[IKE]

In my opinion, the most important part of the original post is this,

"We've been working with a new sponsor over the summer that brings sheet metal fabrication resources to our team."- Madison

This is a prime example of how to build team strength.

New Sponsor
working over the summer
new resource to the team

They may or may not be asking for money of the sponsor, but instead they have found something that might be more important. During the summer, they are working out the file transfer and formatting. They are getting a feel for the quality of work the suppplier can offer. They are also working on building a new line of communication. Many of us wait until the stresses of build season to try this out. It is easy then to allow those stresses to turn into pointing fingers rather than working through communication or timing issues.

Bravo 488 on a great project. Most of us could replace "sheet metal" with plastic molding, or shaft turning, or CNC bracket or ...