Travis S. Gottschalk of the Litchfield FFA Chapter in Minnesota competed in the Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance-Entrepreneurship/Placement Proficiency award program at the 2003 National FFA Convention, Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Louisville, Ky. Proficiency awards recognize FFA members who excelled as agricultural entrepreneurs, employees or volunteers while they gained hands-on career experience. Agricultural Mechanics Repair and maintenance-Entrepreneurship/Placement is one of the 48 FFA proficiency award categories offered at local, state and national levels. Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance-Entrepreneurship/Placement proficiency award program is sponsored by the CARQUEST Corporation, CARQUEST Filters-CARQUEST Gaskets, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. After winning grand champion in a tractor restoration contest at the age of 10, Travis Gottschalk and his brother began their own tractor restoration business. He worked on a 300- cow dairy to initially fund the start-up business, Tn’T Restoration. Gottschalk is a member of the Litchfield FFA Chapter and plans to attend South Dakota State University. He is the son of Scott and Astrid Gottschalk. He is a graduate of Litchfield High School and his advisor is Tracy Huhn. FFA is a national youth organization of 464,267 student members preparing for leadership careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture with 7,197 local chapters in all 50 state, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Visit www.ffa. org for more information.
