ROCK HILL—At a press conference on Thursday, March 25, York Technical College will announce the launch of a Mobile Crane Operator Training course, a major new initiative within the college's Heavy Equipment Operator Training Program. The press conference will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Baxter Hood Center.

Because only a few places in the entire Southeast offer such training, the new program is expected to have regional appeal.

"We've had a number of inquiries from people who were interested in crane operator training," said Ken Strickland, the college's program manager for Construction Trades. "Thanks to our partners, I think we've succeeded in putting together a course that is affordable and addresses a real need."

AME Inc. of Fort Mill, which has been affiliated with York Technical College for about 40 years, will provide the cranes for the hands-on portion of the 230-hours of training. AME joins other industry and municipal partners vital to the success of York Tech's Heavy Equipment Operator Training Program. Those partners include Chester County, Blanchard Machinery Company, Matthews Construction Company, James River Equipment, Briggs Equipment, and the Carolinas Branch of the Association of General Contractors.

Like all of York Tech's Heavy Equipment training, the crane operator course will combine classroom and field instruction as part of a nationally-recognized curriculum developed by the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). NCCER curricula consist of modular, competency-based courses designed by industry experts and taught by NCCER-accredited instructors. The York Technical College's Heavy Equipment Operator Training Program operates on a 26-acre site in the Chester County Industrial Park. By giving men and women recognized, marketable skills, the program and the partnerships that created it make a solid contribution to the economic development of our region and our state. Since opening its doors in the fall of 2002, almost 200 students have trained at York Tech's Heavy Equipment facility in Chester and another 600 have received training from the program's instructors at other sites around the state.

York Tech's Heavy Equipment Operator Training Program currently has a contract to provide motor grader and backhoe training for the S.C. Department of Transportation and has recently been asked to subcontract for Central Carolina Technical College in Sumter to teach their Heavy Equipment classes offered in their Utilities Program.

AME Inc. was founded in 1960 as a heavy rigging and plant relocation specialist, but has grown since then to encompass many new capabilities, including quality general and industrial contracting, precision concrete work, equipment installation, crane rentals, and specialty metal fabrication. For more than 40 years, the company has earned a reputation for finding innovative solutions to complex problems.

For more information about Mobile Crane Operator training at York Tech, contact Ken Strickland at (803) 981-7338.

York Technical College . 452 S. Anderson Road . Rock Hill, SC 29730