By BARBARA GREEN
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Conner Earp will be heading off to automotive tech college in just a few weeks, but this recent Bowie High School graduate also is putting the finishing touches on his $30,000-plus custom-built pickup he plans to show in one of the world’s largest auto shows this fall in Las Vegas.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) hosts its trade-only event Oct. 31-Nov. 3 drawing more than 70,000 quality domestic and international buyers each year bringing together manufacturers and buyers in every segment of the automotive industry. It’s a pretty big leap for this young man, but when this dream of building custom trucks was sparked he took the initiative to find out how he could get going.
The son of Bradley and Misty Earp, the family lives outside Vashti in an old farmhouse complete with chickens, dogs, turkeys and ducks, plus a large shop for Conner to bring his vision to life. His little brothers Nathan, nine, and River, seven, also are running around to help out and cheer on their big brother.
Born in Decatur, the 18-year-old grew up in Bowie where he attended school playing baseball and taking part in ag projects. He graduated in May and mid-summer he and the family visited Laramie, WY where he will be attending WYO Tech this year. WyoTech, formerly known as Wyoming Technical Institute, is a for-profit, technical college founded in 1966. It provides training programs that prepare students for careers as technicians in the automotive and diesel industry.
Earp says the visit and tour to the school only confirmed his desire to specialize in fabrication and welding. He leaves for school on Sept. 28 to begin a six-month core program. Earp is looking at performance, suspension and chasis fabrication. The full program can be up to two and a half years.

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