Eville CTE offering new Heavy Equipment Operations course

The Heavy Equipment Operations program is new this year at the Ellicottville Career Technical and Education Center. In the lineup are students operating part of the fleet of equipment. Shown from left is Instructor Kevin McGuire, standing; Justin Degenfelder, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, in John Deere 310L loader backhoe; Gavin Gebauer, Ellicottville Big Picture, in John Deere 204K loader; Austin Hall, Ellicottville, on Cat D3K dozer; Adam Gassman, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, on Ford 555 loader backhoe; and Cody Hyman, Franklinville, on Bobcat 595 Skid Steer. - Press photo by Deb Everts

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ELLICOTTVILLE — The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center at Ellicottville added a new Heavy Equipment Operations program in September. This is the first time the program has been offered as a full course, solely on its own and not combined with another program.

Instructor Kevin McGuire said Ellicottville’s CTE Center is the first facility out of all three centers to offer the program. In fact, the course is so new that it has not yet been added to the CTE Program Catalog online. He said if the program takes off, it’ll probably be offered at the other two locations in Olean and Belmont as well.

“Aspects of heavy equipment operation used to be integrated into the Power Equipment Technology and Natural Resources programs at the center but, then, a separate Heavy Equipment Operations program became a reality because there were enough students interested,” he said. “Demand for trained operators in the workforce is on the rise.”

This year’s students who are taking the Heavy Equipment Operations program come from Springville, Salamanca, Ellicottville, West Valley, Randolph and Cattaraugus-Little Valley school districts. McGuire said he doesn’t have any students from Pioneer this year, but maybe some will sign up for next year.

McGuire has 16 students, including two females.

“Over the years, people have been veering away from the skilled trades, so there is a major shortage for heavy equipment operators. These kids are going to be employed,” he said.

According to McGuire, when a student takes the course for the full two years, they get their certificate and OSHA 10 card through a class offered at the Ellicottville center. When they graduate from the center, they also get their diploma in Heavy Equipment Operations. If a student completes the technical endorsement, they can earn a technical endorsement as well.

“The one thing with this program is they have to be 18 to run heavy equipment in New York state. If they aren’t 18 when they graduate, they may have to do some sort of apprenticeship until they turn 18,” he said.

Some new heavy equipment has been added to the center to supplement its existing selection. McGuire said the class learns to use various types of construction equipment and earth-moving equipment. He said the center currently has a total of 13 or 14 pieces of equipment including two excavators (a mini-hydraulic excavator and a utility-sized excavator), a Bobcat Skid Steer Loader, two bulldozers (John Deere and Caterpillar), a dump truck and trailer, a wheel-loader, two loader backhoes, a log loader, and a brand new John Deere Loader Backhoe they’ve had in service just a few weeks.

“Other pieces are not brand new, but have been purchased quite recently. Some of the equipment was already here and is also used by the Natural Resources and Power Equipment Technology programs, as well as the maintenance department, so it gets used all the time,” he said.

McGuire and his wife, Jennifer, live in Little Valley and they have three children. Although this is his first year teaching at the Ellicottville center, he has more than 22 years in the field of diesel and heavy equipment. Before joining the teaching staff at Ellicottville, he taught the Truck and Diesel program at Alfred State for four years. Prior to his position at Alfred State, he was a full-time road technician for Anderson Equipment in Allegany for 17 years.

When CTE officials asked him if he was interested in teaching the Heavy Equipment Operations program at the Ellicottville center, he said yes because it’s one of the programs that fills in fast.

According to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook and overall employment of construction equipment operators is projected to grow 12-percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. Spending on infrastructure is expected to increase, resulting in new positions over the next 10 years. Workers who can operate multiple types of equipment should have the best job opportunities.

The Ellicottville center is located at 5550 Route 242 E., Ellicottville. For more details about the new Heavy Equipment Operations program, call the center at 699-2382 or 376-8300. Additional information about all three centers can be found online at caboces.org.

(Contact reporter Deb Everts at salpressdeb@gmail.com.)

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