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Groundwork Officers Chairman Chris Pera Eastern HighReach Company, Inc. Horsham, Pa. Take Advantage of The AED Foundation's Free Workforce Tools Vice Chairman A. Roy Kern Equipment Corporation of America Coraopolis, Pa. Need Techs? President Bob Henderson The AED Foundation Oak Brook, Ill. John Crum Treasurer Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc. Pittsburgh, Pa. Immediate Past Chairman Walter Berry Berry Companies, Inc. Wichita, Kan. AED Board Representative Whit Perryman Vermeer Equipment of Texas Irving, Texas Executive Director Steve Johnson The AED Foundation Oak Brook Ill. Directors Gary Bridwell Ditch Witch of Oklahoma Edmond, Okla. Mike Festing-Smith NORTRAX, Inc. Tampa, Fla. Mike Hayes Komatsu America Corporation Rolling Meadows, Ill. Timothy Kramer Kramer Ltd. Regina, SK Dr. Wayne Longbrake Former Dean, Penn. College of Technology Williamsport, Pa. Sonja Metzler Ohio CAT Broadview Heights, Ohio Kenneth Silverman Volvo Construction Equipment Shippensburg, PA Mark teel Caterpillar, Inc. Peoria, Ill. Keith Tippett Kirby-Smith Machinery, Inc. Oklahoma City, Okla. Take the first step online and energize your recruitment strategies. Recruitment of qualified techs – it's tough and will get tougher. Many left the industry during the recession. Some found other jobs and are not coming back. Others have retired. As the economy and our industry gains steam, recruiting techs is going to be even worse than in the "good old days." The AED Foundation is committed to helping AED members develop solutions to this ongoing equipment industry challenge. Community-based school-to-work initiatives involving industry-school partnerships are the model for The Foundation's workforce efforts. Central to the concept is local dealer engagement with technical schools – encouraging dealers and technical schools to work together to address and meet mutual needs. The AED Foundation has developed a series of workforce tools to help dealers put recruitment strategies into action. These tools are offered at no charge to AED members on www.AEDWorkforce.com. AED Workforce Tools n Student Recruitment Program Activity Scorecards - Rate your recruitment strategies and tactics. Get ideas for new initiatives in this area. n Recruitment Guidebook (PDF) - Learn local strategies and tactics that are effective in recruiting young people/students for careers as equipment technicians. n Student Recruitment Brochures - Two Versions - Middle Schools (PDF) - High Schools and Post-Secondary Schools (PDF) - Free brochure download for AED-member dealers n Student Technician Recruitment Video - This video targets middle school, high school and post-secondary school students, presenting the heavy construction equipment technician as an exciting and rewarding career opportunity. n Dealer-Student-Technical School Internship Agreement Form - An agreement form that defines dealer, student and technical school obligations pertaining to student internships at heavy equipment dealerships. To access the tools, visit www. AEDWorkforce.com, enter your user name (e-mail address) and password, and start making use of everything we have to offer dealer members. To discuss how you can start working with technical schools in your area, contact Steve Johnson at The AED Foundation, 630-4685134, sjohnson@aednet.org. Plan Early for Fall Education Programs Are you investing all that you can in your employees? Ongoing professional education sets your dealer team apart and equips your front line people with knowledge and tools to serve your customers – and improve your company's profitability. Start looking at which members of your team will benefit from the array of Foundation fall training options, which includes seminars and webinars, selfstudy and online financial courses that are affordable, timely and delivered by industry experts. Visit www.aedu.org or contact Pat Novak at pnovak@aednet.org, 630-468-5135, for more information. 12 | www.cedmag.com | Construction Equipment Distribution | July 2013 12_groundwork_KP.indd 12 6/27/13 11:45 AM