Tracks and Treads - Finning Canada

Aaron Settle had no idea what he was in for
when he applied to ThinkbIG in 2005. The
joint program between Finning, Caterpillar
and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
is designed to arm students with the
educational requirements needed to obtain
a heavy equipment technician ticket.
And in Settle’s case, he went a long
way to get them. The 21-year-old from
Kaslo, b.C. made the epic 1,200-kilometre
trek to Fairview, Alberta. on 10
occasions in his trusty Grand Am.“
I found out about the program reading
Tracks & Treads magazine,” says Settle, whose
father owns a logging company in british
Columbia, Settle would spend two months
at a time in the classroom in Alberta and
then two months at the Finning branch in
Castlegar, b.C. doing his practicum where
in. July of 2007, he was hired as a secondyear
apprentice mechanic. Now a third-year
apprentice, he’s running his own service
truck – and loving it. “It could be anything,”
he says of the varied assignments his job
entails. “That’s part of the fun and I like
the service truck for that reason. you never
know what you’re going to be doing the
next day.”
The lack of skilled tradespeople in
Alberta is well-documented. but for the past
five years, Finning, in partnership with Cat
and NAIT, has been trying to do something
to combat that shortfall with ThinkbIG.
“We saw it as a good opportunity to build
heavy equipment technicians for the future,”
says Amy Eleniak, Finning’s team lead,
apprenticeship. “We’ve had a really good
success rate.”
ThinkbIG was launched in March 2003.
The program accepts first- and second-year
students, no more than 24 per group. Eleniak
says that the 20-month program runs
through five continuous semesters, with no
summer break. Each semester is 16 weeks
long and students spend half that time in
the classroom, the other half working in a
Finning branch. Not only do they get the
Caterpillar education, but they also have to
satisfy other requirements to be eligible to
become a heavy equipment technician in
Alberta. “They don’t get their ticket at the
end of this program,” Eleniak says. “They
still have to get hired on as an apprentice
and finish off their hours.”
Settle says that one of the biggest
bonuses of the program for him was
learning about the most up-to-date technology,
especially as it pertained to Cats.
“It was very Cat-specific,” he says.
“The technological part of the program was
really good.”
Graduates of ThinkbIG have pursued a
variety of different jobs upon completion of
the program. Many are hired immediately
by Finning. One former student is now an
instructor at NAIT.
PHOTOGRAPH COuTyESy NAIT
10 tracks & treads • Fall 2008 www.finning.ca