Recently, two important things happened that will have a direct bearing on training the technicians of tomorrow. The first was a significant donation of digital multimeters from Amprobe in Everett, Wash., to the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). In fact, this corporate donation of electrical testing equipment, with a retail value in excess of $500,000, is the largest in the history of NATEF and is a significant commitment by Amprobe to help train our future technicians.
“Due to the outstanding generosity of Amprobe, we are able to provide several Amprobe DM7C Digital Multimeters for use in every NATEF program nationwide,” said Bill Kersten, NATEF president. The involvement of corporate partners such as Amprobe with donations of funding and equipment allows NATEF to carry out its mission of developing the qualified, entry-level technicians of today and tomorrow. “Education has always been an important focus for Amprobe and we’re honored to assist the efforts of NATEF with this donation,” said Jasmine Khambatta, Amprobe general manager. “We support ASE certification and NATEF accreditation program efforts to train and certify the best repair and service professionals.”
Government funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) is threatened by the current budget situation. This comes at a time when about half of our technician population begins retiring. If we as an industry are going to keep up with the coming attrition in our medium/heavy truck service and repair workforce, then we must make an investment in the future. Whether it’s getting involved in an advisory council at your local CTE program, or providing the resources to help existing programs train tomorrow’s technicians, we can as individuals and corporations help ensure the standard of service necessary to keep our fleets running efficiently and reliably well into the 21st Century.
Taking a step to help address this challenge is the second big thing that happened. Recently, the Board of Directors for the North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) voted to join the organization with the ASE Family. The ASE Family of organizations consists of the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, along with the NATEF, Automotive Youth Educational Systems, the Automotive Training Managers Council and NACAT. “The NACAT board sees a natural fit with the ASE Family for our membership,” said Jeff Curtis, NACAT president. “The resources and expertise of ASE will help ensure the continued growth and effectiveness of NACAT and we look forward to being a major part of providing the qualified men and women our industry needs today and into the future.”
NACAT is the only international organization devoted to teachers and trainers of automotive technology and its related fields. Its mission is to promote, update and improve automotive service education, and NACAT maintains a strong professional organization serving the needs of automotive educators in public and private enterprise throughout North America. “The ASE Family vision of providing life-long career services for entry level and experienced automotive professionals will be greatly enhanced with the addition of NACAT,” said Tim Zilke, ASE president and CEO.
These are just two examples of what is being done to attract and train the young professionals needed to take in the the future. It’s called “paying it forward,” and we need to see more.
