William Lawless of Sunshine John Deere has made it through as a finalist for the Agriculture Service Technician of the Year awards.
Living in Ballan and currently based to work out of Sunshine, he’s been in the industry for 20 years and with John Deere for 16. Becoming a finalist in the awards saw William being nominated from his local branch as a suitable candidate and required him to provide a letter of recommendation from a client to cement his eligibility to compete.
“We get nominated from our branches or our dealership group and then I had to get a customer letter explaining how vital we are to their business and how I go from day to day to helping them minimise downtime,” said William.
Preparing for the competition has been just as typical as a regular day on the job for WIlliam, “I just do what I’ve always done, I’m always learning every day though,” said William.
William travels far and wide, often working ten hour days and six days a week, he provides servicing to a multitude of machinery, including gators, lawn mowers, headers, harvesters and sprayers.
One particular farm that Will works on will have an excess of up to $10,000 per hour their planter machine is down to, William’s services are absolutely essential to the industry hence the importance of the recognition from these awards.
John Deere Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, Luke Chandler, congratulated the
Finalists, including William, said “Technicians deliver services integral to the agriculture industry by not only providing vital backup support and remote diagnostics, but by empowering operators to get the most out of their machinery and technology,”
“Australia is fortunate to have an enormous pool of talented technicians working across the
country, so these finalists deserve to be very proud for being named among the best in their
Field,” Mr Chandler said.
The final round will take place in Brisbane next week where the finalists will go head to head over two and a half days, with the winner announced at a gala event on the third day.
