Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/320559
EquipmentWorld.com | June 2014 11 reporter | by Equipment World staff K omatsu America has joined John Deere, Caterpillar and Case in establishing a brand-specifi c two-year degree at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, aimed at channeling techs into dealer shops. In the past two years, the NDSCS diesel tech enrollment has grown 25 percent, and this past September it opened up a 65,000-square-foot addition to its program facilities. Most of the 275 students enrolled at the 125,000-square-foot facility are in a general, non-brand-specifi c curriculum. "Everyone attributes this growth to the energy sector here, but that's only part of it," says Terry Marohl, diesel tech- nology department chair. "Ag- riculture is also growing, and there's just an all-around tech shortage in the upper Midwest." For Don Shilling, president of Komatsu-dealer Gen- eral Equipment & Supplies, Fargo, North Dakota, it is about energy sector demand, however. "We could easily hire a dozen diesel technicians right now in our locations in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota," Shilling says. "We've had a tremendous in- fl ux of business, both from local contractors and from contractors who have entered the area." Since 2008, General Equipment tripled the number of machines it sold, prompting the company to double the amount of techs it employs. "Many of our techs are putting in 60- to 70-hour weeks; I'd like to get them on a more normal work schedule," Schilling says. Savage, Minne- sota, dealer Road Machinery & Supplies is also participating in the NDSCS program. The program's earn-while- you-learn message will be at- tractive to students and parents facing the escalating costs of higher education and current job uncertainties: graduate with a good GPA, and 90 percent of your tuition, fees and supplies will be reimbursed. Selected tech students spend summers and parts of the school year working in dealer shops, work- ing alongside seasoned techs. When they graduate, they have a job. "Our place- ment rate is almost 100 percent," Marohl says. More important, Shilling says, it's a job with a fu- ture. "A good qualifi ed tech will likely get promoted to service advisor, shop foreman or into sales. And as they get promoted, we'll need people behind them to take their place." – Marcia Gruver Doyle North Dakota diesel tech program grows 25 percent, adds Komatsu program S howing signs of momentum after a slowdown from the harsh winter weather seen at the start of the year, the U.S. construc- tion industry saw its largest gain in jobs since the start of the year. The industry added 32,000 jobs in April marking the fourth straight month of gains. The total number of jobs in the industry now total 6 million, 3 percent higher than the same time one year ago and the high- est number seen since June 2009, according to prelimi- nary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The improvement in April follows a gain of 17,000 jobs in March. That gain was originally reported as 19,000 but the latest BLS report included a revision of the March and February employ- ment totals. So far this year, the industry has added an average of 31,000 jobs each month, a number largely boosted by January's gain of 51,000 workers. The industry's unemployment rate fell for the second straight month to 9.4 per- cent. – Wayne Grayson Construction continues to add jobs