College of the Rockies Heavy Duty Mechanic program has a strong connection to Finning Canada.
“We employ several individuals who have gone through the program at the College,” said Kevin Barg, Customer Service Manager at Finning Canada’s Cranbrook Branch. “Taylor Malone, shown alongside me in the photo, is one of the several College of the Rockies grads we employ.”
Kevin was aware the College’s program had older engines for students to work and learn on. Knowing the importance of keeping up with changing technology, and that it would be very expensive for the College to acquire those engines, Kevin and Finning came up with a solution.
“We happened to have a couple of used Caterpillar engines we no longer needed, so donating them to the College seemed like the perfect fit,” he said. “Students will be able use them to develop their disassemble, reassemble, and rebuilding skills. They will also gain knowledge on engines, fuel systems, emissions systems, and diagnostic skills.”
For over 90 years, Finning has been working to earn customer loyalty by delivering unrivalled service. Their dedication to serving their customers has helped them to spread their roots from British Columbia to become the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers. The company’s investment in communities where they live and work is a core part of who they are.
Kevin and Finning Canada wanted to donate the engines to the College’s Heavy-Duty Mechanic program to demonstrate their continued support of the work the College is doing.
“The College plays a very important role not only in educating our current and future workforce, but promoting and fostering diversity, local industry, and a well-rounded and healthy community – both economically and experientially.”
Heavy Duty Mechanic Instructor Robert Makkreel feels the donation having a great impact on his program.
“The engines from Finning will be used for Heavy Duty Mechanic 2nd year apprenticeship training,” he said. “They will allow us to phase out some of our older, more tired engines and bring in more modern ones using some of the latest technology. This helps to keep the Heavy-Duty Mechanics program at the College in line with a forever changing industry evolving around pollution control.”
If you are interested in contributing to a scholarship, bursary, or award to help support College of the Rockies students or would like to set up one of your own, please reach out.