth of rural America, including the special needs of young and beginning producers. With more than $26.5 billion in assets and $4.8 billion in members’ equity, FCSAmerica is one of the region’s leading providers of credit and insurance services to farmers, ranchers, agribusiness and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Learn more at www.fcsamerica.com.