Caterpillar Dealers host graduation dinner for 2018 CAT graduates

May 9, 2018

CATERPILLAR DEALERS HOST DINNER – Shown above (l to r) are SGTC Academic Dean over the Caterpillar Program Raymond Holt with SGTC Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology Instructor Don Rountree and Yancey Bros. Inc. Corporate Trainer Jim Larson at the dinner for CAT graduates and their families hosted by Caterpillar dealer representatives from five southeastern states. The dinner was held prior to the SGTC Spring Commencement ceremony that featured 28 CAT graduates from the Electric Power Generation and Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technology programs.

Americus, GA – Caterpillar dealers from Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee hosted a dinner for the South Georgia Technical College graduates receiving an Associate of Applied Technology Degree in Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology and Electric Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology prior to the college’s 2018 Spring Commencement Ceremony.

The dinner was held in the Betty Deriso Pope Teleconference room in the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center on the South Georgia Technical College campus.

SGTC President Dr. John Watford, Vice President of Academic Affairs David Kuipers, and Raymond Holt, Academic Dean at South Georgia Technical College welcomed the Caterpillar dealers, graduates, and their families to South Georgia Technical College.

This was the 17th CAT Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technology graduating class since the program began at South Georgia Technical College and the very first graduating class of the CAT Electric Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technology program.

South Georgia Technical College serves as the Southeastern Caterpillar Dealers College of Technology and offers extensive technician training for Caterpillar Dealers as part of the specialized Caterpillar Dealer Service Technician Program. Students selected for the two-year program receive practical work experience from their sponsoring dealership during paid internships.

The Caterpillar program, which has the theme, “Think Big About Your Future,” features alternating sessions in eight-week increments of classroom instruction and “hands on” experiences for students at participating dealerships. Upon graduation from the program, the student receives an Associate Degree in Applied Science and a job can be offered at his/her sponsoring dealership.

The new CAT Electric Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technology program mirrors that curriculum for the heavy equipment program for the first year and then advances into the Electric Power Generation curriculum during the second year. The students also alternate between eight-week sessions of classroom instruction and “hands-on” experiences at participating dealerships. These students also earn an Associate Degree in Applied Science and the opportunity for a job at his/her sponsoring dealership.

A total of 19 students received their Associate of Applied Science Degrees in the Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology program at 2018 South Georgia Technical College graduation ceremony.

The students who earned their Associate Degree in Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology included: Zachary Bivins of Ellaville; Ronnie Paul Brewer of Crossville, TN; Jacob Lee Brown, Pensacola, FL; Brent Lamar Coppock, Buchanan; Jason Dillard, Key Stone Heights, FL; Theron Engle of Ocean Springs, MS; Sean K. Evans of Tallahassee, FL; Richard Lone of DeLeon Springs, FL; Chad Austin Lower of Plant City, FL; Branden McDaniel of French Camp, MS; Jordan Wesley McEver of Kennesaw; Zachary Moore of Saltillo, MS; Daniel Chase Peoples of Troy, AL; Blair Revels of St. Augustine, FL; David Allen Zopar Robins of Forsyth; Paul Eugene Shaw and William Everette Shaw of Sneedville, TN; Brian Weber of Columbus; and Garrett Wells of St. Augustine, FL.

The nine students who were graduates from the initial SGTC Electrical Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealer Service Technology program included: Jason Amador of St. Augustine, FL; Logan Boyd of Madison, FL; Marshal Jones of Elberfield, IN; Logan Lauk of Palm Bay, FL; Rance Colton Starr Poss of Barnsville; Ryan Sanford of Parrish, AL; Joshua Shelnutt of Loganville; Douglas Teague of Starkville, MS; and Hunter John Windham of Chipley, FL.

CAT machines today come with electronically controlled engines, satellite-based navigation systems, sophisticated computer-based diagnostics, and state of the art hydraulics. To work on these machines, service technicians must be highly trained in computers, electronics, hydraulics and more.

Students applying for this program must be accepted by South Georgia Technical College or another cooperating college, meet specific dealership requirements that include placement tests and completion of a portfolio before final acceptance.

The Caterpillar dealers who support the Think Big About Your Future program at South Georgia Technical College include: Ring Power Corporation of St. Augustine, FL; Thompson Machinery of LaVergne, TN; Thompson Tractor of Birmingham, AL; Yancey Brothers Company of Austell, GA; Stowers Machinery of Knoxville, TN; and Puckett Machinery Company of Flowood, Mississippi.

Over 200 Caterpillar and South Georgia Technical College officials, CAT students and their families attended the special dinner. Following the dinner, graduates and their families and Caterpillar officials attended the college commencement ceremony.

For more information on how to enroll in the Caterpillar Think Big Program or the Electric Power Generation program, contact Raymond Holt at SGTC at 229-931-2809 or rholt@southgatech.edu or your local Caterpillar Dealers or go online at www.CAT.com/thinkbig or www.southgatech.edu. Donald Rountree and Keith McCorkle are the Heavy Equipment Technology Instructors for South Georgia Technical College.

Over 220 individuals attended the Caterpillar dealer’s graduation dinner.