John Deere Technician of the Year Awards: Lachlan Corridan, Sarah Lewis, Poppy Blohm win top honours
A 25-year-old harvester specialist from northwest Victoria has taken out the top honour at John Deere’s technician awards in Brisbane.
A young farm machinery technician from Victoria’s Mallee has been crowned Australia’s best at a gala ceremony in Brisbane.
Sea Lake’s Lachlan Corridan, 25, won the coveted Agriculture and Turf Service Technician of the Year category at this year’s John Deere Technician Awards, coming top in a field of five strong contenders from Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
Sarah Lewis from Terang won Parts Technician of the Year, while Darcy Miller from Ayr in Queensland took out the Service Apprentice of the Year Award. Poppy Blohm of Western Australia received the Parts Apprentice of the Year Award.
Technicians were assessed based on a written nomination from their dealer, customer feedback and a rigorous set of tests over two days at John Deere’s Queensland headquarters.
John Deere director of aftermarket and customer support Emma Ford said Mr Corridan impressed judges with the way he stayed calm under pressure in the hands-on diagnostic challenges that were part of the awards criteria.
He went “above and beyond to make sure the machine was properly fixed and the problem wouldn’t recur, all with a very cool, calm and collected attitude,” Ms Ford said.
Mr Corridan said working as a technician has been his dream job, and winning the award was an honour.
“Considering the other four I was competing against … it’s obviously the assessors think I do (deserve to win) but it could have gone to any one of us,” he said. “They are all amazing people, amazing techs.
“It’s a privilege to be selected among them.”
Mr Corridan was competing against Karl Moschella of Honeycombes at Ayr in Queensland, Francois Groenewald of Hutcheon & Pearce at Griffith NSW, David Nicol of Pringles Crouch at Crystal Brook in South Australia and former Taylor Swift security guard Vincent Powditch of RDO Equipment at Taree South NSW.
Mr Corridan started his career as a service apprentice in Swan Hill at the age of 16.
“I tossed up between being an accountant or an architect, and somehow did some work experience for a dealer and loved it. And thought this is what I want to do,” he said.
“I’d encourage any young person to get involved in a John Deere dealer, just in any capacity whether it’s parts, sales or as a service apprentice. I don’t regret a single thing about the job.”
Brandt technician Sarah Lewis took out the Parts Technician of the Year category for the second year running.
Ms Lewis has become a leader within the Brandt Terang branch and is passionate about mentoring and upskilling the next generation of techs.
“It could have been anyone’s game and I’m so humbled and so appreciative to have been given the second opportunity,“ she said.
“In coming to do some of the testing, I was able to bring it back to some of our team and tell them this is what I was challenged with, these were some of the examples. So it’s very much a learning experience and a challenging one.
“It excites you and makes you passionate to share what you know to hopefully inspire and encourage others to get into the industry.”
Poppy Blohm, 19, from Western Australia took out the Parts Apprentice of the Year category.
Ms Blohm grew up in Perth and was fresh out of agriculture college when she jumped at a job opportunity at AFGRI Equipment at Narrogin 18 months ago.
“Machinery wasn’t my favourite thing, but I thought you know what, why don’t I give it a crack,” Ms Blohm said.
“I tried it, and I loved it.”
She said winning the award “reiterated what I love about the industry”.
Bryce Dixon won the New Zealand Agriculture and Turf Service Technician of the Year title.
He said recognising and rewarding technicians was important to help attract and retain more workers in the industry.
“We’re so short on techs, and it’s so hard to replace one if they leave,” he said. “I think getting kids interested at that young age and getting them in there doing work experience is important.”
National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar presented the Agriculture and Turf awards with John Deere Australia and New Zealand managing director Luke Chandler.
Mr Mahar said the work of technicians and dealerships was crucial to the prosperity of regional communities.
“It’s so important to remind the decision-makers in Canberra or anywhere else of the supply chain,” he said. “So they might recognise food and fibre, but they don’t always recognise the mechanics or the irrigation suppliers or the agronomists that are out there; and making sure that they know and understand that supply chain is just so critical.”
Now in its third year, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards honour technicians in five categories: Agriculture and Turf Service Technician of the Year, Parts Technician of the Year, Service Apprentice of the Year, Parts Apprentice of the Year and the Construction & Forestry Service Technician of the Year.
John Deere Australia and New Zealand managing director Luke Chandler congratulated each of the Australian winners and emphasised how important their work was to prosperous industries and local communities.
“There can only be one winner in each category, however after meeting many of the technicians in Brisbane over the past few days, it’s clear we have a terrific pipeline of talent servicing John Deere equipment and supporting our customers across the country,” he said.
Meet the 2023 finalists:
AGRICULTURE & TURF SERVICE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR
(will compete for an Australian only Award)
Lachlan Corridan, Haeusler’s, Sea Lake, Victoria
Francois Groenewald, Hutcheon & Pearce, Griffith, New South Wales
Karl Moschella, Honeycombes, Ayr, Queensland
David Nicol, Pringles Crouch, Crystal Brook, South Australia
Vincent Powditch, RDO Equipment, Taree South, New South Wales
PARTS TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR
(will compete for an Australian only Award)
Jarred Bourke, LandHQ, Queanbeyan, New South Wales
Mitchell Channer, AFGRI Equipment, South Guildford, Western Australia
Andrew James, RDO Equipment, Richlands, Queensland
Sarah Lewis, Brandt, Terang, Victoria
Kaylyn-Rose Netrval, RDO Equipment, Taree South, New South Wales
CONSTRUCTION & FORESTRY TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR
(will also compete against two New Zealand finalists for a combined Australian/New Zealand Award)
Hayden Cox, RDO Equipment, Eastern Creek, New South Wales
Mark Muller, RDO Equipment, Eastern Creek, New South Wales
SERVICE APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
(will also compete against two New Zealand finalists for a combined Australian/New Zealand Award)
Salvatore Bettio, Hutcheon & Pearce, Albury North, New South Wales
James Clarkson, AFGRI Equipment, Gnowangerup, Western Australia
Darcy Miller, Honeycombes, Ayr, Queensland
Aaron Roberts, Brandt, Ballarat, Victoria
PARTS APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
(will also compete against one New Zealand finalist for a combined Australian/New Zealand Award)
Poppy Blohm, AFGRI Equipment, Narrogin, Western Australia
Lauren Cortes, RDO Equipment, Dalby, Queensland
Belinda Gade, Emmetts, Renmark, South Australia
Matthew Giuntini, RDO Equipment, Eastern Creek, New South Wales
Kym Thorne, RDO Equipment, Toowoomba, Queensland
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