Everyday Heroes: Meet Finning's service ... - Finning Canada

A thriving economyis no reason to moan.Finning trainingprograms help solvethe skills shortageStory by Jeff HowardBattling the Boomroblematic as today’s skilledlabour shortage is, it’s nothingnew. During boom times,it’s just what happens. Take the 1960s – backwhen things were groovy, pulp mill, dam andhighway projects were on the go and companieswere vying for skilled tradespeople.Of course, Finning had its own needs. Butby then, it already had nearly 30 years’ experiencedeveloping a workforce to meet customerrepair and maintenance needs.The commitment to equip both its ownstaff and the industrial customers it servedwith technical training resources has been ahallmark of the company, all the way back tothe Second World War, and continues todaywith programs such as ThinkBIG, a partnershipbetween Finning and NAIT to train heavyequipment technicians.The focus on training began with theneed for tank mechanics. In 1942, the armyasked Finning to design and administer acrash course. Frank Davies, Finning’s firstpart-time trainer, taught army personnel todismantle and reassemble D7 and D8 tractorsat Finning’s Station Street headquarters inVancouver. Then he sent the budding militarytechs to logging camps for field experience.For its contribution to the war effort,Finning received the Canadian Armed ForcesAward, the highest recognition that can begiven to a civilian organization.After the war, fishing companies began torepower fleets; Finning scrambled to recruitstaff to handle the tidal wave of engine installationand repair jobs. To meet the need, thecompany set up a training program.Bev Davis, who joined the company in1947 as a 20-year-old war veteran, describesthe marine training program. “We were called‘improvers’ in those days; we had Departmentof Veterans Affairs credits that subsidizedwages and helped us reintegrate into theworkforce. Frank Davies was our mentor andwe were his boys. He had us work in the shopuntil he figured we were ready for the field.”Eight recruits were hired into the marinetraining program annually. However, by1954 a new area was becoming an importantpart of Finning’s business – used equipment.Again, there was a shortage of technicians.Once more, Finning trained 24 mechanicsin-house to meet the need.By 1957, the writing was on the chalkboard.The company would need to developan ongoing training program, and FrankDavies was finally hired on full-time. The20 tracks & treads • Spring 2008 www.finning.ca