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Caterpillar of Franklin donated
$75,000 to Southwestern Community
College to equip computer
labs in the new Macon Campus.
It’s the largest donation
the precision seals company
has ever made, said Sonja
Haynes, SCC foundation director.
Connie Haire, vice president
of the Macon Campus, said
the generous gift will be
used to equip three computer
labs.
Joe
Markun, center, Caterpillar
facility manager, presents
a check to equip computer
labs in the new Southwestern
Community College Macon
Campus on Siler Road.
Accepting the $75,000
gift to Southwestern are
Sonja Haynes, left, foundation
director, and Connie Haire,
right, vice president
of the Macon Campus.
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"It’s wonderful
to have Caterpillar’s
support in providing state-of-the-art
equipment for the Macon community
to use,” said Haire.
“Caterpillar is well
known for its community support
and we certainly appreciate
how they have supported us.
We’ll place a sign near
the computer labs recognizing
the contribution.”
"Caterpillar is committed
to being a responsible corporate
citizen to the community we
serve and is thrilled to have
an opportunity to team with
Southwestern to better the
lives of people throughout
our shared community,”
said John Hollifield, Caterpillar’s
human resource manager.
Over the years Caterpillar
and SCC have partnered to
provide industry training,
said Susan McCaskill, SCC
vice president of extension
education and economic development.
"We’ve conducted
management supervising workshops
with their front-line managers
and held team-building workshops
with skills specific to Caterpillar,”
said McCaskill. “Top
management at Caterpillar
is so good in supporting training
for all their employees, from
literacy and English as a
second language (ESL) to safety
and fire training to professional
development.
“Recently we initiated
a Maintenance Skills Enhancement
Training program at the plant
for maintenance employees
and for employees in the company’s
apprenticeship program. Skill
development is focused in
the areas of computer numeric
control equipment, air-pneumatics-hydraulics,
PLC’s, automation and
robotics,” McCaskill
said of the program which
has decreased down time in
production.
"We couldn’t ask
for a better partnership,”
said McCaskill, adding that
Caterpillar employs many of
Southwestern’s graduates.
The new Macon Campus, located
on Siler Road, is expected
to open in July, according
to Haire.
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