HCET major receives $2,500 Workforce Development Scholarship
Brock Westermayer, 18, is enrolled in the Heavy Construction Equipment Technology (HCET) program at Dakota County Technical College. Graduating from Burnsville High School in May 2018, Brock is starting at DCTC this fall with plans to earn a 64-credit HCET diploma.
Brock is also the recipient of a $2,500 Workforce Development Scholarship for 2018–2019. Half the amount, $1,250, he can use toward fall 2018 educational expenses. He will receive another $1,250 to use toward spring 2019 expenses if he maintains a 2.0 GPA or higher for fall 2018 while enrolled at DCTC with at least nine credits in both fall and spring semesters.
Michelle Boe, interim executive director of foundation at DCTC and Inver Hills Community College, reported that Minnesota State has offered 400 Workforce Development Scholarships of $2,500 each for students enrolling in high-demand programs at state colleges.
“Brock and other DCTC Workforce Development Scholarship recipients will be attending the Foundation Donor Recognition Breakfast in January or February 2019,” Michelle said. “We will celebrate DCTC scholarship recipients at the event and will also recognize our generous donors who provide scholarship funding for so many of our students.”
Learn more about Workforce Development Scholarships:
Read “Minnesota State Announces 400 Scholarships” on DCTC News.
More about Brock Westermayer…
Brock chose his career path in the heavy equipment industry because his whole family works in the construction business. He remembers going to work sites as a child and riding around in bulldozers and front-end loaders. He chose the HCET program because the DCTC Rosemount campus is close to his home and a number of his friends have graduated from the program.
“My friends really liked going to school at DCTC,” he said. “They recommended the program as a good way to go.”
Brock will be working two jobs while attending college, one as a stock clerk in the automotive department at Fleet Farm in Lakeville, and one as a tech at Force America in Burnsville. He is looking at landing an internship at Ziegler CAT through the HCET program and considers Ziegler the ideal location to launch his career as a heavy construction equipment technician.
Three words that describe you as a college student:
FUN. FOCUSED. DETERMINED.
Brock is grateful for receiving a $2,500 Workforce Development Scholarship. “That money is going to a good cause,” he said.
A native of Lakeville, Minnesota, Brock has fraternal twin brothers, Carter and Logan, 14. When he’s not working, he enjoys duck and goose hunting, hanging out with friends and working on his 1998 Chevy Silverado.
Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics
Wage
This career pays above the statewide median wage of $19.62.
Minnesota
Median: $27.13/hour
High: $30.51/hourSeven-county Minneapolis/St. Paul metro
Median: $28.44/hour
High: $32.79/hourOutlook
This career is currently in high demand.
Future Demand
This career is high growth compared to other careers. There will be a need for about 1,160 new Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics to meet market demand between 2014–2024. This includes the demand due to replacement (workers leaving the occupation or retiring) as well as growth.
— CareerWISE Minnesota
What company is your favorite heavy equipment manufacturer?
“Caterpiller.”— Brock Westermayer, Future HCET student
Brock Westermayer | 12 Answers
- Favorite sport or physical activity: Hockey
Place you would most like to visit: Montana
- The most exciting thing you’ve ever done: Getting my driver’s license
- Your personal motto if you had to have one: “Live life to the fullest.”
- Favorite all-time TV show: Street Outlaws
- Favorite all-time movie: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
- One thing you most want to accomplish in life: Have lots of toys and big trucks
Most precious material possession: 1998 Chevy Silverado
- Dream occupation: Heavy equipment tech
- Person you would most like to meet: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Skill you would most like to learn and master: Welding
- Most important issue or problem facing humankind: Technology
To learn more about the Heavy Construction Equipment Technology program at DCTC, contact:
Joel Fogarty
HCET Faculty
651-423-8481
For more information about the Foundation, contact:
Michelle Boe
Michelle A. Boe, JD
Interim Executive Director of Foundation
Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College
DCTC Office: 651-423-8236
Inver Hills Office: 651-450-3519
Amy Eppen
Foundation Assistant Director
651-423-8265
To learn more about Workforce Development Scholarships, contact:
Heath Baumgard
Director of Recruitment and Admissions
Dakota County Technical College
651-423-8298
