NJ CAR hosted an Apprenticeship Recognition Day event on November 15 in honor of National Apprenticeship Week and to recognize the first apprentices to participate in the Coalition’s Automotive Technician Apprenticeship Program (ATAP).
The Coalition welcomed, Bernard Treml, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship; Robert Asaro-Angelo, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor; Nicholas Toth, Assistant Director of the NJ DOL Office of Apprenticeship; former Governor James McGreevey, Executive Director of New Jersey Reentry Corporation; Michael Perpente, Automotive Instructor at Middlesex County Vocational Technical School; Michael Dooley, Fixed Operations Director at Dayton Toyota; Altarik Winstead, an apprentice at Dayton Toyota; as well as several dozen current apprentices and dealership representatives.
ATAP’s mission is to promote the benefits of a career in automotive technology, as well as help dealerships recruit, train and retain the next generation of automotive technicians by providing job-specific classroom instruction through local county vocational schools and on-the-job training at neighborhood new car dealers. With the demand for skilled auto technicians expected to grow—New Jersey, alone, will need to fill as many as 12,500 auto tech positions in the next seven years—this is a perfect time for NJ CAR and its dealer members to attack this problem.
Breanna Esquilin, NJ CAR Director of Automotive Workforce Development, will continue leading this effort to draw more men and women into the automotive technician field through A.T.A.P.