Parkland College Opens New AGCO Training Center with Open House
The $6 million facility will be the site for Parkland College's new AGCO Service Technician associate's degree program, launched last fall.
Parkland College invites the public to view its new AGCO Training Center with an open house scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Visitors can also get a first look at new equipment at the facility, located between the Parkhill Applied Technology Center (ATC) and the Tony Noel Agricultural Technology Applications Center on the campus's west side.
The $6 million facility will be the site for Parkland College's new AGCO Service Technician associate's degree program, launched last fall. The cooperative two-year, student-technician-education program is designed to help meet the demand for skilled technicians who can service AGCO's popular Fendt® and Massey Ferguson® brands of agricultural equipment.
Local AGCO dealers will work in partnership with Parkland College to conduct training activities at the new facility and at dealerships. Students in the program, sponsored by AGCO dealers, take advantage of a work-based learning model that rotates between classwork and fieldwork.
Parkland's Board of Trustees approved the bid from Petry-Kuhne Co. of Champaign to construct the center last year. The new facility contains three classrooms, faculty offices, and 18,000 square feet of equipment laboratory space. Construction on the new center is supported by a $5 million donation from AGCO Corporation, a global agricultural machinery and precision agriculture technology company.
Dr. Pamela Lau, Parkland College's president, said the new facility will offer students training in a high-demand career that promises a solid foundation for continued employment and advancement in the agricultural equipment industry.
"Parkland College is recognized as a leader among peers in precision agriculture education and a responsive organization to the needs of our local and regional employers," she said. "We are excited for this new facility thanks to the generous gift from AGCO leadership. Together, we are expanding the agricultural workforce pipeline and building a better future."
To learn more about the AGCO Service Technician program, visit parkland.edu/AGCO.