Lincoln Electric Supports Welding Careers in Agriculture

Visiting officers from FFA met with company represnentatives to shed insight on the distinct impact agricultural education has on contemporary society and present the company president with an award for support and service.

Two student leaders from the National FFA Organization recently visited The Lincoln Electric Company (Cleveland, OH) headquarters to shed insight on the distinct impact agricultural education has on contemporary society.

They also shared a look into how companies can support the ongoing growth of agriculture careers now, and into the future.

Joined by FFA regional director Lori Randall, the student officers – Eastern Region vice president Joenelle Futrell, a junior at the University of Kentucky, and Western Region vice president Lindsey Anderson, a sophomore at Modesto Junior College in California – spoke with company employees and other guests on March 18 about the important role this organization plays in the United States.

Futrell, majoring in agricultural education and political science, and Anderson, an agriculture business and economics major, shared their own educational stories and how they have become involved with FFA, which has had a strong relationship with Lincoln Electric for more than 65 years.

The student officers also discussed how FFA has evolved over the years from a farming organization to one that covers a wide-range of agriculture-related majors, including agriscience, animal science, and agricultural mechanics, to name only a few. The organization now boasts 557,318 members that are ages 12-21, in 7,498 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“The Role of FFA has changed over time,” said Michael S. Mintun, Lincoln Electric’s vice president of sales for North America, who has served on the Sponsors Board of the FFA Foundation. “It is now the finest leadership development organization for young people in the United States.”

Throughout its long relationship with FFA, Lincoln Electric has sponsored numerous events and programs, including the National Agriculture Mechanics CDE program; two national proficiency awards in Agriculture Education and Agriculture Mechanical Repair and Maintenance; State Mechanics CDE programs; State Teacher Education Workshops; and State and Regional Agriculture Mechanics shows.

Welding plays a large, integral role in agriculture, particularly in the mechanics and agriculture education sectors.

The visiting FFA officers presented Lincoln Electric’s president of North America, George Blankenship with an award plaque honoring the company’s long-time support and service with the organization. In turn, the organization received two welding power sources – one to go to Futrell’s home chapter, the Davess County FFA in Kentucky, and the other to Anderson’s home chapter, the Escalon FFA in California.

www.lincolnelectric.com , www.ffa.org