Despite U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics indicating a growing number of employees within independent general repair businesses, many in the industry still worry over a shortage of qualified technicians to fill the ranks. The question of how to attract and effectively train skilled workers who will become loyal employees has many answers.

One answer, however, is receiving increasing attention. Many business owners and educators in the repair industry are turning to an age-old solution that has benefited service trades for centuries: apprenticeships.

While major manufacturers have taken advantage of this option for years with their own programs and with joint operations like Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES), a partnership among General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and Toyota for high school students, apprenticeship programs for independent shop owners have kept a lower profile.

Bill Voorhees, automotive service program chair at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee, noted this has not always been the case.

“Our campus started in 1946, and for all those years until the late '80s, our program was generic automotive. In the 1980s we started joining the manufacturer-sponsored programs and phasing out our generic program,” said Voorhees.

And, he said, this trend played itself out across the country. However, OSU-Okmulgee is planning a return to its roots with Pro-Tech, a program anticipated to start in the fall of 2002. Pro-Tech is a two-year, six-semester program leading to an associate in applied science degree with a major in automotive technology. Students enrolled in the regional program will divide their time between campus and the service bay for two years, spending the first half of the semester on campus and the second half applying what they've learned in their sponsor shop.

Apprenticeship programs are nothing new for OSU-Okmulgee.

The school conducts five manufacturer-sponsored training programs, an auto collision program and service programs for heavy vehicles like those produced by Komatsu, Caterpillar and DitchWitch. All 12 programs are internship-based, affiliated with a sponsor shop, and structured for a half semester of study, half work.

For Voorhees, Pro-Tech's focus on servicing a variety of vehicles, not just those of one manufacturer, represents a departure from the norm for postsecondary education.

“High-school level automotive education tends to be generic in many cases and college programs become more specialized. We realized some men and women would rather work in an independent environment, not for a big dealership, so this is our attempt to try to fill that need.”

Another company attempting to fill that need is AC-Delco. Its Technical Service Educational Program (TSEP) leads to a postsecondary associate certificate and is affiliated with qualifying community colleges nationwide.

“The benefit of the program is that it's a business builder for the repair facilities and assists them with their qualified technician needs,” said David Quisenberry, TSEP program coordinator. “It also assists the community colleges in assuring their automotive training programs meet auto industry standards through active partnership with an AC-Delco repair facility. The final result is an entry-level technician who has the skills needed by the repair facility.”

While TSEP is only in its second year of existence, Quisenberry expects that its graduates will demonstrate to shop owners one of the long-term benefits of apprenticeships: employee retention.

“The majority of students stay with their mentor after graduation because of the bond that has developed over the two-year period of the program,” he said. “In completed programs, the retention rate is near double that of non-mentor programs because of the strong bond between student and mentor. In a sense, the mentor serves as a lifeline between the students, the technicians and the management of the store.&3148;

Hurdles

However, according to Gary Goms, ASA-Colorado's Education Committee chair, those mentors are as much in need of training as their students. Four years ago, the committee developed an approved program through the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.

The four-year, 8,000-hour program leads to an associate's degree in auto mechanics and eight CMAT certifications. ASA-Colorado's experience over the past four years has taught them that the value of an apprenticeship program hinges not only on finding qualified students to train, but schooling shop owners and technicians in teaching and mentoring.

“We found that most shop owners just don't understand apprenticeship programs or how to train students in the hands-on process of the shop,” Goms said. “We feel that there's a need for shop owner education.”

For that reason, among others, ASA-Colorado values its association with AYES because the program supports technician mentoring. ASA-Colorado is also considering designing its own program to educate members who wish to sponsor students.

Solutions

For one thing, said Quisenberry, people need to differentiate between a mechanic and a technician. “One is a parts changer and the other is a diagnostic specialist,” he said, an important distinction to make when attracting bright minds.

Quisenberry encourages automotive industry representatives to actively participate with their local high school advisory council and career days to communicate the skill requirements that are needed for the industry and the career opportunities available to technicians.

“An automotive career is not an automotive job,” he said. “Very few people realize that over 50 percent of jobs are related to the transportation industry. It's a wide-open career that may start with a tech repairing or servicing a vehicle and later taking additional training in another area, be it management, engineering, instruction or sales. All of that needs to be communicated to career counselors at high schools and colleges to break the stereotype of the mechanic that's dated by 10 or 20 years.”

Voorhees suggestion follows the adage that people learn more from showing than telling.

“We have shops that sponsor open houses and invite students and counselors to come and take a look at their operations,” he said. “Ask the counselor to look under the hood of their car and ask who they would want working on that. You need someone trained with computer skills and engineering knowledge.”

Voorhees also believes that there are a lot of independent apprenticeship programs out there, but that they lack the public profile of the manufacturer-sponsored programs. One way to raise that profile, he said, was to follow OSU-Okmulgee's example in partnering with larger organizations like ASA, AAA and aftermarket parts companies.

ASA encourages its members to investigate apprenticeships and see if they are suited for their shop. A sponsoring shop should realize that training costs must be built into their operating budget. The rewards for that investment are great, said Bill Haas, ASA Mechanical Division manager.

“There's an incredible difference between someone who has apprenticed with you and someone who hasn't,” said Haas. “They've had worksite experience during that apprenticeship, they've gotten to know the other people in your organization, how to interact with customers and how to use the equipment in your shop.”

To make the most of an apprentice, Haas said, “Make them part of your family. They're not just employees. The mentor takes some of the responsibility, but the whole shop has to be involved in it.”

Alexis Burt is a communications assistant for the Automotive Service Association. She can be reached at alexisb@asashop.org.

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