Kenworth Sales โput its money where its mouth isโ after making a major contribution to a statewide education program in Utah aimed at developing talent for the stateโs growing transportation industry.
The company announced a $400,000 donation to the Diesel Tech Pathways program at Salt Lake Community Collegeโs new Westpointe Center. The funding will be used for scholarships, equipment and facility upgrades for the diesel technology program, Salt Lake Community College President Deneece Huftalin said.
โHopefully, as we start to grow the program, weโll start to connect with other donors and try to continue to get more scholarships (for students),โ she said. โAs demand grows and we need to incentivize more students, weโll try to strengthen our scholarship numbers.โ
The new lab at Westpointe will be named in honour of Kenworth Sales Co. as an acknowledgment of the firmโs investment in the program, she noted.
The gift is intended to address โa looming crisisโ that exists in the trucking industry, said Kenworth Sales President Kyle Treadway.
โRight now today, I would hire 40 technicians if I could find them, but I canโt find them,โ he said. โWhat happens by not hiring them is Iโm not getting the work done, my customers are waiting, freight is not moving and the economy is not progressing as it should.โ
The industry is expected to lose thousands of technicians over the next few years, due in part because fewer young people are choosing to pursue diesel technology as a career.
But technology has advanced so greatly, he said, that the opportunities for new technicians to carve out a strong, well-paying career have grown dramatically.
โThese (trucks) are computers on wheels,โ he said. โThis is sophisticated, challenging work that pays very well.โ
He added that trained, journeyman technicians can earn six-figure salaries. He also said that diversity is a high priority in the diesel tech field.
โWe want women, we want immigrants and people who are making a career change,โ Treadway said. โWe need a larger pool to draw from.โ
The Diesel Tech Pathways program is designed to offer Utah students a straight route from high school and college to the workforce. The program begins in high school with the completion of select classes, then upon graduation students will complete an internship with one of the diesel tech industry partners, followed by at least a year of training at one of the secondary education partners.
The program is part of the Talent Ready Utah initiative to improve the stateโs education system and workforce by concentrating on growing and enhancing job-training strategies to meet industry needs for more qualified workers.
The goal of the program is to fill 40,000 high-skill, high-paying jobs by 2020, explained Kimberlee Carlile, director of industry and talent initiatives with the Governorโs Office of Economic Development.
