Takeuchi Training Center Adds New Technical Trainer and Training Coordinator
Takeuchi-US is preparing for the opening of the new Takeuchi Training Center with the addition of Ashleigh Gross as a technical trainer and Megan McFarlane as training center coordinator.
“Providing our salespeople, dealer principals, dealer technicians and corporate dealer trainers with the best possible training is extremely important to Takeuchi’s ongoing success,” said Keith Kramlich, Takeuchi’s national product and training manager. “By opening a new training center and adding Ashleigh and Megan to our staff, we’re truly taking our sales and technical instruction to the next level. Our new training center will have larger classrooms, and with the addition of Ashleigh, we now have the staff to increase class capacity and add more service training classes in the coming months.”
As Takeuchi’s new technical trainer, Ashleigh Gross will be responsible for conducting all types of training for Takeuchi dealers’ technicians as well as staff. She will be developing training materials and maintaining training equipment, tools and supplies. Gross comes to Takeuchi from Alban Cat in Myersville, Md., where she served as a technical training instructor, creating curricula, documentation and training courses while increasing efficiency and exceeding training goals. Her past positions include operations management, heavy equipment operation and more than two years with Johnston Community College in Smithfield, N.C., as an adjunct instructor on engines, hydraulics, basic electricity, industrial maintenance and transmissions. Gross holds a master’s degree in trade education from Oswego State University in Oswego, N.Y., and a bachelor’s degree in technology management from Morrisville State College in Morrisville, N.Y.
Megan McFarlane, Takeuchi’s new training coordinator, will manage training inquiries and coordinate service and sales training schedules. She will also be responsible for registration requests, event planning, billing and customer communication. McFarlane comes to Takeuchi from her former position as a business development representative for Lockstep Technology Group in Duluth, Ga., where she supported the sales team with new prospect lead generation, webinar creation, special events and customer relationship management. McFarlane has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from Georgia State University in Atlanta.
The Takeuchi Training Center is located in a facility next door to the company’s headquarters in Pendergrass, Ga. Courses that will be offered weekly include instructor-led, intermediate-level technical trainings for both compact track loaders and compact excavators with simultaneous classes starting in May 2021. These classes cover general machine layout, electrical and hydraulic component location and function, general engine controls and exhaust after-treatment systems on all products. Soon, Takeuchi will also offer quarterly sales training for dealers as well as advanced technical training. Beginner-level courses will be offered online via Takeuchi’s Learning Management System.
“Providing top-notch training to our employees and dealer partners helps us ensure that our customers will get the kind of support that they expect and deserve from Takeuchi,” Kramlich said. “We’re extremely pleased to welcome Ashleigh and Megan to our team, and we’re looking forward to their contributions as we continue to enhance and grow our training program.”
To find a Takeuchi dealer near you, visit the Takeuchi dealer page. For more information on Takeuchi track loaders, excavators and wheel loaders, visit www.takeuchi-us.com. Follow Takeuchi on Facebook or on Twitter @TakeuchiMFG.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.