AGCO has opened the doors to the all-new Global Learning Center, Duluth (GLC), a state-of-the-art agricultural equipment and technology learning center. The 19,500-square-foot facility, the new home of AGCO Academy and AGCO University, will serve as the cornerstone of the company’s comprehensive learning program for dealers and employees.

“At our current pace, as much as 30% of the company’s product line is replaced with new production-enhancing technology every three to four years. As growers invest in new technology, they rely heavily upon their dealers for information and assistance. It’s our responsibility to ensure our employees and dealers fully understand these new products and their applications,” explains Tim Miller, manager, global learning, for AGCO. “The Global Learning Center will help us deliver hands-on learning in a facility designed to meet the needs of adult learners. This investment is a testimony to an increased emphasis in education for our people.”

Martin Richenhagen, AGCO's chairman, president and CEO, speaks to AGCO employees and guests at the grand opening of the new Global Learning Center in Duluth, Ga., on Monday.

Consistent with AGCO’s corporate mission of ‘Profitable growth through superior customer service, innovation, quality and commitment,’ the GLC is the latest in AGCO’s efforts to serve the expanding needs of customers around the world.

Located close to AGCO’s Global headquarters in Duluth, Ga., the GLC features three classrooms that boast the latest learning technologies to provide a more comprehensive instructional experience. Just as AGCO customers operate all aspects of machine and implement operation with the touch of a finger, instructors at the GLC can operate all technologies and classroom amenities from a single desktop control system.

Three fully outfitted equipment repair and service bays help ensure students can apply what they’ve learned in the classroom through hands-on learning. The biggest equipment bay accommodates even AGCO’s largest four-wheel-drive tractors and combines. Other GLC features include a student break room and a full kitchen, in addition to conference rooms and office space.

AGCO’s dealer training and education classes are offered through AGCO Academy, via seven schools that provide coursework on topics such as product training, technical service training, parts training, advanced technology solutions, dealer systems training, dealer management training and finance training. The Global Learning Center also fulfills the dealer network’s request for additional education through regional learning centers, providing an ideal location to serve the eastern United States and eastern Canada. In-the-field training also is available at regional centers located in Boise, Idaho, Hesston, Kan., and Jackson, Minn. Four more regional training centers have been proposed throughout the United States and Canada.