Lee Manzanares, RMCI General Contractors, 2017 AEMP Private Fleet Technician of the Year, with his wife Sharon and son Brandon.The Association of Equipment Management Professionals named its top technicians for the year in a ceremony in Las Vegas on Sunday. The ceremony was part of AEMP’s 35th Management Conference and Annual Meeting held March4-6.
Lee Manzanares of RMCI General Contractors in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was named the 2017 AEMP Private Fleet Technician of the Year.
Manzanares’s career started in the Army, working as a private and mechanic in Berlin, Germany, and later in Desert Storm and the first Gulf War. At RMCI he designed tools and processes to bring equipment costs down and extend machine life.
On accepting the award, Manzanares credited the older mechanics and technicians who helped mentor him during his early years and said that he hopes to pass along his skill and knowledge to the people working under him. “Growing up I was taught to work hard, stay humble, express gratitude, learn from others and don’t stop until the job is done and done right,” he says.
Rex Davis, chief executive officer and cofounder of RMCI praised Lee for his hard work and dedication to his job, saying when a machine is down or in for repairs, all the field superintendents ask for Manzanares to work on their equipment.
Bruce Satterwhite, Virginia Department of Transportation, Hampton Roads District, was named as the 2017 AEMP Public Fleet Technician of the Year. With 20 years of experience, Satterwhite makes a concerted effort to mentor the new technicians. Coworkers praised his well-rounded skills saying he can do almost anything from welding to fabrication and laptop diagnosis.
AEMP also named six finalists in the competition for Technician of the Year. These included:
♦ Nancy Boyce, Power Tech, Alaska
♦ Trevor Dearstine, VDOT
♦ Bill Davis, Jr. Kokosing Construction
♦ Msgt. David Fernandez, United States Air Force
♦ Mark Thursby, Sarasota County Fleet Services
♦ Andrew Puissegur, Bechtel
