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POMONA, Calif. -- Club NHRA Finals For the first time since the inception of the Caterpillar/National Hot Rod Association dealer technician recruitment program, two overseas Cat dealers will utilize a NHRA race for recruiting. Two Australian dealers - Hastings Deering and WesTrac - will partner with David Powers Motorsports (DPM) and Hot Rod Fuller for the 44th annual Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 13-16, at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the final race on the 2008 NHRA schedule. Both Hastings Deering and WesTrac are experiencing a severe shortage of experienced technicians. The Australian dealers have committed to pay the moving expenses of any technician willing to "make the jump down under" to work at their dealerships. The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) recently released a report from the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS) on the sector's labor force outlook for 2020. Projections show an increasing demand for labor if Australia is to maintain its market share in global commodities markets. The mining sector will need to employ 86,000 more operational workers, from 128,000 in 2008 to 215,000 in 2020, an increase of 68 percent. "This is what our program with Caterpillar is all about and I couldn't be more excited for the Pomona race," Fuller said. "We have a great relationship with all of the Caterpillar dealers, but to have dealers from Australia coming abroad for the Pomona race really speaks volumes about our sport and the NHRA fans. Our fan base is a group of very skilled, hands-on people and Caterpillar realizes this. I hope that we not only do well for them, but also help them locate some skilled technicians." The relationship between DPM, Caterpillar, Cat dealers and the NHRA began in 2007 to increase technician recruiting. The rich recruiting environment led DPM and Caterpillar to ink a multiyear agreement last August to participate in the NHRA dealer recruitment program. "Competition to draw young, bright people to the construction industry is fierce, especially with Australia's 4.5 percent unemployment rate, the lowest in 30 years," said Rod Beeler, Caterpillar's vice president with responsibility for the Asia Pacific Marketing Division. "It's recognized that Caterpillar's training initiatives serve the industry not only in attracting individuals, but also in retaining existing employees by providing them with job satisfaction and opportunities for self development." WesTrac and Hastings Deering are two of the largest Caterpillar dealers in the world with operations in Australia, South East Asia and China. In Australia, they are market leaders with a strong mining industry focus and are two of Caterpillar's biggest distributors of large mining equipment manufactured in North America. Hastings Deering services Queensland and The Northern Territory in Australia as well as Papua New Guinea and the southwest Pacific. As part of the Sime Darby Industrial organization it is affiliated with Cat dealerships in Malaysia, Singapore, and southern China employing 5,000 people; 2,500 work in Australia. WesTrac services Western Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, as well as northern China http://www.westrac.com.cn/o/t_blank employing more than 3,000 people. WesTrac is a wholly owned subsidiary company of Australian Capital Equity, owned by Kerry Stokes. Fuller enters the final race in the Countdown to 1 ranked sixth in the NHRA Top Fuel standings. The seven-time Top Fuel winner and driver of the Cat dragster has one victory this season, St. Louis, in three final round appearances. He also earned his seventh career pole at the Norwalk, Ohio, race in June. ESPN2 will feature two hours of qualifying highlights from the Auto Club NHRA Finals at 11 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 15, and three hours of final eliminations coverage of the Pomona NHRA race at 7 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 16.
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