Carter Machinery – Working to Increase Awareness of the Growing Opportunities in Construction-Related Careers

	Carter Shop

Carter Machinery – headquartered in Salem, Virginia – is one of the leading Caterpillar® dealers in North America and throughout the world. From its humble start in 1928 serving Virginia and southeastern West Virginia, the company has grown steadily, and today has a footprint that spans the Mid-Atlantic with over 30 locations in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. Carter sells, rents, and supports the full line of Cat® equipment, engines, and electric power generation systems, all backed by the best parts availability, most diverse rental fleet, and an expert service team working to keep customers’ machines running and producing. The company’s ongoing investment in people, infrastructure, technology, and tooling, coupled with a steady stream of new products, services, and locations, enables it to meet customers’ changing needs and help them realize their highest levels of success. 

Carter Machinery’s people are its greatest strength, and the key to both the company’s and its customers’ success. They employ a wide variety of skilled, experienced professionals and tradespeople, and more than 1,200 technicians focused on servicing, maintaining, and rebuilding customers’ machines. With continued growth both within the company and industry, one of Carter’s top priorities and responsibilities is creating a highly trained, reliable workforce, in part through a longstanding commitment to growing awareness of construction-industry career opportunities.  

Kid Square Excavators

Parents, educators, and children often overlook the construction industry as a potential career path because of a widespread misconception that the only opportunities there are blue collar, while in reality the field also offers a broad array of skilled trades, white-collar professional, and technology-related careers. Because this misconception affects Carter Machinery as well as all members of the construction industry, the company is on a mission to help change perceptions, in part by using innovative tactics to reach a wide, diverse audience.   

In this spirit, Carter recently helped sponsor the hands-on Construction Zone at Kids Square in Roanoke’s Don and Barbara Smith Children’s Museum. This new space is designed to encourage and enable kids to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related careers through construction-focused exhibits – including a workable crane and operational but stationary dump truck – as well as activities where children can create and connect electrical circuits, use a drill to build a house, and operate a real mini excavator.  

“Our goal is to spark interest early so that kids have more time to explore all available career options,” explains Loraine Taylor, Carter Machinery’s Vice President of Organizational Development. “There is a lot of focus on STEM and STEM-related careers in schools, and Carter and our industry partners are working together to spread the message and help people realize that construction is STEM, and that the career opportunities are endless.”  

	Behind the scenes of Inside the Blueprint

Recently, Carter Machinery was featured in a video for Inside The Blueprint – an award-winning, B2B TV series airing nationally that showcases success stories and discovers how companies are impacting the industries and people they serve.    

“Inside the Blueprint was a great avenue to position the construction industry, Cat dealers, and Carter Machinery as the very opportunity-rich employers that we are on multiple fronts,” explains Kelly McAteer, Carter Machinery’s Director of Marketing. “Careers in construction encompass everything from skilled trades, to management, to field technician positions, as well as an often-overlooked technology component. What we and others are doing in this space using technology – whether it’s to monitor a fleet’s service needs virtually, operate equipment remotely, or connect assets for improved productivity – covers a wide spectrum and it’s one with diverse and growing career paths.” 

Adding further weight to the importance that careers in the construction industry have, one only has to consider this industry’s far-reaching impact on daily life. From helping build and repair the nation’s infrastructure, to installing and servicing back-up generators at a hospital or water-treatment plant, construction-related careers are vital and the job opportunities are expanding exponentially. Carter Machinery encourages the industry to continue to work together – and with them – to increase awareness and spread the word.