Just like Charlie Steen who also was born in 1919 in Texas, Newt became involved in the uranium boom of the 1950s. He spent a summer working and maintaining a drill rig for Utah Sprocket near Moab and Hite in southern Utah. Unlike Charlie, he did not make a fortune in mining claims. The experience may have triggered an entreprenuerial chord with him because he began to think, plan and venture to expand his financial options. At first he purchased used welding machines from construction firms who chose to sell them rather than move them to the next project. He then rented this equipment and within a year was making almost as much from the rental income as he did from his day job. With a little capital and a few welders, he started a back-yard fabrication company. He made handrail and other miscellaneous steel items that were so small that they did not cover the overhead required at a larger steel firm. Great trees from little acorns grow and Newt's company struggled and grew to a multi-million dollar enterprise.
