Dealers Sponsoring ADEI Technicians Receive Participant Signage
WANADA dealers participating in the associations entry-level technician training program, are being presented with Participating Dealer window stickers this month as part of WANADAs effort to inform the public about the program and recognize participating dealers for their efforts.
Among the first to receive the stickers were DARCARS, Fitzgerald Auto Malls and Sheehy Auto Stores, which have been longtime supporters of the program. The Technician Training Program, operating under the auspices of the Automobile Dealer Education Institute (ADEI), currently has 28 students who attend NATEF Certified classes one day per week at either Montgomery College (MC) or the Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) campus in Alexandria and work full time in a sponsoring dealership the rest of the week. It also has a number of students who will begin studies in early 2010 and is preparing to place as many as three other candidates at dealerships who recently graduated from a pre-apprenticeship program ADEI conducts in partnership with the District of Columbias Office of Employment Services.
Additionally, ADEI has a number of candidates it would like to place in dealerships in the Manassas area. These students would receive their in-classroom instruction at the NOVA Manassas campus under an agreement ADEI has struck with the college.
The ADEI entry-level technician program, which is the only NATEF Certified program of its kind, was recently cited by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a model of how to run a successful school-to-work program. It combines in-class training with paid and mentored in-dealership work experience and also provides ongoing student support from ADEIs in-the-field monitor.
Dealers wishing to participate in the program should contact Bill Belew, program director at (202) 237-7200 or visit www.adei-programs.org for more information.
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