Pitt Community College is teaming with several local businesses and organizations this fall to host a Forklift Rodeo Safety Competition on campus.

According to Patrick Jacques, dean of PCC’s Construction and Industrial Technology Division, the rodeo will take place Oct. 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. In addition to PCC, it is being sponsored by Hyster-Yale Group, Gregory Poole Lift Systems, Pitt County Economic Development and RiversEast Workforce Development Board.

“The Forklift Rodeo is part of PCC’s celebration of ‘Manufacturing Day,’ which takes place nationwide on the first Friday in October each year,” Jacques said. “It’s a chance to highlight and spur interest in manufacturing careers and showcase the programming PCC offers to prepare students for those jobs.”

Hyster-Yale’s Amy Thomas says the rodeo will feature skilled drivers from local manufacturing companies maneuvering lift trucks around three different courses to demonstrate their operating skills and knowledge of workplace safety standards. The event will take place in the rear parking lot of Pitt's Walter & Marie Williams Building, located at 2105 Warren Drive, and also include music, food trucks and guided campus tours.

“The competition is a chance for local industries to come together on ‘Manufacturing Day’ to celebrate forklift drivers,” Thomas said. “Just about everything we encounter in our daily lives has been moved around by a forklift at some point.”

Thomas said the competition is open to teams from businesses and industries located within the five-county area served by RiversEast, which includes Pitt, Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford and Martin counties. She said each business can enter as many as three drivers to represent their company in the event.

Registration to participate in the rodeo is open and limited to the first six teams that sign up and pay the competition’s $125-entry fee, which will be donated to the PCC Foundation in support of student scholarships and various educational activities at the college. Drivers will receive lunch and swag bags, and members of the winning team will receive trophies and prizes sponsored by Pitt County Economic Development.

For more information or to register a team for the rodeo, individuals should email Thomas, who is a Senior Learning and Development Specialist with Hyster-Yale, at [email protected].