MGCCC, Kubota Tech partner to offer firsthand learning experience

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) - A new learning lab is helping community college students get real-world experience with heavy machine maintenance. The lab is the product of a partnership between Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Harrison County Center in Long Beach, Kubota Tech and the National Coalition of Certification Centers.

“This isn’t ten-year-old technology. This isn’t what their grandparents were working on. This is new. This is brand new stuff that’s coming out now,” said Thomas Capers, the instructor for the Heavy Equipment Maintenance Program. “This lab simulates being in a shop environment where they might have a truck come in. It teaches them how to find out what’s wrong and how to fix it.”

In recent years, we have heard about technician shortages around the United States. Kubota Tech told WLOX News its dealerships experienced the issue firsthand, and it’s partly why they created this educational partnership. MGCCC’s lab is one of ten in the nation.

“The lab provides experiences, hands-on experiences, in the learning labs with state-of-the-art equipment that provides them an opportunity to go out and make a livable wage in a two-year degree path,” said Kubota’s educational partnership manager Jeff Wagley.

Students in the program are also taking note of the amount of work that was put into the lab equipment.

“It’s really a blessing to actually get hands-on training, actually learning how to diagnose it and fix the problem,” said student Deuntay Grandberry.

He received his Commercial Driver’s License from MGCCC. When he noticed how long it was taking for rigs to get fixed, he took a proactive approach and enrolled in the heavy equipment maintenance program.

His classmate William Oliveri is also proud of the education he is getting there.

“I went to Perk a while back. The classes were really good, but I came here and realized, the classes are intense with how much they put into it,” he said.

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