EFK Franchisee Featured in AZCentral Article

Engineering For Kids' Ron Hoagland was featured in an azcentral article. Ron talks about how he got involved with Engineering For Kids and how he helps to improve the local community.


Aaron Rop, The Republic | azcentral.com

A summer camp in Arizona might sound like a long day under the sun with the reward of exhaustion and sweat-stained clothes.

With Ron Hoagland's summer camp, though, Southeast Valley kids can have fun designing video games, building robots or simply learning how the world works.

Hoagland is the owner and director of Engineering for Kids' East Valley division. Engineering for Kids was started by CEO Dori Roberts, a former high-school teacher, who developed an after-school program into a successful STEM program for all demographics.

Roberts started franchising her business in 2009, Hoagland says, and Hoagland bought the first franchise in Arizona in July last year. The program is in 26 states and four countries.

Hoagland says he always wanted to own his own business and have it be positive, bringing something new to the community. Coming from a sales and marketing background, he says he didn't know much about STEM or engineering, but he did research on education in the U.S. compared with other countries and found there was a need to spark kids' interest in engineering because U.S. public schools are lagging.

"Technology is moving so fast now," Hoagland said. "So, if we don't get these kids going now, it's scary to think where this country might be in 20 to 30 years. … We've been on top as the world's leader of innovation for decades and decades, but that's not guaranteed, especially if we are not addressing the education situation in the U.S. Schools are cutting back on programs all the time, so there is a need for people to come in and provide that opportunity."

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Engineering For Kids has announced it's 100th Franchise!

Engineering For Kids has announced it's 100th franchise and could not be more proud. Their enthusiasm for STEM Education has spread across the nation and even to a few other countries! Check out the article below from franchising.com.

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Fredericksburg, VA (PRWEB) May 19, 2014 - Engineering For Kids, the beloved science, technology, engineering, and math program, is excited to announce that the company has awarded its 100th franchise. The newest franchise, located in Lakeland, Florida, marks an achievement that has surpassed the expectations set by CEO Dori Roberts, "This has been an amazing accomplishment that was unexpected in less than three years of franchising. We are very proud of our franchisees who are inspiring the next generation of engineers." Engineering For Kids is now inspiring in 26 states and 9 different countries. 

Founded in July of 2009, Engineering For Kids first began offering its programs to young engineers in Northern Virginia. Dori Roberts decided that the best way to inspire the next generation on a global scale was through the franchise platform. The first Engineering For Kids franchise was awarded in December of 2011 and the 100th agreement was signed in April 2014. In 2013, Engineering For Kids increased system sales by 351.3%. With ever-increasing revenues, Engineering For Kids is excited to expand into new regions and inspire the next generation of engineers all over the world.

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Engineering for Kids Featured in Franchise Times

Engineering for Kids was featured in the Franchise Times in an article titled, "Ratcheting Up". 

The article gives the history of founder Dori Roberts and her epiphany to start an engineering program for young kids when she was unable to find one for her own children to join. Highlighting EFK's fast rise in success, the feature touches upon the emphasis to include young girls in engineering from an early age, and nurturing child's natural engineering interest. The article also discusses franchising opportunities and costs for those interested in being a part of the increasing importance of STEM education for youth. 

Click HERE for the full article or begin reading below:

Ratcheting Up

With tech jobs rising, Engineering for Kids sees opportunity

By: Jeffrey McKinney

One entrepreneur is banking on the nationwide focus on science and technology education to grow her franchise system, Engineering for Kids. Will its head start last long enough to gain traction?

After witnessing a “great spark” in her young children as they watched students clash in an engineering competition a few years ago, Dori Roberts had a business epiphany. She started Engineering for Kids, and now her franchise is poised to take off along with rising interest in STEM education, otherwise known as science, technology, engineering and math.

A former high school engineering  and technology teacher for 11 years, Roberts knew her then 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son were amazed with what the students were doing and wanted join in the competition. But she couldn’t find any programs for their age group. That void prompted Roberts to create Engineering for Kids. But she also had another inspiration to launch EFK in 2009. After she left teaching, she built an after-school engineering club that grew from eight to 180 students. Fast-forward five years: Roberts’ daughter now wants to be an architect and her son an engineer.