A Family Affair: Caterpillar Customer and Son Visit Peoria

A family affair: Caterpillar customer and son visit Peoria facilities

Since 1992, Teranorth Construction and Engineering Ltd., a major contractor in Ontario, Canada, has led the way in the road building industry.

Teranorth owns about 100 pieces of Cat machinery ranging from wheel loaders, bulldozers, motor graders and more. The company works in infrastructure, expanding two-lane roads to four-lane highways June through September and on drilling, blasting rock and digging out swamp areas in the winter months.

Teranorth President Jim Bot visited four Peoria facilities during a two-day visit January 2-3. Bot's son, Christopher, and his Toromont Cat dealer, Willy Montpellier, accompanied him on the trip as well. They toured Facility LL, Facility SS, the Tech Center and the Caterpillar Visitors Center with Caterpillar Dealer/Customer Representative Kim Arnett. Bot's birthday was January 3, the second day of tours, and he said visiting Caterpillar in Peoria was a good way to spend his birthday.

Bot's father, Carlo Bot, is still active in the business he began and Christopher Bot, 16, is beginning an internship at the company in February, making it truly a family business.

"Dad put me on the job when I was 12 - it was on a Cat 930 - it was a solid, bullet proof loader. I've had an appreciation for Cat machinery since I was young," Bot said.

Bot said he wanted to visit the facilities because he wanted to see exactly where the machinery his employees use day-in and day-out are made. He commented on the atmosphere of the facilities, saying, "It seemed like there was good culture. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. The facilities were clean and organized and it was interesting to see the process. Everything was well orchestrated.

"Thank you to the individuals who took the time and went out of their way to speak to us and explain the various processes," he added in a post-tour survey.