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We had a puff in our chests recently when two dedicated members of the Hutcheon & Pearce team were named among the best and brightest in Australia and New Zealand in the 2022 John Deere Technician Awards.

Launching last year, the John Deere Technician Awards recognise the hard work and expertise technicians provide to customers and the skill of high-performing techs.

We couldn’t be prouder of Oliver Dean from our Cowra branch, who was named a finalist in the Apprentice of the Year award, and Sally Clayton from our Forbes branch, who was a finalist in the Parts Interpreter of the Year category.
Technicians are nominated by their dealerships with input from customers, which makes it particularly meaningful honour to be singled out.

“The John Deere Technician Awards are a new award program and a really great opportunity for John Deere to acknowledge the work of technicians out in the dealership groups. “Part of the process is for managers to nominate technicians for consideration and it's a fairly extensive nomination process with responses required against set criteria, including customer service, their technical ability and how they work as part of the team. We also provide customer statements that talk about their experiences dealing with our technicians. “These nominations then go to John Deere for consideration and shortlisting, with the finalists required to travel to Brisbane where they’re put through their paces for a week. “From more than 100 applicants, we were excited that Sally and Oliver made the cut to travel to Brisbane for their respective categories. While neither of them came home with the win, we are immensely proud of their success in being recognised for their high levels of performance and consider the awards a great opportunity to not only recognise individual staff members but to also put a spotlight on agriculture as a career path.”

Sarah Johnson

Human Resources Manager

Meet Ollie Dean: Finalist, 2022 John Deere Service Apprentice of the Year Australia/NZ

Growing up on a mixed farming operation in Cudal, Ollie says he’s always been around agricultural machinery, which is why he applied to be a TOPGUN apprentice.

He has worked for past four years in the Cowra branch and now spends most of time working on harvesting equipment – everything from the smaller 9550 to the new S Series headers – on customers’ farms.

Ollie said he was surprised and excited when he was named a finalist in the awards.

“My favourite thing is getting the customer going. The customer satisfaction of having their machine back up and running at the end of the day is always good.”

“I’ve never been to Brisbane before, so it was good to get up there with the other 35 finalists. There were three parts to the judging – an interview to test customer service skills and theory and practical testing, where they put an issue in a tractor and assessed how you went about fixing it.
“It certainly got the heart racing, with three blokes looking over your shoulder to see what you’re doing, but I found it a really great experience. It was particularly good to meet other techs from around the country and New Zealand and to attend the awards dinner.”
Oliver Dean- Technician, Cowra

Meet Sally Clayton: Finalist, 2022 John Deere Parts Technician of the Year Australia/NZ

Sally started a traineeship in Parts at H&P in 2017. Growing up on the family farm in Euchareena, near Orange, she always wanted to work in agriculture, so she had no hesitation in applying for the TOPGUN program.
Now a qualified parts interpreter, Sally spends her days figuring out the parts the customer needs and getting those parts in their hands.

“My favourite part of the job is that last phone call you with the customer, where they're happy you’ve found the part they need, and you have the feeling that you’ve helped them. It just that one little thing, but things would be a whole lot different if I couldn't get the part to them.”
Sally Clayton- Group Parts Inventory Manager, Forbes

For Sally, having the chance to go to Brisbane and be supported by some of the H&P executive team was an event to remember.

“I’ll never forget it. Just being able to meet the different John Deere people that we talk to all the time but don’t see was a phenomenal experience. I would 100% recommend other staff to get involved if they get the chance because it’s a great experience personally in building your confidence and you meet so many people and learn so much from them. It’s an experience I wouldn’t want to miss.”

As far as Sally’s concerned, the awards are just another example of the level of backing and opportunities given to our employees to succeed.
“At Hutcheon & Pearce, wherever you want to take your career, there are different pathways, and everyone is so supportive. I suppose being a family business, that quality of support really shines through the whole company. We’re really given all the tools we need to do our best and support our farmers.”