Americus, GA – Caterpillar dealers from Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and North 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 2024 Spring Commencement Ceremony.
Approximately 200 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 two Thompson Tractor CAT Heavy Equipment Dealer Service Technology students with the Adrian “Fly High Goose” Johnson tool scholarship.
A capacity crowd of South Georgia Technical College Caterpillar Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technician and Electric Power Generation graduates, their families and CAT dealer representatives gathered prior to graduation for a dinner sponsored by the CAT dealers for their graduates in the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center.
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 two Adrian “Goose” Johnson Tool Scholarship winners were: Ashton Lane Rachels of Odenville, AL; and Forrest Weldon white of Rockford, AL.
This was the 22nd CAT Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Service Technology graduating class since the program began at South Georgia Technical College and the seventh 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 15 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 2024 South Georgia Technical College graduation ceremony.
The students who earned their Associate Degree in Heavy Equipment Dealers Service Technology included: Thomas Walker Cely, Evans, GA; Black Jackson Estep, Jonesborough, TN; David Andrew Ferguson, Ethel, MS; Jackon Lee Gannon, Winder, GA; Isaac Patton Graham, Jonesborough, TN; Ashton Lane Rachels, Odenville, AL; Benjamin Troy Smelcer, Dandridge, TN; Noah Kristian Smith, McDonough, GA; William Joseph Thompson, Roanoke, AL; Justin Ethan Troglin, Crossville, TN; and Forrest Weldon White, Rockford, AL.
The four students who were graduated from the SGTC Electrical Power Generation Heavy Equipment Dealer Service Technology program were: Aiden Bestgen, Lone Jac,MO; Jacob DeLon Critzman, Chapin, SC; Patrick Ryan Hamby, Stanley, NC; and Colgan Luke Jones, Florence, SC.
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: Thompson Tractor of Birmingham, AL; Yancey Brothers Company of Austell, GA; Stowers Machinery of Knoxville, TN; Puckett Machinery Company of Flowood, Mississippi, Blanchard Equipment of South Carolina and Carolina CAT of North and South Carolina.
Nearly 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 a local Caterpillar Dealer or go online at www.CAT.com/thinkbig or/economic-development/partnerships/caterpillar/. Donald Rountree, drountree@southgatech.edu, Keith McCorkle, kmccorkle@southgatech.edu, and Rance Poss, rance.poss@southgatech.edu are the Heavy Equipment Technology Instructors for South Georgia Technical College.
