Agricenter welcomes J I Case.

New Training Center

Agricenter Welcomes J I Case

MEMPHIS -- Executives of J I Case Co. and Agricenter International opened Case's regional training center recently with an open house and tour of the facilities in the Agricenter International complex.

Clayton T. Carlson, J I Case training manager told guests assembled for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that sales and service training session are already under way at the Memphis center.

"The new facility is designed for training from the ground up and with expansion in mind," he said. "We will train 600 to 700 service technicians here every year. Our customers depend on competent mechanics who can service machines on a timely basis and fix them right the first time."

He said the center's training programs are "customized" to give dealers in the southern United States the capacity to serve their customers.

"Two full-time instructors and J I Case field personnel provide training for our entire product line."

Training emphasis, however, will be on cropping operations unique to the region, including cotton and rice harvesting, he said. Agricenter International, with its agribusiness-industrial park and agricultural operations, provides a "staging area where we can take the equipment out into the field for practical demonstration."

Although the facility's main purpose will be training, Carlson says it will also be available for other departments such as sales and marketing for demonstrations and other meeting functions.

The company projects more than 1,000 people will use the facility on an annual basis.

Carlson said J I Case intends to supplement its main training center in Racine, Wis., with other regional training centers, including proposed facilities in Canada and in eastern and western regions of the United States.

Other speakers at the grand opening were Shelby County, Tenn., Mayor William N. Morris, Agricenter International President William H. Walker, and Case executives Herman Kosten and Bob Green.

Headquartered in Racine, J I Case is a worldwide manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment. J I Case is an affiliate of Tenneco Inc., Houston, which is a diversified industrial corporation with major interests in natural gas pipelines, agricultural and construction equipment, shipbuilding, automotive parts, packaging, chemicals and minerals.