Out of 35 dealer event winners from across North America, only two operators have earned the right to advance to the final round of the Cat Global Operator Challenge (GOC) to be held during ConExpo-Con/Agg in March.
The two North America regional semifinal champions are John Schiedeck with Schiedeck Construction from Texas, representing dealer Holt Cat (Eastern Region) and Matt Ferris with Kinkaid Civil Construction from Arizona, representing dealer Empire Cat (Western Region).
All competitors completed the same three Challenge events using Cat equipment and technology – Trench Run, Locked & Loaded and Backhoe Bonanza – during a two-day event at Caterpillar’s Edward J. Rapp Customer & Training Center in Clayton, N.C.
The regional GOC semifinals were a culmination of months of competitions held worldwide at the dealer level. “We experienced amazing participation in this year’s Challenge,” said Jessica Nunley, global marketing manager for Caterpillar. “From more than 10,000 registrants, 3,500 machine operators competed in the first round at the dealer level, and only 84 of the best operators in the world made it to the regional semifinals.”
The GOC finals will take place inside Caterpillar’s 70,000-sq.-ft. outdoor exhibit (F9127) in the Festival Lot at ConExpo-Con/Agg.