Mentors: How does your company support you?

[fox46]

My last company allowed me to work on FIRST related work during office hours if the workload permitted and would allow me to take time off without pay to attend competitions etc. They also did a great deal of machining and waterjetting for the team. I would say they were a great support to the team and supported me with the project.

My current employer is a much larger company and so it is much harder to get them to contribute resources as there is a great deal of red tape. Supporting a team with resources and shop time is out of the question due to security concerns and regulations so the only way this company could offer support would be monetary or employee time. I am not officially allowed to work on anything related to FIRST during work hours, and this includes posting on chief delphi........ *looks over shoulder and shrinks window even more* But I'm working on that. They put out a call for volunteers on the company intraweb when initially approached by one of the local teams and I have since managed to get their public affairs commitee to donate $500 to two local teams but there is much room for improvement. Given their position within the community and size, I won't be happy until they are offering 10 times that amount to each team.

I have always found that smaller local companies are much more open to helping out with FIRST activities. They are at a disadvantage compared to the larger companies when it comes to finding good skilled employees and are much more likely to offer support knowing that these students will remember their contribution and hopefully will supply them with a skilled workforce later in life. I have never had good luck convincing large corporations to donate funds and find that most teams encounter the same thing unless they have parents in high places.