(MARSHALL, Texas) – In May 2025, Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus cut the ribbon to formally open the Diesel Power Technologies Center, a 21,720 square-foot center with more than $2 million worth of training equipment.
“By growing with the industry, we grow our students in that same industry,” said Timothy Winchester, a Diesel Equipment instructor at the Marshall campus. “It makes them more productive and ready to start learning and being productive for their respective employers.”
Over the past year, several of the college’s industry partners have noticed the growth and development within the program as a result of the building.
Construction equipment supplier HOLT CAT has had a close partnership with TSTC for over a decade, hiring students and graduates and making substantial contributions to the program and the Diesel Power Technologies Center.
Trey Smith, a Diesel Equipment graduate and field service supervisor for HOLT CAT’s Longview branch, has seen the impact the center has on its students firsthand.
“The quality of intern that I’ve had out of TSTC in Marshall has always been great, but over the past year with the new building, it seems like the interns and graduates that have come to work for us are more ready to take on the challenges with the modern technology, the advanced electrical systems and the advanced hydraulic systems on these machines,” he said.
John Deere dealer United Ag and Turf has a student technician program to help prepare high schoolers for a career in diesel equipment, which includes an annual tractor repair competition at TSTC’s Marshall campus. The October 2025 competition was the first one held in TSTC’s new center.
Jewell Taylor, an HR specialist for the company, said the new TSTC facility caught more eyes than just hers.
“We’ve had kids that have asked if they could go (to TSTC), so I would say it’s definitely drawing the attention of the students,” she said. “I think it’s a great layout. It helped quite a bit with everything that we do with TSTC.”
Altec provides products and services to a variety of markets, such as electric utility and telecommunications, and has partnered since 2018 with TSTC. Michael Wilkinson, the company’s Eastern Texas service area manager, said the continued growth within the diesel program proves TSTC’s professionalism and commitment to the industry.
“To see the facilities as an employer, to see the investment made by TSTC, certainly continues to reaffirm the confidence we have in the product of TSTC in the form of very qualified students and candidates for employment in the industry,” he said.
James Kotowicz, a Diesel Equipment instructor at the Marshall campus, said the center has not only improved the program, it has also improved students’ education.
“The energy level is higher, they’re more involved now, they’re really excited about the new equipment, and they love the trainers that we have,” he said.
Registration for the fall semester at TSTC is underway. For more information about TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
