Back in 1992 I was accepted to the now defunct Irl C. Martin Academy of Industrial Science. The Academy was a training program offered by Woodward Governor Company. How I got there was a bit of a long story, but suffice it to say I wasn't so smart in my younger days and didn't go to college. I thought this program would be a good way to get some education, and I probably wasn't wrong. Due to the dissolution of the Academy program Woodward Governor paid for my associates degree… and then unceremoniously fired me the day I graduated.
My time with Woodward was a bit ironic. Woodward used to be a very old school company. They provided doctors, barbers and made everyone wear neckties. I still remember sitting in my 6th grade reading class during career day listening to the WGC representative describe his work environment and thinking to myself I couldn't possibly ever work for such a draconian company. Eight years later I was a student in it's prize training program.
One other good thing did come out of my tenure there. Due to my employment there my sister was encouraged to join their recruit program. This was a summer internship for students starting in high school. For their first couple years they were members of the grounds crew (WGC was VERY proud of their grounds) and as they got older they were taken into the production floor. It was on this electrical production floor that my sister met her husband.
WGC originated in Rockford Illinois and the corporate headquarters were there. A couple times a year the brass in Rockford would get on the intercom and we got to listen to the CEO give an address to all the plants simultaneously. The running joke for employees was that 'God lives in Rockford'.
Imagine my joy when I found out that, as of January 1 2007, God is moving to Fort Collins.