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Private
Giving Caterpillar Foundation, dealers give $127,000 to Penn CollegeThe Caterpillar Excellence Fund -- a partnership between the Caterpillar Foundation, participating dealers and schools -- has benefited Pennsylvania College of Technology once again with contributions totaling $127,000 for the college's Diesel Equipment Technology programs. The Caterpillar Foundation contributed $25,000, and six regional dealerships donated shares of $17,000 each to assist the programs in the 2002-03 academic year. The participating dealers are: Alban Tractor Co. Inc., Baltimore; Beckwith Machinery Co., Murrysville; Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co. Inc., Harrisburg; Giles & Ransome, Bensalem; Foley Inc., Piscataway, N.J.; and H.O. Penn Machinery Co. Inc., Poughkeepsie, N.Y. This is the eighth year that Penn College has been awarded the Caterpillar funds. Including the previous years' donations, the total funding received is approximately $814,000. The primary objective of the Caterpillar Excellence Fund is to increase the pool of qualified service technicians. Funds are used to recruit students and retain them through scholarships. The contribution will fund equipment purchases in Penn College's Heavy Construction Equipment and Diesel Technology programs. In addition, the funds allow faculty to attend Caterpillar-sponsored training. The Heavy Construction Equipment and Diesel Technology majors are based at the College's Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood. The majors have an active advisory board of industry professionals, as well as an active student club that participates in and holds a variety of contests aimed at building students' skills and excitement for the career field. For more information about Penn College's School of Natural Resources Management, visit http://www.pct.edu/schools/nrm/ on the Web, or call (570) 320-8038. |