Employee Spotlight – Andy Dugan

Andy Dugan, Truck and Construction Technician – Prince Albert, 3 years

Andy has been working as a mechanic for 35 years and has spent the past three with Redhead Equipment in Prince Albert. His years of experience all started back as a kid when he would fix friends bicycles and other gadgets that broke. He told us he always wanted to be a mechanic and he worked hard to make his dream a reality.

Andy mentions a day as a technician at Redhead Equipment can be random sometimes, most of the day you spend repairing vehicles in the shop however you spend just as much time diagnosing problems, ordering parts, and learning new technology. “That’s the good part about the job, you never really know from one day to the next what you will be working on, it keeps you on your toes really” he mentioned.

As a staff member at the Prince Albert branch, we asked Andy what it’s like working there and he said “I find people here are a great bunch and I really enjoy working for Redhead. It’s not often you can say you really enjoy your work place, and I’ve worked in quite a few places. We have a great bunch of guys in the shop and some I’ve known  before starting here that have come from other places we’ve worked. One of the things I like about Redhead is the people that work here, it’s like family.” Andy also mentioned he feels valued working at Redhead Equipment, like “I’m not just a number on a time sheet and the company actually cares about its employees. I feel more attached to a company that cares about its employees, right down to the brand image and clothing, you feel proud of it.”

Quick Questions:

What advice would you give to someone starting a career with Redhead Equipment?

Make sure that you continue your training, whether its apprenticeship or manufacturer training, and know your stuff. Look to want to push yourself and grow within the company. Keep new opportunities in mind for training and growth, don’t just sit and take a comfortable approach to things.

What kind of benefits does working at Redhead provide?

Aside from health benefits, there are training opportunities. Sometimes we get to travel down to the US for training there. That’s a really nice treat. The social benefit is nice as well, the social club. You get to know your colleagues better especially the ones you don’t get to see and work with daily, like on the AG side for example.

Tell us something we may not know about you?

Well by my accent you can tell I’m not a native Canadian, my wife and I came over from the UK 12 years ago now and stayed. I always wanted to be a mechanic and being a mechanic here is different than in the UK, here its more of a professional and respected career, whereas there it’s quite a blue collar ‘grease monkey’ attitude toward it. It’s good to know that over here your not just a grease monkey, you have to get training and education and continued training, education and experience to become an apprentice, journeyman and red seal journeyman. People seem to appreciate that more.

If you ever have an hour of free time what do you find yourself doing?

Relaxing. I have a acreage, and when I go home on the weekends, that is my vacation and it’s very relaxing.