PrairieLand Partners and AgriVision Equipment Group announced its partnership with Hutchinson Community College as a John Deere Dealer Sponsored School Wednesday in a press release.
HutchCC will offer an Agriculture Service Technician program as part of the dealer partnership. The first group of students will begin in the fall of 2025.
Students in the Agriculture Service Technician program will have the chance to become certified John Deere Technicians by taking courses from a certified John Deere technician who serves as a HutchCC faculty member. Courses include Electronic Diagnostics, Hydraulic Diagnostics, Engine Air and Exhaust Systems Diagnostics, Engine Aftertreatment SCR Systems Diagnostics and more.
“We are very excited for an opportunity to expand our agriculture technology program,” Dr. Tricia Paramore, president of HutchCC, said. “We have students that want to go into agriculture technology and have expressed an interest in a program like this. With PrairieLand Partners located merely minutes from our ag diesel south campus location as well as a new opportunity to serve as a Dealer Sponsored School, it seems like everything is falling into place.”
Students will also take core curriculum courses from HutchCC, which are held at the College’s south campus near Yoder.
“We as an organization continue to face challenges in higher learning with capacity issues and options for students that want to pursue careers in diesel technology. We felt that partnering with an institution with such a strong reputation like Hutchinson Community College was an obvious choice to provide a high-quality diesel technology program,” Reed Allen, director of aftermarket for PrairieLand Partners and AgriVision Equipment, said.
PrairieLand Partners and AgriVision Equipment have undertaken an initiative to increase the number of technicians; they plan to increase technician capacity by 25% over the next couple years. Post-graduation employment opportunities will be available at any of their locations throughout Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
“This is an outstanding opportunity for our students, our local economy, and the communities served by the college and PrairieLand Partners,” says Sheldon Stewart, HutchCC Department Chairperson. “We look forward to seeing the impact our students make when they take on roles with PrairieLand Partners and embed themselves in those communities.”
The collaboration between these two organizations takes a step forward into helping cultivate future agricultural professionals by providing students with hands-on experience using innovative technology while attending HutchCC.
“We look forward to working together on this exciting initiative and know that it will have a lasting impact on our industry for years to come,” said Allen.
