When he was an underclassmen, Wright City High School graduate Kadin Pickard was unsure of what he wanted to do. Once he reached his junior year, he began considering a career working on heavy equipment. 

A year later he was accepted into State Tech’s ThinkBIG program to work with Caterpillar and learn how to work on their engines as a technician. 

“I felt very blessed for sure, because they only accept a certain amount of people each year and I was very blessed to see the envelope, because they usually send you an acceptance letter and I knew right then when I got it like ‘okay, this is serious,’” said Pickard. 

The ThinkBIG program with State Tech is one of only 11 available in the nation and allows students to get hands-on experience while attending classes between one of Cat’s facilities and State Tech’s campus in Linn. 

According to State Tech’s website the program “allows you to get paid while you hone your skills. You’ll work hands-on with Caterpillar heavy equipment, while also getting on-the-job training through paid internships at Fabick CAT and Foley Equipment.”

Pickard said the program also comes with a variety of benefits including roughly $15,000 worth of tools from the program that he will be able to keep and use in his career as a dealer service technician. 

“So you get all your tools in the beginning, it’s your job to take care of them but if you keep them in good shape once you complete the internship they’re paid for,” said Pickard. 

He also noted that students can have up to 90% of their education costs covered through the state’s A+ program. 

In the next two years, Pickard will divide his time in 10-week shifts between Cat’s facility in Kansas City and State Tech’s campus in Linn learning about how to work on and maintain Cat generators to work as a dealer service technician once he graduates. 

While there are a number of different specialties within the program, Pickard plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and complete the program specializing in electric power generation. 

Once he finishes the program, he will travel working on Cat generators throughout the state, but for now he is just getting started and learning about the safety protocols necessary to work on the machines. 

“Once the safety is all over, I think I’ll start out just doing oil changes on the generators,” said Pickard. “And then once I work within that area for a couple months they’ll start me out actually going out in the field.”

He said outside of his father’s history in the industry, he was also attracted to the job security the industry provides. 

“The thing that interests me the most about the EPG program was, you always have a job. People are always going to need you,” said Pickard. 

He said he has always been passionate about working on engines and derives satisfaction from being able to work on a piece of machinery and seeing it come to life because of his handiwork. 

He also enjoyed the precision required to ensure the machines run correctly and the process of repairing and servicing them. 

Pickard said he was also drawn to the program because of the hands-on experience it provides. He was not particularly interested in other routes like community college or a four-year university but saw the ThinkBIG program with State Tech as an opportunity to quickly develop useful skills and build a career. 

He expressed his excitement to begin working in the program and made it clear that while he was accepted into the program, he could not have done it alone. 

“It felt great seeing it, but I’ve definitely had a lot of help along the way,” said Pickard.