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Educational Philanthropy
BLM Transportation Donation Advances Skills Education
Future economic progress and prosperity depend on skills education *
developing excellent programs of instruction appropriate to employers*
needs and goals.
Guelph - Polytechnic institutions such as Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning seek corporate partners and supporters to guide this process, and Conestoga has found a partner in BLM Transportation Group of Kitchener.
BLM has multiple locations in Canada and the United States, and a fleet
that includes more than 170 tractors and 500 trailers. BLM specializes
in the transport of electronics, office furniture, general merchandise
and foodstuffs.
The company has donated more than $51,000 to Conestoga, in support of
skills training associated with the truck and coach industry. Also, BLM
has pledged an additional $50,000 donation.
On Wednesday, February 13 officials from BLM, Conestoga and the
industry joined with motive power faculty and students at Conestoga*s
Guelph campus to acknowledge the company*s support of truck and coach
technician education, and to dedicate a classroom at the campus for use
in connection with the program.
At the event, BLM Transportation Group President Jim McConnell stated,
*It is our pleasure to be involved with the truck and coach program at
Conestoga, which provides a much-needed supply of qualified entrants to
the repair and maintenance side of the trucking industry. Our
involvement and support is a means of giving back to the industry we
love to be in.*
John Tibbits, President of Conestoga, added, *BLM Transportation
Group has stepped forward as an active, vocal advocate for the essential
role of the skills training agenda in promoting current and future
economic prosperity, as well as in offering solid career opportunities
to young Canadians.*
In the fall of 2006, Conestoga opened a major expansion to its campus
in Guelph. This renovation and construction project created a larger
motive power trades centre, for use by apprenticeship students in the
automotive service technician program and to allow introduction of
apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs in truck and coach
technician. This latter initiative is in direct response to industry
demand and is particularly suitable for Conestoga*s Guelph campus, as
the area around Guelph has the highest concentration of trucking
transportation businesses in Ontario.
The BLM Transportation donation aids students in two areas of their
programs. One aspect is equipment for the truck and coach shop.
Conestoga has been able to secure workbenches, complete with vises, for
use in the shop. In addition, the donation has gone towards obtaining a
number of heavy duty engine stands, which permit students safely and
securely to work on large engine blocks. The shop now also has a
high-quality pressure washer for use in cleaning equipment and the shop
area.
Soon to be in place are a heavy-duty engine crane and a valve-grinding
machine.
The donation has also made possible renovations and equipment for a
classroom at the campus, for use by students in the truck and coach
programs. The work on this room includes upgrades such as painting, new
flooring and lighting, and a new ceiling. BLM*s donation also allowed
Conestoga to obtain bulletin boards, new tables and chairs for the
students, shelving and countertop units for equipment storage and
demonstrations, plus instructional aids such as a lectern unit with a
control panel for faculty use in connection with other new equipment *
monitor, speakers, ceiling mounted video cage and digital video
projector.
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