Americus, GA – Caterpillar dealers from Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina 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 2023 Spring Commencement Ceremony.
Approximately 240 Caterpillar officials, students, family members and SGTC officials attended the event. 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 and Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Technology Instructor Donald Rountree welcomed the Caterpillar dealers, graduates, and their families to South Georgia Technical College.
Dr. Watford and South Georgia Technical College Vice President of Institutional Advancement and SGTC Foundation Executive Director Su Ann Bird recognized seven Thompson Tractor CAT Heavy Equipment Dealer Service Technology students with the Adrian “Goose” Johnson tool scholarship.
Adrian “Goose” Johnson was a Thompson Tractor CAT student who passed away prior to graduation in an automobile accident in 2019. Kelly and Amber Johnson and their daughter Sarah as well as Thompson Tractor and family and friends of Adrian Johnson established the Fly High Goose foundation and endowed a tool scholarship in his memory for Thompson Tractor students.
The seven Adrian “Goose” Johnson Tool Scholarship winners were: Tobias Cole Austin of Section, AL; Matthew keith Jackson of Wilmer, AL; Zachary Lloyd Peek of Gaylesville, AL; Nathan Eli Ruha of Alabaster, AL; Cade Harper tarver of Lafayette, AL; Garrett Colton Wheeler of Pisgah, AL; and kirk Alan League of Haleyville, AL.
This was the 21st CAT Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technology graduating class since the program began at South Georgia Technical College and the sixth 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 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 30 students received their Associate of Applied Science Degrees in the Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology program or the SGTC Electrical Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealer Service Technology program at 2023 South Georgia Technical College graduation ceremony.
The students who earned their Associate Degree in Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology included: Tobias Cole Austin of Section, AL; Thomas Winn Bingham of Lakeland, TN; Cody B. Dees of Branford, FL; William Bradley Dollar of Ridgeland, SC; Owen A. Gibson of Ball Ground; Matthew Keith Jackson of Wilmer, AL; Tristen Isiah Johnson of Butler, TN: Hunter Jason McBee of Rutledge, TN; Christina Danielle Jordan of Fitzgerald; Joshua Kevin McCann of Saint Simons Island; Daxon Edward Payne of Nettleton, MS; Zachary Lloyd Peek of Gaylesville, AL; Ismael Ramirez of Dacula; Karson Kendall Richmond of Johnson City, TN; Nathan Eli Ruha of Alabaster, AL; Justin Shepard of Bonaire; Cade Eric Sizemore of Nashville, TN; William Bryce Stein of Brandon, MS: Bailey Patrick Sullivan of Green cove Springs, FL; Cade Harper Tarver of Lafayette, AL; Garrett Colton Wheeler of Pisgah, AL; and Kevin Wade Yates of Knoxille, TN.
The eight students who were graduated from the SGTC Electrical Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealer Service Technology program were: Hunter Layne Barbree of Green Cove Springs, FL; Jason Beckham of Knoxville, TN; Samuel Joseph Feleay of Topeka, KS; Andrew davis Green of Prosperity, SC; Kirk Alan League of Haleyville, AL; Reece Alex moorey of Chapin, SC; Jonathan Hunter Scribner of Eupora, MS; and Dion J. Wilson of Fulton, MS.
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 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; Puckett Machinery Company of Flowood, Mississippi and Blanchard Equipment of South Carolina.
Nearly 240 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 a local Caterpillar Dealer or go online at www.CAT.com/thinkbig or www.southgatech.edu. Donald Rountree, drountree@southgatech.edu, and Keith McCorkle, kmccorkle@southgatech.edu, are the Heavy Equipment Technology Instructors for South Georgia Technical College.