Reinke receives second grant

Nebraska awards Reinke Manufacturing 2019 Developing Youth Talent Initiative Grant — second consecutive state grant for irrigation company

Gov. Pete Ricketts and leadership from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development announced Reinke Manufacturing will receive a Nebraska Developing Youth Talent Initiative (DYTI) grant for the second consecutive year. 

The $22,000 grant will allow Reinke to partner with the local public schools served by Educational Service Unit No. 5 to encourage students to explore careers in manufacturing, information technology and math or science related fields.

“We are very proud to once again receive the Developing Youth Talent Initiative grant. Reinke has for many years supported youth educational activities and we are excited to have an opportunity to further enhance the education of students in our area,” Chris Roth, Reinke President, said. “We’d like to thank Gov. Ricketts for his continued commitment to engage students in workplace learning and career exploration.”

Three Nebraska companies were selected to receive the grants. 

Reinke will use the funds to create engaging science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career curriculum, along with a mobile learning lab that will reach up to 850 students through their Exposing Kids to Career Opportunities (EKCO) program. 

It will feature simulators to teach students about 3-D printing, welding, software programming and more. The ESU5 serves 10 Nebraska public school systems in three counties: Beatrice, Bruning-Davenport, Deshler, Diller-Odell, Fairbury, Freeman, Meridian, Southern, Thayer Central and Tri County.

“We are pleased to partner with Reinke in order to help close the gap on workforce education and provide middle school students an earlier opportunity to participate in career exploration,” Annette Weise, director of Center-Based Learning with ESU5, said. “Reinke has been very proactive with their outreach to education and we’re excited to build this program with them into the future.”

 “Our Developing Youth Talent Initiative is introducing the next generation of students to career fields where great-paying opportunities continue to grow,” Ricketts said. “The program helps connect kids with those opportunities, positioning Nebraska to retain more of the great people who have helped build the Good Life into the best place in the world to live, work, and raise a family.”

Launched in 2015, the DYTI creates collaboration between Nebraska businesses and public schools, connecting young Nebraskans in seventh and eighth grade to learning opportunities that can play an important role in their decision to build a career in the state. 

Exposing the next generation of leaders to learning opportunities and advanced skills for occupations in manufacturing and IT industries encourages an expanding statewide workforce. 

Since it began, 7,000 students in more than two dozen school districts have benefitted from the program. 

This year’s recipients will add up to 4,600 students to that total.

Last year, Reinke utilized the DYTI grant to buy equipment to help educate students on coding, robotics and mechatronics. 

One of the work stations featured a computer numerical control (CNC) machine, used to create parts of tools by utilizing computers to precisely machine different materials. 

As the world’s largest privately held manufacturer of center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems, Reinke has a long history of supporting and expanding educational opportunities for area youth:

•For the past two years, Reinke has sponsored a robotics team for students at Deshler Public Schools. The team took the state title this year and advanced to the First Tech World Championships in Detroit this spring.

•Eleven years ago, the company started welding programs for high school students in Deshler, Geneva and Belleville, Kan., providing welding equipment for hands-on learning. 

The welding equipment additionally provides adult education opportunities through night classes offered at the schools in cooperation with Southeast Community College. 

•In 2014, Reinke worked alongside the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) in Curtis to develop its Irrigation Technician Concentration and Certification Program, providing instruction insight and donating equipment and supplies, including a GPS-equipped center pivot to the NCTA field laboratory for hands-on learning. Reinke has also awarded scholarships for students enrolling in the irrigation technician program at NCTA.

•For the past 15 years, Reinke has awarded 137 scholarships to area students and children of their employees to attend college.

About Reinke

Reinke Manufacturing Co., Inc. is the world’s largest privately held manufacturer of center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems. 

Family owned since 1954, and headquartered in Deshler, Reinke develops products designed to increase agriculture production while providing labor savings and environmental efficiencies. 

Reinke is a continued leader in industry advancements as the first to incorporate GPS, satellite-based communications and touchscreen panel capabilities into mechanized irrigation system management. 

For more information on Reinke or to locate a dealership, visit www.reinke.com or call 402-365-7251.