Prolific Art Concepts
by Jeffrey A. Nord, Sergeant First Class (Retired Reserves)
Business
On April 12, 2017, I began working for Napa as a part-time driver to deliver parts to auto repair shops in the Pierre/Ft Pierre area.
The handsome young man sitting at the counter is my 6-year old son holding one of the first hiking sticks I ever made and one for which I spent many hours on.
One of our Napa customers gave me a branch he said he would, one day, like to have made into a hiking stick. I offered to make it for him for free and didn't want to ruin his stick or make something he didn't want or wouldn't like, so I took extra time to get it just right.
The photo of my son at Napa was taken on October 9, 2017.
Napa Auto Parts, Inc.
Delivery Driver
In April 2016, I began making fishing rigs for DC's Tackle, Inc., a new family-owned business in Ft Pierre.
Soon after, I became part owner of the company and webmaster for www.BottomsUpFishingRigs.com, greatly improving both the appearance and function of the website.
I also created the logo (as seen above), tri-fold marketing brochure and product card instructions/diagrams; assisted in bookkeeping, marketing and sales; and operated a booth at two Sioux Falls sports shows.
As of December 2017, I've made over 2,000 rigs, most of which were walleye double-hook rigs.
DC's Tackle, Inc.
Rig Maker, Webmaster, Partner
January 20, 2017 - Sioux Falls Fairgrounds Show - This was our first sports show. On the left is Damon Clarambeau, President of DC's Tackle. In the background are the white panels I made with pegboard to hang our product for display.
 Jun 30, 2016 - 1st Rig-Making SetupI built a small bench to set on my kitchen table and mounted a length of foam core board onto it, then cut slots in the foam core to hold wire. The lighted magnifying glass allowed me to make rigs much easier and faster than without it. The green foam core board is a jig I made for cutting and storing short lengths of wire for the rig arms. |  Mar 7, 2017 - Rig Assembly StationI built this round, 2-tiered table as a rig-making station. I mounted a lazy-Susan under the main table, so I can turn the table, instead of reaching for a rig. The top tier rotates with the main table. |  May 14, 2017 - Yellow Float RigsI took this picture after assembling over 50 double hook walleye rigs with yellow floats. |
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 Jun 12, 2017 - Red & Whte Float RigsHere's about 50 double hook walleye rigs with red and white floats that are almost complete. They just needed swivels crimped onto the wire. |  May 15, 2017I tried to find a better and faster way to package product, because it was often a struggle to drop a rig in the bag with one hand while trying to hold the bag open with the other. The rigs did not always want to go in the bags.. To solve this problem, I came up with this contraption I call "THE HOPPER" made out of 46 oz V8 Fusion bottles, PVC pipe, hot glue and wood. It really saved time and made packaging much more enjoyable. |  Jun 7, 2017 - Factory in my KitchenI operated a rig-making factory in my kitchen for over a year. From left to right is my rig-assembly station, a foot-operated wire crimper/wire cutter, the hopper and foam-core board with 100 slots to hold wire. |
RIG MAKING FACTORY
SPORTS SHOWS
March 10, 2017 - Our booth in the Arena at the Sioux Empire Show. This sports show had a much higher attendance rate of show-goers and we sold considerably more rigs than the first show, despite a blizzard on Sunday that kept many people from attending.
