With much praise for the effectiveness and success of the Ford-WANADA Apprentice Training Program, Ford Motor Company officers announced last week that they will continue their partnership with WANADA to underwrite the program for the fourth year. The announcement came at a special check presentation ceremony at the Youth and Adult Automotive Training Center (YAATC) at Montgomery College in Rockville, Md., which, together with Marshall Academy in Falls Church, Va., operates the program.
Ford has teamed up with a dozen similar efforts across the country, but Frank Ligon, director of Ford’s Service Engineering Operations, noted that the WANADA-Ford program was one of only three to receive corporate financial backing for the upcoming 2004 year.
Ligon joined with Ford executives Steve DeAngelis, manager of Global Technical Support Operations, and Lee Cork, manager of the companyês Community Service Technical Support Operations, in giving much of the credit for the success of the program to WANADAês committed Ford product dealer members for their participation in the program.
Also praised was WANADAês support team of Bill Belew, Archie Avedesian and Mike Wilson, who bring to the program lifelong career expertise in dealer operations, programs for at-risk youth, and technical education.
WANADA Education and Training Chairman, Richard Snyder said that, The key to our success is a dealer organization and major manufacturer working together. Ford leadership recognized the importance of addressing the critical need for qualified auto technicians, and they have provided the resources and expertise to make this manufacturer-specific training program a resounding success. The dealers provide the insight, commitment and real world of work experience to help build professional, well-paid careers for our trainees, with a special focus on tapping the talent in our minority and immigrant communities.
As announced recently, Snyder also pointed out that, with Fordês approval, WANADAês technician program is planning to expand to additional sites and is now open to dealers of all makes as well as to Ford product dealers. We hope this will encourage other automakers to follow Fordês lead in participating in a model factory-dealer training program. In fact, Ford officials are so enthusiastic about the WANADA-Ford model, they have asked Snyder to come to Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, to speak to Ford managers and the Ford Dealer Council about initiating similar efforts in other parts of the country.
The WANADA/Ford Apprentice Training Program is now recruiting apprentices from dealer-sponsored, pre-apprentice high school programs in D.C., northern Virginia and suburban Maryland.
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