posted on April 06, 2016 13:41
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (April 5, 2016) – This year, more than 370 HOLT CAT technicians from the Heavy Equipment and Power Systems Divisions competed in TECH WARS, which included written exams and hands-on troubleshooting activities. The contest winners had to work hard to accurately diagnose machine and engine problems.
For the first time, HOLT CAT®, the Caterpillar® dealer for South, Central, North and Northeast Texas, is sending four of its top technicians to compete in a regional competition with other Cat heavy equipment dealers: Riggs, Butler and Warren. The HOLT contestants will travel to Little Rock, Arkansas for a four-day competition where their skills will be assessed and measured against other technicians from these Caterpillar dealers.
From the machine division, Jarrett Payton of San Antonio and Autry Adams of Longview will be representing HOLT CAT, along with technicians Alan Lindow and Vince Jones of Longview, who will be competing in the power systems division. They have participated in three rounds of competition at the local, regional and state level competing against approximately 400 HOLT CAT peers. This year's regional winners attended a Spurs game and the HOLT CAT box; the state contest winners won Texas-style hunting trips valued at $1,800. The winners of the Little Rock, multi-dealer competition will take away a $3,000 cash prize, as well as showcase the technical skills and challenges technicians face, from demonstrating technical knowledge to hands-on heavy equipment trouble-shooting.
Machine State Contestants Left to Right
Howard Schram, Steven Pinkerton, Jonathan Morrow,
Autry Adams - 2nd Place, Jarrett Payton - 1st Place, Grady Trainor, Paul Boubel
PSD State Contestants Left to Right
Keven Leon, James Pardaen,
Vince Jones - 2nd Place, Alan Lindow - 1st Place, Ben Gallo, Wade Nagel
"Besides bragging rights to be the best, this is a fun, competitive way to build morale and represents our focus on games with a purpose—where we can assess the skill set of our technicians at the store, regional and state level, and help us determine focus areas for long-term skills development. As this is the first year that HOLT is competing in TECH WARS, we are very excited to see how well our technicians perform, and know they will represent HOLT strongly in Little Rock," said Shaun Manning, Technical Training Director of HOLT CAT. HOLT plans to expand the competition in coming years to include our Transport, Ag, Crane and Electric Power divisions.
HOLT ProTech is currently tabulating trends and working to identify skill areas to help technicians better serve our customers and to be even more competitive in next year's TECH WARS competition. HOLT ProTech has partnered with the Technician Talent Management Initiative committee to help implement training solutions addressing technical gaps for the 2017 competition.
"Technicians are the heartbeat of our company and help ensure customer loyalty. Next year, the HOLT TECH WARS competition will be enhanced, adding categories, and making the competition more challenging," said Bill Bordelon, Vice President of Power Systems Division Product Support.
Corinna Holt Richter, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, and Peter John Holt, executive vice president and general manager, were on hand to congratulate the Payton, Adams, Lindow and Jones as winners of the state competition in San Antonio before their send-off to Little Rock. Richter congratulated all the participants and contest winners, saying, "This is a great example of our core value of Excellence: By continually getting better."
About HOLT CAT®
HOLT CAT® sells, rents and services Caterpillar machines, engines, generator sets and trucks in a 118-county Texas territory spanning from the Red River to the Rio Grande. HOLT offers total machine and engine rebuild capabilities, sells used equipment around the world and fabricates its own line of land clearing equipment and HOLT Spray King® water tankers. HOLT is the dealer for Link-Belt Cranes in the eastern half of Texas as well as the El Paso area. They are the dealer for AGCO/Challenger and Claas farm equipment for the eastern half of Texas and portions of Arkansas and Missouri.
The Holt name has been associated with heavy equipment and Caterpillar for more than 100 years. Peter M. Holt, chief executive officer of HOLT CAT, is the great-grandson of Benjamin Holt, who in 1904 developed the first successful track-type tractor, which he named the "Caterpillar." HOLT CAT has come to be synonymous with quality, integrity and commitment to customer service. The HOLT CAT team is committed to providing rock-solid stability, with superior products and services to heavy equipment and engine users from Brownsville to Texarkana, Texas.