My kid is down in WPB, Florida. Long story short, he went down to work with the Miss Geico Racing Team, ended up starting his own business.
He's been starting it up for about 5 years now, always having work for somebody always available so he could make money. At 26, he's a true craftsman.
He builds custom exhausts for exotic cars - Lambos, Ferraris, R8, Porsche, etc. He sold maybe 50 systems/parts last year. Doesn't sound like much, but these things are in the $2k-$4k range each.
He also was given a contract with a Porsche cup car race team and parts reseller, making full exhausts for the race cars, 60 a year.
He also has a contract with a custom car manufacturer to build complete chassis for the cars. They want "as many as he can build". But I am guessing 52 a year.
And now one of the largest lambo dealers is going to be spotlighting his exhaust systems and components on their showroom floor.
A couple of examples of his work are in the pix below.
He's working himself to death; 15 hour days, 7 days a week for the most part. One of his buddies is leaving California to work for my kid, but he's a fabricator/machinist/fitter, not a TIG welder. Having him though will free my kid up to just weld, while his buddy does the fitting work. Notice, no bullshit filler rod welding - everything is fit to weld.The welds need to be pretty; these exotic guys do not want polished welds.
So here's the deal - he needs somebody to learn how to weld like this. He's afraid to hire a 3rd guy - he's afraid the work will run out. I suggested he contact the local high schools in the area to see if somebody wanted to "intern" with him. He likes the idea, because that is how he got started - the owner at a high-end fab shop near our place in Michigan gave him a chance and they taught him everything from machining, to programming to welding. DOD, Nuclear, exotic metals, medical etc.
But then again, those days of high school indutrial arts are just about dead and he nor I believe there's anything down there.
Anybody have any ideas? He does not want to hire another $25/hr guy right now until he feels comfortable with all the work finally coming his way. He knows if he find the right guy, he's going to have to pay 35 bucks or more and hour, but he does not want to commit to a pro right now. He knows where to find these guys - dairy welders, or just about any food plant stainless tubing welder.
What other talent pools are there? Any ideas on how to find a young guy or girl that wants to learn? My kid also says he really wants to help others out like he was helped.
He's been starting it up for about 5 years now, always having work for somebody always available so he could make money. At 26, he's a true craftsman.
He builds custom exhausts for exotic cars - Lambos, Ferraris, R8, Porsche, etc. He sold maybe 50 systems/parts last year. Doesn't sound like much, but these things are in the $2k-$4k range each.
He also was given a contract with a Porsche cup car race team and parts reseller, making full exhausts for the race cars, 60 a year.
He also has a contract with a custom car manufacturer to build complete chassis for the cars. They want "as many as he can build". But I am guessing 52 a year.
And now one of the largest lambo dealers is going to be spotlighting his exhaust systems and components on their showroom floor.
A couple of examples of his work are in the pix below.
He's working himself to death; 15 hour days, 7 days a week for the most part. One of his buddies is leaving California to work for my kid, but he's a fabricator/machinist/fitter, not a TIG welder. Having him though will free my kid up to just weld, while his buddy does the fitting work. Notice, no bullshit filler rod welding - everything is fit to weld.The welds need to be pretty; these exotic guys do not want polished welds.
So here's the deal - he needs somebody to learn how to weld like this. He's afraid to hire a 3rd guy - he's afraid the work will run out. I suggested he contact the local high schools in the area to see if somebody wanted to "intern" with him. He likes the idea, because that is how he got started - the owner at a high-end fab shop near our place in Michigan gave him a chance and they taught him everything from machining, to programming to welding. DOD, Nuclear, exotic metals, medical etc.
But then again, those days of high school indutrial arts are just about dead and he nor I believe there's anything down there.
Anybody have any ideas? He does not want to hire another $25/hr guy right now until he feels comfortable with all the work finally coming his way. He knows if he find the right guy, he's going to have to pay 35 bucks or more and hour, but he does not want to commit to a pro right now. He knows where to find these guys - dairy welders, or just about any food plant stainless tubing welder.
What other talent pools are there? Any ideas on how to find a young guy or girl that wants to learn? My kid also says he really wants to help others out like he was helped.