Donated trucks give students real-world experience

By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
    PRESQUE ISLE — A significant in-kind donation from Dead River Co. given to The Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges will enhance the hands-on learning opportunities at three of the state’s community colleges.
    Last Friday, officials with Dead River Co. joined representatives from Northern Maine Community College, the NMCC Foundation and The Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges to receive the first three of 11 trucks to be given to the community colleges in Presque Isle, Bangor and Calais. Robert Moore, president of Dead River Co., announced the gift in the diesel hydraulics technology lab at NMCC before members of the freshman class enrolled in the associate degree program.
    “Throughout our 103-year history, Dead River Co. has always kept our customers, neighbors and communities top of mind,” said Moore. “We proudly support Maine’s high-quality educational opportunities in the community college system. Given our experience in working with graduates of these programs, as well as the budget challenges faced by community colleges, we are confident that our donation of these trucks will enhance the hands-on training for students here at NMCC, Eastern Maine Community College and Washington County Community College.
    “Dead River Co. employs over 1,000 people in Maine and northern New England, and we rely to a great extent on the talented and capable graduates from NMCC and the other community colleges in the state,” Moore said. “We have made a promise, and we renew our promise every year, to be involved and to contribute to the communities in which we do business, which our employees and their families live, and I hope that this will be at least a beginning down payment on our effort to stay involved with helping thousands of people in Maine communities.”
    The three diesel trucks, all Navistar International 9200 series models, represent the initial gift from Dead River Co. Altogether the value of the 11 trucks will total approximately $100,000.
    “The gift announcement by Dead River Co. to The Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges, and in turn to our campus, is significant because it underscores the high level of support and appreciation for the work of our college and that of our sister colleges across the state,” said NMCC President Timothy Crowley. “We are most grateful to Dead River Co. for recognizing what we do and acknowledging the importance of our efforts toward the betterment of the economy of our region and state.
    The trucks will be put to immediate use at all three community colleges. NMCC diesel hydraulics instructor Robert Rice said the gift will help students gain real-world experience on technology they will experience at work sites across Maine.
    In addition to the diesel hydraulics technology program at NMCC, the Dead River Co. donation will benefit the commercial driving academy delivered through the Presque Isle college’s continuing education division. The state licensed program has trained hundreds of men and women to become professional drivers. The course runs eight weeks and is in such demand that NMCC offers it several times each year.
    The Dead River Co. gift announcement is one of the latest made to the Campaign for Maine’s Community Colleges, which was launched in 2010 to raise a minimum of $10 million to support the continued growth of the state’s seven community colleges.
    Joining in the announcement were Elizabeth Shorr, president of The Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges; Brian Hamel, chair of the NMCC Foundation board of directors; and Devon Watson, diesel hydraulics student of Clinton.