LISLE, Ill. (January 13, 2022) – Navistar today announced its first equipment donation to Canadian technical programs through the TECH EmPOWERment initiative. While the program has already donated numerous pieces of equipment to technical programs around the U.S., the fourth quarter of 2021 saw the first donation to technical colleges in Canada. The TECH EmPOWERment program supplies accredited technical schools with equipment, real-world advisory counsel and prospects for aspiring technicians.

“Ensuring technical students around North America have updated technologies to learn with is a priority, and we are very proud to have organized our first of what I hope will be many equipment donations to Canada,” said Ana Salcido, manager, Technician Recruitment, Navistar. “In the future, we hope to extend this program even more.”

To further aid technician education, dealers from around the U.S. have donated equipment to local colleges and technical programs through the TECH EmPOWERment initiative. Since 2016, nearly 60 donations have been made to technical programs throughout North America. The TECH EmPOWERment initiative was officially established in 2020 to provide more direction and organization for the donations.

Recent donations by International^® truck dealers include:

• New Brunswick Community College in Fredericton, New Brunswick by East Coast International Trucks, Inc.
• Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre in Kemptville, Ontario by Rush Truck Canada
• Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina by White’s International
• Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Illinois by Rush Truck Effingham
• Riverland Community College in Austin, Minnesota by North Central International

“This donation from East Coast International and Navistar will have a tremendous impact for students in our Truck & Transport Service Technician program, giving them the opportunity to hone their skills with state-of-the-art equipment, setting them up with current industry knowledge and experience,” said Mary Butler, president, New Brunswick Community College (NBCC). “Our goal at NBCC is to ensure that our students are job-ready when they graduate, and donations of equipment provide the much-needed teaching resources to ensure we reach that outcome.”

The equipment donation from Rush Truck Canada helped to support Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre’s technical program in Ontario, Canada, which has an apprenticeship program providing students 240 total hours and 84 practical hours of training.

“The students from these technical programs could very well end up working for one of our dealerships and knowing that we provided them with hands-on educational tools during their training is just as rewarding for us as it is for them,” said Richard Short, president and COO, Rush Truck Canada.

To learn more about how Navistar supports the education of technicians, visit www.internationaltrucks.com/support/tech-empowerment.