Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry A collaboration involving Superior Tire and Rubber Corp., Warren County Career Center’s welding program, and Pennsylvania State Police resulted in target stands that will be used by police at the Kalbfus Club. Pictured from left are welding student Austin Hawk, Trooper Jeremy Allen, Superior Tire and Rubber Corp. Purchasing Analyst Michelle Cromwell, Trooper John Reken, and welding instructor Nate McNett.

A local business helped local students help law enforcement.

The Pennsylvania State Police were looking for some metal stands to hold targets for qualifying and other training.

Warren County Career Center’s Welding shop was looking for real-world projects to work on.

And, Superior Tire and Rubber Corp. was willing to provide materials for the students to work with.

Firearms Instructor “Trooper (Andrew) Goss got a hold of me and asked if we’d be willing to fabricate target stands,” Welding Instructor Nate McNett said.

The stands had to accept the 1-by-1 legs of the targets.

“The students, myself, and Trooper Goss came up with a design,” McNett said. “Once we knew what we wanted, I gave Michelle (Cromwell) a call.”

“Nate got a hold of me and asked if Superior Tire and Rubber Corp. would donate the material,” Cromwell, who is the purchasing analyst, said. “Superior donated all the material.”

Cromwell personally brought several 10-foot sections of square tube aluminum to the career center.

The students created a fixture to keep the construction consistent.

Then, they cut the aluminum to the right lengths and started welding.

They had to put a little more time and effort than usual into making sure everything was just right.

“Not all of what we do goes somewhere,” McNett said. “We were self-policing all the welds. We had our own inspection making sure we didn’t leave any imperfections.

“It was good to have something that was fun to work on, challenging, and had to be right.”

The material was not the most common for the students. “It gave them some good experience with aluminum,” Cromwell said.

The aluminum stands are easy to move, will hold the targets upright, and will hold up under fire.