Mike McKay from Kenworth Sales Company and Rick Bouillon from Salt Lake Community College. They are here to make a major announcement and issue a challenge.
After Mike toured the College`s new Westpointe Workforce Training & Education Center, he saw SLCC`s commitment to advancing education for diesel technicians, which then lead to the Kenworth Sales Company is donating $400,000 to Westpointe.
The need for diesel technicians is at an all-time high. There are 67,000 Baby Boomers retiring from the industry and a projected 12 percent growth within the next decade that is creating a need for 75,000 new diesel technicians.
The best technicians can earn an annual salary in excess of $100,000. The industry relies on more than 3.6 million heavy-duty trucks to transport over 10 billion tons of freight annually. Virtually everything we use in our day-to-day lives at some point was carried on a truck to reach you.
The funds could be earmarked for additional equipment or scholarships for students attending classes at Westpointe. The new facility for Westpoint is a 121,000-square-foot facility that will open this fall and provide career and technical education programs to meet the future needs of vital industry partners.
This is all part of the Utah Diesel Technician Pathways program. SLCC, several school districts, the State of Utah and industry partners in the Pathways program have been educating and training students who are still in high school to prepare for relatively high-paying jobs upon graduation.
Salt Lake Community college will now be able to train generations of diesel technicians who will fill these high demand and high paying jobs thanks to Kenworth's significant gift and commitment to their students.
Kenworth and Salt Lake Community College are calling for other current and potential industry partners with Westpointe to explore investment opportunities in what is expected to be the premier provider in Utah for workforce development and career and technical education.
Find more information at www.slcc.edu and www.kenworthsalesco.com
