The first ever Nebraska SuperTech is over, and what a success it was! There are so many things I want to blog about as to what worked and what we could improve on for next year. But for now, I just want to publicly announce all of the winners of Nebraska SuperTech.

Brian Thompson and Rod Spangler from DelcoRemy graciously donated an iPod, so we were able to recognize one tech for having the highest score on the electrical station. This tech was Dennis Beckenhauer from Wick’s Sterling Trucks.

As for overall awards, NE SuperTech recognized three technicians. The third place prize went to Ray Wordekemper from Omaha Truck Center. Wordekemper received a $150 gift certificate from Snap-On tools.

The second place winner was Jeff Schlecht from Norfolk Truck Center. Schlecht received a $300 gift certificate from Snap-On tools.

The first place winner was Tim Zieman of Lincoln Truck Center. Zieman received an all-expense paid trip to represent Nebraska at the national TMC SuperTech competition this September in Raleigh, NC. He also won $500 in spending cash for the trip.
The SuperTech Steering Committee would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated- from volunteers to judges, to the technicians who made the event a huge success. Way to go!

Only one week to go! To say that the SuperTech Steering Committee is running around like crazy would be an understatement. There are a lot of little loose ends that still need to be tied up. We’re finalizing catering menus, making sure the news media is aware of our event, sending out maps, sending e-mail reminders- all little things to get people excited for the inaugural SuperTech competition.

Just last week, during a break in the SuperTech action, I had the opportunity to travel to the national SkillsUSA competition to observe two young Nebraskans in action- Billy Dukat and David Miller. Billy and David are both students in Metropolitan Community College’s Diesel Technology Program. Even though they didn’t bring home a medal, it gave me great pride for both SkillsUSA and SuperTech- both are great industry events that acknowledge our hard-working technicians. It gives me so much hope for the future of the industry.

One week from today, we’ll be underway in Hastings, Nebraska! Be sure to check back for a full report in two weeks.

Sixteen technicians have been invited to compete in the final round of the inaugural SuperTech competition. The scores of all 30 technicians were very, very close. The following 16 are invited to attend the final round in Hastings:

(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Dennis Beckenhauer, Omaha

Tyler Benge, Omaha

Rich Braesch, Omaha

Brian Dizona, Omaha

Kevin Fine, Lincoln

Jeff Hoeft, Omaha

Kendall Larsen, Omaha

Myron Lundvall, North Platte

Jamie Morse, Hastings

Scott Nadermann, Omaha

Chris Ningen, North Platte

Jeff Schlecht, Norfolk

Todd Timmerman, Norfolk

Keith Wenstrand, Lincoln

Ray Wordekemper, Omaha

Tim Zieman, Lincoln

We are looking forward to seeing you all in Hastings on July 8!

Thirty technicians across the state of Nebraska are sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if they will compete in the hands-on round of the Nebraska SuperTech competition in Hastings, Neb., on July 8. Fortunately, they only have to wait seven more days!

In the meantime, the SuperTech Steering Committee is still keeping busy. Some of us may have erroneously thought we could sit and relax after the written test was over, but instead, there is much more work to do. We are actively seeking sponsorships, and have secured about half of the required funds. Hotel reservations have been made for the yet-unnamed Nebraska SuperTech and we’re working with multiple vendors who have helped us along the way.

Many of the most helpful vendors represent companies that are already very active in SuperTech: folks from ConMet, Haldex, Mitchell1, ArvinMeritor and Michelin, to name a few. It amazes all of us working on SuperTech how willing the vendors are to take on yet another competition.

Next week, I’ll report back on the 16 technicians who will be competing in Hastings for the final round!

The registration process for Nebraska SuperTech is now complete. For the past eight months, we’ve merely been thinking about getting to this point. Now that we’re finally here, I’m pleased to announce we have 28 technicians signed up to be involved with the first-ever Nebraska SuperTech competition.

We had some last minute additions from several fleets in the area, which makes it feel more and more like a well-balanced, state-wide competition. We have technicians from the fleet level, and the dealership level. And the techs represent many different cities and towns in the state.

The next step in the process will be for the technicians to take a written exam, proctored at five of the state’s community colleges, Central Community College at Hastings, Northeast Community College, Metropolitan Community College, Mid Plans Community College and Southeast Community College. It’s been a pleasure for the steering committee to work with the community colleges. They’ve been instrumental in helping us with the written exam portion of the test.

Thanks to everyone in Nebraska who is signed up to compete in the first ever Nebraska SuperTech, and good luck on the exam next week!

A few weeks ago, I stood before a room of 75 people and asked, “How many of you have heard about SuperTech?” Imagine my dismay when only one person raised her hand. Imagine my further dismay when I realized the person who raised her hand worked for the Nebraska Trucking Association.

What can a committee do when the hard work it did publicity-wise hasn’t been working? Keep on keeping on.

Even though no one had heard of SuperTech, I still stood up there and gave an impassioned speech about the competition. I convinced several people to sign up. I recently drove four hours to North Platte, Neb., to get some interest from the western part of the state. I walked into a shop, along with their service manager, and we had a “question and answer” session, and were able to get three technicians signed up on the spot. I’m calling a lot of people I’ve met through networking sessions, and I’m talking to them about SuperTech. Slowly but surely, the word is getting out. We’ve got close to 20 technicians signed up so far.

The point is, if you launch a competition, it takes a lot of hard work. You’re also going to have to get used to rejection. But if you have the commitment and passion to the project, you just have to pick yourself up, find a new person to talk to and move forward.

I apologize for not blogging sooner. I’ve been busy with Omaha Truck Center, Inc.’s inaugural UltimateTech competition. I am pleased to report the event took place on April 21 at our Technical Advancement Center. We are the first Freightliner group in the country to successfully hold a competition modeled after the national SuperTech competition.

We started out with a field of 111 of our professional diesel technicians. After some initial tests, we invited the top two from each of our locations, for a total of 16, to Omaha to compete in a hands-on skills contest.

Our first place winner was Ray Wordekemper from Omaha. Second place went to David Holliman from Salina. Third place went to John Ecis from Omaha. Jeff Schlecht from Norfolk had the highest written score. Wordekemper will represent OTC at national SuperTech in Raleigh in September.

I am so proud of each and every one of our 111 technicians who took the test. These men and women had no idea what to expect, yet still decided to jump right in and give it a try. Congratulations to each and every one of you. And good luck to Ray at nationals!

Nebraska SuperTech is now accepting competitors!

And, not only are we accepting registrations, we already have a few people signed up. This is quite a relief to everyone in the SuperTech Steering Committee.

It’s nice to finally see all of our work coming to fruition. Of course, there have been hiccups along the way. But one of the things the STSC has done really well is come together to work through the hiccups. I think that’s the key for any of you who are trying to plan a competition- get a great group of volunteers who are committed to the cause to get together to help. Make sure to have people from many different backgrounds if you can, because that will make your group that much more knowledgeable.

Back to the registration process. It’s not that we didn’t think we could get people signed up; it’s just a great confirmation that technicians in Nebraska are excited about the chance to represent the state at the national competition. Imagine the bragging rights- being able to say you were Nebraska’s first-ever SuperTech grand champion! That’s a pretty big deal.

For those of you out there who live in Nebraska and want to enter SuperTech, go here!

This past week, many of the members of the SuperTech Steering Committee traveled up to Norfolk, Neb., for the annual Nebraska Skills USA competition. I want to tip my virtual hat to the high school and college students who participated this year. There were over 40 students.

Students pursuing a career in diesel technology competed in 12 different skills stations this year. Even though these students are not professional technicians, they still attempted to tackle scenarios we would give to real-world professional technicians.

Hopefully, after a few years working as a successful technician in Nebraska, these students will have the chance to compete in a state SuperTech competition. And isn’t that our goal- to create talent from a younger age? I think we’re even creating a new recruiting and retention tool.

Again, I couldn’t be prouder of the students who took the time to compete. Many of them approached the judges afterward to learn more about things they could’ve done better. It gives me a lot of hope for these future super techs!

Publicity matters when you’re launching a first-ever competition. Not everyone will have the luxury of partnering with a national magazine like Fleet Maintenance when planning a competition, so in that regard, I wanted to touch on several things we’ve done in Nebraska that are tools anyone can implement.

One of the easiest things you can do is talk about SuperTech, which is completely free. It’s really that easy: you talk about SuperTech. You talk to fleets, you talk to dealers and you talk to potential sponsors. You ask them if they’ve heard about SuperTech. If they have, you ask them what they think. If they haven’t, you give them an introduction to the competition.

Another easy thing to do is get different groups of people involved. Community colleges may not be the first thing you think of when you think about SuperTech, but for those of us in Nebraska, it was a natural fit. We’re partnering with the colleges to help proctor our exams. Think outside of the box and get different groups of people involved.

And finally, create a flyer that can serve as a talking piece. Post it on a Web site. Include information about your event. Keep it in your briefcase and take it to every meeting you go to.

None of these ideas are monumental, but they are simply a few of the things we’ve been doing in Nebraska to help us stay publicized.