Sheehy Ford Scores ”Hat Trick” of Successful WANADA Tech Trainees
Dealers Urged to Get on Board for Fall Tech Training Classes
Steve Cappolella, parts and service manager for Sheehy Ford of Gaithersburg, is a hands down advocate of WANADA’s Technician Training Program. No wonder. He has a ”hat trick” of three skilled, productive line technicians who came out of the program plus a new tech who is now enrolled at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, one of the training sites with WANADA’s Automobile Dealer Education Institute (ADEI).
Sheehy Ford’s Gary King, for example, is a front-end technician on Cappolella’s alignment team, where he and a senior tech share the hours. Mike Austin is a regular line technician with Sheehy. Tyler Witt is a diesel technician in the Sheehy Ford truck center, where Cappolella says he ”is doing great,” and is working on becoming ASE Certified. Lucas Kress, the latest hire, is currently an ADEI student while working on the quick lube team.
”They’ve all done very well in the WANADA program because it’s something they value and are invested in,” says Cappolella. ”The key is to make the right hire bringing on someone with a genuine interest in making this his career,” he adds.
These reports are prime examples of the ongoing success of WANADA’s ADEI Technician Training Program that has helped more than 200 individuals begin or enhance their technician careers at numerous dealerships throughout the Washington Area. This article is the first in a series of profiles of dealerships who have reaped benefits in fixed operations by seeing to their future technician needs.
Designed by Dealers, for Dealers
ADEI’s current technician development program is an outgrowth of a unique partnership launched in 2001 between WANADA and Ford Motor Company as a cooperative effort between a manufacturer and a dealer association to ”grow your own” qualified technicians. Ford remains actively engaged with ADEI, with other automakers working with the technician development program in similarly cooperative ways. With the creation of the ADEI, a pending 501(c)3 education foundation in 2006, the program evolved into a training curriculum designed specifically for dealers who need to recruit and develop new technicians or round out the skills of existing techs. Programming can be customized as necessary to meet dealer needs.
The WANADA ADEI tech training program combines a structured classroom, shop and interactive curriculum with full-time, mentored, on-the-job training. The NATEF-aligned curriculum is taught by college instructors, some of whom have worked in the industry. The program provides instruction in the eight primary ASE technical disciplines, including brakes, steering/suspension, electrical, engine performance and repair, heating and air conditioning, and transmissions.
Active recruitment and thorough screening of top high school graduates, mentoring and support while in training, and ongoing follow-up assistance at the work site to ensure the success and advancement of trainees are core elements of the program. And it is still these personalized services administered by the association’s experienced ADEI team that makes all the difference.
A Unique Opportunity
With the expansion of ADEI training to Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) last year, the student pool increased, along with dealer opportunities for technician development.
WANADA currently has recruited a number of promising young people who are qualified for placement in the fall semester technician training.
Interested dealers are invited to contact Bill Belew in the WANADA office at (202) 237-7200 or bb@wanada.org. Alternatively, all WANADA members are invited to a lunch on Aug. 27. (Details below).
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