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Around 1951, a young
Mechanical Engineer named Erv Nutter was trying to build a manufacturing
company. He was seeking ideas for products that would lend
themselves to his particular area of expertise...the bending and
forming of metal tubing. He needed to build his business
for another reason too. He had just put down $10 of "earnest
money" with a local bank in Xenia, Ohio, so that he could
purchase a 110-acre farm for he and his family. Having his
own company, as well as enough land to set up a farming operation
were two life-long dreams of his. Fortunately or unfortunately,
they were both coming to fruition at once.
With the Bank's deal
in hand, he knew that there was little time to waste. He
had land to farm and still needed business for his fledgling manufacturing
company.
As busy as things
were, Nutter decided to drive to Purdue University on an upcoming
weekend to hear Dr. G. N. Hoffer, a noted Agronomist of that School.
Dr. Hoffer would be speaking about soil fertility and plant growth
conditions...topics which Nutter knew he needed some knowledge
of fairly soon.
During the course
of Dr. Hoffer's talk, he emphasized the importance of soil sampling
to determine soil conditions and fertility prior to planting a
crop. Dr. Hoffer told the assembled group that he had a
fairly simple idea for a tubular soil sampler, but had not found
anyone interested in making it yet.
Following the seminar,
Nutter approached Dr. Hoffer to discuss his soil sampler concept
with him. It was decided that Nutter would go home and see
what he could come up with based on Dr. Hoffer's ideas.
Nutter knew that this "invention" would have to be far
more than some welded-together tubes that would rust out before
the next crop year came around.
Nutter drew on his
manufacturing knowledge as an engineer, and some of the things
he had learned about material selection, forming, brazing and
plating during his WWII days as Chief of the Test Branch of the
U.S. Army Air Force's Wright Field, in Dayton, Ohio.
What Dr. Hoffer and
Erv Nutter came up with is still pretty much the same soil sampling
instrument manufactured today by Nutter's sons, Ken and Bob, at
JBK Manufacturing and Development Company, near Dayton.
Over the years, Nutter paid a small royalty to Dr. and Mrs. Hoffer,
for each soil sampler that was sold. Literally thousands
of the instruments have been shipped around the world to Universities,
Golf Courses, Agricultural ministries in foreign countries, farmers
and others involved in agriculture who recognize and believe in
the value and importance of soil sampling and testing.
Erv Nutter did go
on to found his own Company and became highly successful in the
manufacture of tube assemblies, manifolds and related products
for General Electric's Aircraft Engine Group.
The Nutter Family
still manufactures precision metal products, at its ISO 9002 registered
manufacturing facility, including aircraft components for customers
such as: General Electric, Bell Helicopter, Rolls Royce
Allison and a host of other customers.
Our Family is very
proud of that...and is just as proud to still be the sole source
for the Hoffer Soil Sampler...guaranteeing to you the same integrity
of design, material, workmanship and durability that our customers
have come to expect for fifty years.
Sincerely,
JBK Manufacturing & Development
Company
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