Dallas Shirley never thought he’d be going to college. He thought he’d work on the same farm his dad did in Mount Vernon, Washington. But after high school he became interested in mechanics and asked his local John Deere dealership if they were hiring.
Three weeks later, he was working as a setup technician. And almost from the start, his employer talked about sending him to the John Deere Technology program at Walla Walla Community College. “All the guys in my shop spoke highly of it,” he says. “Two of our technicians had gone to that school already.”
Since 1994, WWCC students have learned to repair and maintain the latest John Deere farm machinery, gained paid work experience at John Deere dealerships and had the fast-track to service technician jobs after graduation through the John Deere Tech program.
Deere and Co. established the international program in 1989 in response to a shortage of highly trained service techs. Through this unique partnership, Deere and Co. sponsors associate degree programs at 24 colleges in the U.S. and Canada, including at WWCC. Today, students come from throughout the western U.S. to study John Deere Tech at WWCC.
The internships are a real difference maker for students. “They get to practice it,” says Andy Winnett, Director of John Deere/Director of Trades and Transportation at WWCC. “They don’t have to wait for three quarters and hopefully remember what they did.”
“Last semester we worked on power trains,” Shirley says. “Well, my shop made sure that when I came back last co-op that I would be working on power train stuff. Since I had already seen it at school one-and-a-half, two months before that, I already knew what I was doing.”
Plus, the opportunity to be mentored by seasoned service techs can be a huge bonus. Shirley’s mentor, Steave Miller, has experience with a lot of older John Deere technology that is still in use in their area. “He makes sure that I’m under his wing, and he’s always helping me,” he says. “But I can really say that all of the guys at the shop make sure that I’m able to ask them questions.”
Working in the service department is just the start for many graduates.
“There’s lots of opportunities to advance in dealerships,” says Winnett, who spent almost 20 years working at a dealership. Past graduates have gone on to become service managers and even store managers over time. And two — Cullen Coulston and Zac Knappenberger — have come back to teach the next generation of service techs at WWCC.
Shirley’s hope is to eventually become a field tech. “Right now I’m a shop technician, and that’s cool. But I’m really into the diagnostics aspect. So getting to go shake hands with the farmer, see their equipment, that’s what I want to do.”
Deere and Co. is deeply invested in the program’s success. WWCC currently has four brand-new products on loan from Deere, 15 more pieces of equipment at the college permanently, and countless engines, power train components and electrical components to practice on. Plus, Deere gives the college a budget for parts and special tools, Winnett says. The company also has an education wing called John Deere University that keeps students and instructors up to date on the latest advancements. And students graduate with nearly 50 online certifications to prepare them for the next level of training at the dealership.
Because the internship is an integral part of the curriculum, students need to be sponsored by a John Deere dealership to gain entrance to the program. But “there’s no wrong way to get started,” Winnett says. Some students, like Shirley, are referred by dealerships that want to sponsor them. Others contact the college first, and WWCC helps facilitate a connection with a dealership.
“I can’t speak more highly of it,” Shirley says. “If you’re going to be working on John Deere, there’s no better school out there.”
To learn more about the John Deere Technology program at WWCC, go to https://dept.wwcc.edu/john-deere/.