View Full August PDF Issue - Utility Contractor Online

GROUNDBREAKING NEWSWinner of NUCA Membership Sweepstakes Takes Homea John Deere Skid Steer LoaderMike Gallitz entered the NUCA membership sweepstakes in January for achance to win a new John Deere 300 Series skid steer loader.When Mike Gallitz of ZenithTech Inc. went to the World ofConcrete in Las Vegas earlier thisyear, he passed by hundreds ofbooths. At one of his stops, he wasconvinced to fill out a form toreceive Compact Equipment magazine— and give him a chance towin a brand new John Deere 300Series skid steer loader.The promotion was part of aneffort by John Deere and BenjaminMedia (publishers of both CompactEquipment and Utility Contractor) toincrease membership in theNational Utility ContractorsAssociation (NUCA). John Deerehas been involved with NUCA sincethe beginning, as one of the association’scharter members in 1964.When Gallitz was done with theform, he probably thought thatwould be the end of the story.Instead, he got a call from JohnDeere a few months later. Out ofmore than 4,700 people who filledout the same form, Gallitz’s namecame up.“Not only did I win somethingin Vegas, I won a new Deere 317skid steer,” Gallitz said. “When Iwalked through the John Deerebooth at World of Concrete, Inever figured I’d walk out with agreat machine like this. I wasamazed when they called to tellme the good news.”Gallitz was invited to visitone of John Deere’s factoriesin Dubuque, Iowa, on July 3to see his new skid steer comeright off the assembly line. Hetoured the facility, met withJohn Deere engineers andtook his new 317 for aninaugural drive around thegrounds.“We got to drive the 317right off the assembly line,”he said. “I brought alongZenith Tech’s resource managerand design engineer, andwe were very impressed withthe workers there — friendlyand hard-working people whoare proud of the machines theybuild. They made us feel welcome.It was a great day.”Gallitz started his constructioncareer fresh out of high school,going to work as a laborer at ZenithTech, a Waukesha, Wis.-based civiland heavy highway contractor.Eventually, he worked his way upto carpenter, field superintendentand fabrication manager.Having been a loyal customer ofHillboro Equipment, a nearby JohnDeere dealer, for more than fiveyears, Gallitz says he’s looking forwardto using his new 300 Seriesskid loader for some landscaping orconcrete work around his propertyin rural Waukesha.“At Zenith Tech, we get a lot ofwork out of our John Deere 310Gbackhoes, so I’m expecting this skidsteer to be rugged and productive,”noted Gallitz. “I own 15 acres andthere are plenty of landscaping andother jobs waiting for me there.Between the skid steer and all theattachments Hillboro offers, I’ll beable to handle most any job.”Gallitz was able to test drive his new 317skid steer after a tour of the JohnDeere factory in Dubuque, Iowa.8 Utility Contractor | August 2007