The Raymond Corp. donates forklift truck to KGCOE

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Herb Vasquez, The Raymond Corp.

Members of the Raymond Corp. pose with the 4250 forklift donated to RIT’s Brinkman Lab. It was custom-designed in house with the RIT Tiger motif.

There’s a new tiger in RIT’s Brinkman Lab.

RIT received a new forklift truck donated by the The Raymond Corp. and custom-designed with the orange and brown stripes of RIT Tigers. The 4250 model is a stand-up, compact high tech forklift used in laboratories and industry warehouse facilities to move large pallets and equipment. In addition to the forklift, a battery and charger were donated by Enersys Battery and Applied Energy Solutions, respectively.

“Our hope is that by partnering with RIT and donating the Raymond Corp. customized stand-up counterbalanced truck to the Brickman Lab, engineering students will find the hands-on experience helpful, fueling their education and sparking interest in Raymond,” said Erric Hietmann, vice president of engineering at The Raymond Corp. He and several members of the company were at RIT for an informal ribbon-cutting May 25 in the Brinkman Machining and Manufacturing Laboratory, located in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.

Both the truck and its RIT Tiger motif are custom designs by the company. It specializes in electric lift trucks for warehouse and distribution operations. The truck has 3,600-pounds lift capacity, high-tech sensors and is energy efficient. It will be used to move lab tools and machinery in the lab, which is named after Earl W. Brinkman. It serves as a resource for both students from campus seeking to fabricate components for design projects and corporations who can use the lab’s facilities for product testing and development.

“Raymond’s relationship with RIT dates back to the 1950s, with Raymond’s earliest RIT co-op becoming a 40-plus year employee, eventually retiring from Raymond,” Hietmann added. “The success of our relationship is reflected in the large number of co-ops from RIT, as well as a large number of Raymond employees that are RIT alumni.”

Harvey Palmer, dean of the engineering college, agreed, adding “this was a long time in planning together, but the result shows the importance that Raymond Corp. places in its relationship with the Kate Gleason College. It is equally important to our college.” He went on to acknowledge the large number of engineering and engineering technology students who have participated in co-ops and have been hired by the company, and the high value provided by key leaders within Raymond Corp. over the years as members of the engineering college’s industrial advisory board.