LBX Technician Takes First Place at 2025 Global Skills Contest

Contest covered five areas of service excellence.
Nov. 13, 2025
2 min read

Jesse Lariviere of Equipment Sales and Service (ESS) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, earned first place overall at the 2025 Global Skills Contest hosted by Sumitomo Construction Machinery (SCM). The biennial competition brings together top service technicians from around the world to showcase their technical expertise and commitment to safety.

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The 2025 contest featured competitors from 11 countries across five areas of service excellence:

  • Safety. Although not an event on its own, each contestant was monitored closely to ensure that safety was the highest priority in everything they were tasked with.
  • Troubleshooting. Machines were faulted in various ways. The technicians were monitored by two judges, who were evaluated on their ability to follow procedures, accuracy, and time.
  • Engine repair. Tasked with replacing injectors while adhering to procedures, torque specifications, and time.
  • Maintenance proposal. Inspect a machine and determine what issues need to be addressed. This was based on a 162-line-item checklist. The contestants had one hour to complete.
  • Written test. A 25-question relating to all areas of service.

Grant Kirk, service training manager for LBX, worked with LBX dealers to select the North American representative. After a thorough evaluation, Lariviere was chosen to compete.

“Jesse is a shop technician with 15 years of service,” Kirk said in a statement. “He was highly motivated and driven to excel at the 2025 Global Service Skills Contest. Over the last eight months, Jesse and I met multiple times to reinforce his product knowledge on the 210 X3 excavator. I could not have chosen a more qualified candidate.”

--This piece was created with the assistance of generative AI tools and was edited by our content team for clarity and accuracy.

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