[Auto] Auto dealers build direct path from college to a job

[FazzNoth]

Two years ago, Chelse Herbold was a food service worker with a bachelor's degree in geology that wasn't helping her pay the rent.

Today, Herbold, 28, has an associate's degree in automotive technology that she earned on the job as the first woman auto technician at West Herr Kia.

Herbold is one of the first graduates of a new SUNY Erie Community College program that was created to produce skilled workers for an industry that's badly in need of mechanics.

Instructor Mike Coughlin, left, shows students how to recover the refrigerant from the air conditioning system so they can remove the brake booster on a Jaguar. Students from left are Nate Mittelsteadt and Prajwal Dhimal.

 

In fact, it's so hard to hire auto technicians that two of the region's biggest car dealers, West Herr Automotive Group and Northtown Automotive Cos., have partnered with ECC to build a direct pathway to train and hire students.

Northtown even built a classroom, lab space and four dedicated service bays at its new Jaguar/Land Rover dealership in Amherst for its ECC co-op program.

The program produces auto technicians, but it's a model for future "earn while you learn" partnerships that train workers in in-demand skills and pay them to get on-the-job training while earning their credentials.

 

Jay Galligan, a vice president at West Herr, said the program has produced 12 current and 12 soon-to-be employees for the company. The program funnels trained workers to West Herr and Northtown at a time when there are more open jobs than people looking for work.

“We employ over 500 technicians, and we retire 5% to 10% a year, so just to replace our retirees we need 30 or 40 new technicians at any given time to add to our team,” Galligan said. “ECC reached out to us about adding co-op experience to their auto tech program and helped build this model. It has now become a permanent program in the college, and we are thrilled to be part of it.”

ECC President David Balkin calls the program an example of the partnerships needed between higher education and industry to serve the needs of today’s students and employers.

It also helps ECC by creating a program that it can market as a pathway to a career for students at a time when enrollment is declining.

“SUNY Erie is working with companies who are in competition, but who recognize that a rising tide will lift all boats,” Balkin said.

The partnerships with West Herr and Northtown predated Balkin taking over as ECC president, but he quickly seized on them as an opportunity to develop other feeder programs for worker-strapped employers.

 

Balkin said ECC and the dealerships see the program "as the way forward for recruiting, training and retaining qualified technicians.”

West Herr Automotive piloted the program at ECC’s Vehicle Technology Training Center in Orchard Park in 2019 and the first class of 12 students, including Herbold, graduated last May. All 12 were immediately hired as full-time technicians at West Herr dealerships. The second class of 12 will graduate this May and are guaranteed jobs as well.

The auto co-op provides more hands-on experience than classroom time and includes time working in paid positions with the hiring dealership, Balkin said.

Students rotate between spending 7½ weeks working with mentors at a dealership service department and then 7½ weeks of classroom coursework, Balkin said.  The dealers provide tuition assistance and retention bonuses to help them buy their own tools once hired.

More Info: https://buffalonews.com/business/local/workers-hard-to-find-auto-dealers-build-direct-path-from-college-to-a-job/article_f6b354b4-af95-11ec-a6fc-3322eedcda31.html