A highlight of the 2008 event.

Cat Lift Trucks with Cat dealer Adobe Equipment Holdings Ltd. of Houston renewed a contract through to 2013 as the official forklift sponsor for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR). The relationship began in 2005.

Cat Lift Trucks provides up to 110 forklifts per year to move materials and supplies for the annual rodeo, which is described as the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association's richest global regular-season event of its kind. The next Houston rodeo occurs March 3-22 at Reliant Park.

"We are pleased to be the official forklift sponsor for the show and look forward to supporting this great Houston event for the next five years," says Kent Eudy, Cat Lift Trucks marketing vice president, in a statement.

Cat Lift Trucks and Adobe Equipment Houston provide technical support and other equipment for vendor rental. Technicians will be on-site throughout the duration of the show, notes Robert Young, Adobe Equipment Houston vice president and general manager.

Eudy says Cat Lift Trucks also continues to award college scholarships to Houston-area high school seniors in line with the HLSR commitment to education. The program began in 2005 and, so far, Cat Lift Trucks has presented scholarships with a value of more than USD33,000.

Cat Lift Trucks manufactures materials handling equipment in Houston under the Cat brand name as an ISO 9001:2000- certified business operation of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA), a privately held joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Caterpillar Industrial Inc. Model capacities of Cat Lift Trucks range from 2,200 pounds to 36,000 pounds (990kg to 16,200kg).