“The best part of our sponsorship of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) was getting the chance to get out in the community and show our support,” said Lyndon Wincheruk, sales rep in Fort St. John.  Our partnership with the CPRA and title sponsor of the Pro Rodeo tour allowed us to offer financial support to the rodeo community. It also allowed us to participate in several events across Western Canada from Dawson Creek to Armstrong in B.C., Grande Prairie to Medicine Hat in Alberta, and Kennedy in Saskatchewan, and a lot of communities in between. “We definitely had a strong presence on site and the reception was amazing. We got the chance to engage with our customers and all the rodeo attendees and offer them a chance to win some great prizes,” says Lyndon. Finning had giveaways on site, a draw for a Cat® INV 2000 generator at every rodeo attended, and an online contest giving fans a chance to text and win a Cat UTV for the duration of the Pro Rodeo Tour. 

“The Interior Provincial Exhibition (IPE) and rodeo in Armstrong is a huge community event. Everyone goes to this fair, they come from all over the valley, from Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna to Revelstoke and Osoyoos– it takes over the town of Armstrong,” says Kenny McMullen, sales manager from the Vernon branch. “It was so great to be involved and show our support in the community at one of the biggest events of the year.” The equipment also got a work out, some of the skid steers were used to feed the animals as they had the capacity to wrangle full-size hay bales. The UTVs as well were kept busy shuttling supplies and people on-site when they weren’t being ogled at the display booth. “The UTV was definitely the star of the show at the Armstrong rodeo,” says Kenny, “It was the talk of the town, being no one had seen one before and knowing that you had a chance to win one.”

The Red Deer branch not only attended the Ponoka stampede but they took part in a number of smaller local rodeos in Coronation, Olds, Vinalto, Rocky Mountain House, Sundre and Innisfail. “There are a lot of ties with our customers and the rodeos in this community and we received some good feedback from attendees for our support, especially in rural areas,” says Dallas Haugan, manager of the Red Deer branch. “The rodeo is a big community event and they struggle with corporate support, so they were very appreciative of our involvement. We realized what our sponsorship meant when one of participants in the Pro Rodeo Tour approached one of our reps at the rodeo and told him ‘I can’t express enough how much Finning’s sponsorship of the rodeo means to all of us, especially the cowboys.’ It was really gratifying to hear that and to be a part of such an important event in the community.”

The biggest prize winner of the rodeo was Michele Tobin from Kelowna, B.C. who took home the grand prize of a Cat UTV. “She was blown away when she heard she had won, she couldn’t believe it,” said Kenny. “And having the grand prize won in our backyard was fantastic.”