OUR FOUNDER

Andrew "Andy" Wells III

Founder & Executive Director, Wells Academy

CEO and Founder, Wells Technology

From Red Lake to CEO

I am a member of the Red Lake Nation of Chippewa Indians. I grew up with my family in a one-room house on a small farm on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Farm life meant long days of work, but also gave me access to shop tools and skill training from my father. My caring for humanity came from living in a community of diverse families and seeing neighbors help neighbors.

Andy Wells

IN ANDY'S OWN WORDS

The Full Story

Polaris and the Lil' Andy

Early in life, I built toys, then boats, go-carts, ham radios, metal rockets, and farm machinery. After high school in Goodridge, MN, and two years at Bemidji State University, I worked at Polaris Industries in Roseau, MN. There, in 1964, I developed a new design for a front-engine snowmobile with a fiberglass hood. The Polaris founders named it the Lil' Andy, manufactured 3,000 machines, and suggested I go back to school and complete my education.

Andy Wells with the restored Lil' Andy snowmobile he designed at Polaris in 1964.

Education and Teaching

Back at Bemidji State, I finished my Master's degree in physics and industrial technology in 1966. The following year, I began teaching high school in Strandquist. From 1969 until 1985, I served as an Associate Professor at Bemidji State University, and I then became an automation consultant for Control Data Corporation.

Building Wells Technology

In 1989, I incorporated Wells Technology with a $1,300 investment, buying an old production machine and installing it in a small farm garage. My first products were for Nortech, a local electronics firm. Today, we are a precision CNC machining company in Bemidji, MN, with about 50 employees and a 54,000-square-foot facility serving the electronics, food, and aerospace industries. In 2004, we also became a national distributor of industrial supplies, working with Fastenal to serve major corporations across the USA.

Founding Wells Academy

Our business is in a poverty region of Northern Minnesota, so as revenue grew, I wanted to provide jobs that help people support their families. However, many local applicants had no transportation, no childcare, or other past issues. So I hired many who were employment-challenged and provided 2,000 hours of paid apprentice machine operator training. In 2005, I formalized this training by creating Wells Academy, a nonprofit corporation, and began raising funds to hire a full-time instructor. Today, our workforce training continues to advance, and our apprentices progress into full-time careers in modern industry.

Suggestions for Success

My suggestions for success: visualize your future desires in life, be trustworthy, have an achievement strategy, give your best effort, and seek wisdom by learning from every experience.

Andy Wells