22 O U T D O O R P O W E R E Q U I P M E N T www.outdoorpower equipment.com
FEATURE STORY
By Dave Worden
T
he Equipment & Engine Training Council's (EETC)
18th annual conference was held April 9-12 in
Charlotte, N.C., which is well known for its auto
racing as the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and
Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was an appropriate
setting for the annual conference as things are moving fast with
the EETC.
2013 was a great year for the EETC in the areas of growth,
revenue and new programs. The EETC launched a new
membership website, online testing with online proctoring, and
a lot more dealer options. EETC Executive Director Erik Sides —
with some direction from his Executive Board — was challenged
with a lot of projects, and we are proud to say they were met with
enthusiasm. We hit all of the objectives and then some.
This year's EETC Executive Board consists of the following
members:
• Past president: Kerry Malkerson, Marr Bros.
• President: Dave Worden, SkillsUSA
• Vice President: Trence McCoy, NW Louisiana Technical
College
• Secretary: Ron Jensen, Echo Inc.
• Treasurer: Jim Letourneau, Foley United
New changes at the EETC include:
A new and more intuitive website: www.eetc.org. Features
include easy sign in and membership, Student Scholarships,
Dealer Career Center, Technician Certification, Online Testing,
and much more.
At this year's conference, the EETC held workshops for
EETC-accredited schools, as well as a factory tour at Jacobsen
Manufacturing. As always, the EETC Certification Committees
conducted meetings, reviewed the current certification tests,
and will update and make the necessary changes.
Workshops for the educators also took place at the annual
conference. They included:
• Husqvarna Factory Training — Auto Tune System by Doug
Peeler
• Walbro Carburetor Update by Luis Salas
• Oregon Factory Training — Oregon Cutting Systems by Jay
Larsen
Then, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the garage area
(Yes, the same area that NASCAR uses.), additional workshops
took place. They were as follows:
• Ron Jensen — Echo Inc. — Factory Training Two-stroke
Failure Analysis
EETC races forward
