A $100,000 gift from Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. announced in June at Lethbridge College illustrates the 
ongoing support the college maintains with its industry partners as well as the value placed on the trades and the training of the workforce of today and of the future. The gift will support the college’s new trades and technologies facility by creating the Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. Heavy Equipment Bay within the Crooks School of Transportation. The gift will also support the Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. Award of $1,000 per year for a student graduating from the Agricultural and Heavy Equipment certificate program for the next 25 years.
“We made this gift to support all of the trades in southern Alberta,” said Keith Shirakawa, one of the co-owners of Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. “We believe it is essential and important to support the training of our region’s students and apprentices. Our goal is to build capacity for southern Alberta, and this gift to support trades training at the college is one way we can help make that happen.”
The June announcement is a further extension of the continued good-will that Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. has shown Lethbridge College over the years. The company hires and supports students and apprentices from the Agricultural and Heavy Equipment Technician certificate program as well as apprentices from the Parts Technician program. In addition, Mike Anderson, another co-owner, sits on the college’s Agricultural and Heavy Equipment Technician Advisory committee, and the whole company is highly engaged with the Registered Apprenticeship Program.
“Lethbridge College is fortunate to have Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. as such a supportive industry partner,” said Lethbridge College President and CEO Dr. Paula Burns. “From their involvement in our advisory committee – making sure our students are learning the skills and subjects they will need to succeed on the job – to their meaningful loans of equipment to this generous gift today, Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. is playing an essential role in the college’s efforts to lead and transform education in Alberta. This kind of relationship allows our students to thrive, and it also demonstrates what can be accomplished when education and industry work together.”
Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. was started by Tim Hanlon in 1984. Over the years, partners Keith Shirakawa, Mike Anderson, Brendon Hanlon and Shane Mann also invested in the business, which sells, services and provides parts for all major brands of agricultural equipment, and especially the latest and best haying equipment. Their major brands include AGCO, Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson, RoGator and Terra Gator. The company has expanded and added many new contracts since its early days, and this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The Hanlon Ag Centre Ltd. Heavy Equipment Bay will reside in the Crooks School of Transportation, one of the key areas of the new trades and technologies facility. The Crooks School will open in the fall of 2015, and the entire new trades and technologies facility will welcome 2,300 trades and technologies students in the fall of 2017.
