Takeuchi Donates Engines to Diesel Technology Program at Athens Technical College in Georgia
Students enrolled in the Diesel Equipment Technology program at Athens Technical College in Athens, Ga., will soon be able to learn their trade by working with real-life excavator engines courtesy of Takeuchi-US. The compact equipment manufacturer has donated four diesel engines worth approximately $66,000 to the school as part of its “Takeuchi Gives” philanthropic program.
“We’ve been coming up with new ways to support our local communities,” said Rick MacLeish, national parts manager for Takeuchi-US. “Donating diesel engines to Athens Tech will help students gain valuable hands-on experience they can take into their careers. Our local economy also benefits with the addition of more skilled workers that Takeuchi and other businesses can employ in the future.”
Graduates of Athens Tech’s Diesel Equipment Technology program can launch careers in fields like equipment repair, over-the-road logistics, parts and supply and customer service. Industries that employ the most diesel service technicians include truck transportation, government, repair and maintenance, motor vehicles and manufacturing.
“We’re committed to providing a high-quality, practical education for today’s globally competitive workforce,” said Christina Wolfe, dean of business, industry and technology for Athens Tech. “We rely on the support of industry leaders like Takeuchi to provide our students with access to real-world equipment, helping us prepare them for the workplaces of today and tomorrow.”
Takeuchi’s donation includes two Yanmar and two Isuzu diesel engines typically installed in some of its compact excavator models. These engines will be placed in Athens Tech’s service shop labs where students learn diesel engine maintenance and how to use various tools like pneumatic wrenches, welding and flame-cutting equipment and jacks and hoists. The students are also trained on computerized testing equipment used to pinpoint and analyze malfunctions in electrical systems and engines.
“Takeuchi’s corporate culture is centered around the concept of helping and supporting others,” said Jeff Stewart, president of Takeuchi-US. “As a result, our Takeuchi Gives program encompasses various activities, including Thanksgiving meal donations and Operation Christmas Child. Supplying these engines is just one more example of how we’re trying to make a positive impact where we live and work, and we hope this is the beginning of an ongoing partnership with Athens Tech.”
For more information about Takeuchi track loaders, excavators and wheel loaders, visit www.takeuchi-us.com.
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.