Cody Erman, a Lethbridge College-trained apprentice, has been named AGCO Corporation’s 2022 North American Technician of the Year. (Photo: AGCO)

By Justin Goulet

Apprentice trained at Lethbridge College wins North American competition

Apr 19, 2023 | 3:14 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – An apprentice trained at Lethbridge College has won a special award.

Cody Erman has been named AGCO Corporation’s 2022 North American Technician of the Year. He received the award following a test of skills over three days against four other technicians.

Erman completed his Parts Technician apprenticeship in 2013, and later his Heavy Equipment Technician in 2018, and now works at Hanlon Ag Centre in Lethbridge. In early March, Erman and technicians nominated by their AGCO dealerships from Manitoba, California, Idaho, and South Dakota travelled to Hesston, Kansas. They were tasked with diagnosing and repairing six different machines. The technicians had two-and-a-half hours per machine.

Their work was judged by a three-person panel representing the customer, the service manager and a technical support person. Their scores were based on the way they interacted with the judges, as well as the questions they asked and their diagnosis and repair skills.

Erman said having the time limit was stressful and he was worried after not completing the first of the six tasks. Erman later learned that none of his fellow competitors completed that first task. He eventually won the Technician of the Year title and a $5,000 grand prize.

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He stated in a news release, “I enjoy hands-on work and dealing with people in the field.”

Erman added, “It’s rewarding to be able to fix something. You’re always problem solving, and there’s so much technology involved now. A problem could be mechanical or electrical. You have to be able to talk to the customer, find out what was happening when the problem started, and then systemically figure out the cause.”

Read more: Lethbridge News Now