Auto dealerships that need to hire good service technicians don’t need to go far to find them, according to Mike Coley, President of ASE Education Foundation. Their future employees are just right down the street.
“We need more technicians in the industry, but where are we going to get those? What we want to promote is there are high schools [and] colleges in your community you could be partnering with,” Coley said during his Saturday session on the NADA Show Live Stage.

To help dealers tap into those community resources, the ASE Education Foundation has created an “Adopt A School” toolkit that outlines the different activities that dealerships can take to connect and engage with schools and students. Some of those activities include becoming part of the school’s advisory committee, participating in your local school’s Career Day and instituting a work-shadow program at your dealership.

NADA Foundation Chairwoman Annette Sykora said she makes sure her dealership is an active partner with her local high schools and community colleges. “All of the dealers in our community, we put together a wish list, a new program, new equipment, new lifts at our local community college. And guess what? The program is overflowing with students,” she said.

The goal of the free ASE Adopt A School toolkit is to extend dealership participation and engagement across the country, Coley said.

“We work with 2,300 different high school and college programs and impact over 120,000 students every year. Our reach is large, but we have a national problem, with a local solution. Unless you show up at the school and get involved, students won’t know what great [career] opportunities we have,” Coley said.

Hear more from Coley and Sykora’s Live Stage session in the video below.