MultiPage PDF File - psada

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 Exciting! Experienced! By Mark Cutshall Pete Calkins remembers the first time he fell in love – with cars. “I had a Mattel Hot Wheels set when I was eight or nine years old. It was Smokey and the Bandit, and they had flashy stickers.” Several years later, a muscle car magazine caught his teenage eye. Then, he got behind the wheel of his first car, a Triumph Spitfire. Today, he’s driving another creation, a vehicle for men and women pursuing careers in the automotive repair industry. It’s called the Professional Automotive Training Center at Shoreline Community College. Last November, Pete became its new director of automotive education. He takes over a nationallyrespected program which, fueled by the leadership of Don Schultz, an impressive faculty, corporate support of General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Chrysler, and area-wide dealer involvement, has become the standard by which all other college-based automotive training programs are judged. “What impressed me about Pete is he understood what teaching and learning is all about,” says John Backes, Shoreline Community College Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, who hired Pete. “He’s been where our students want to go. He knows what it takes to serve the dealers and the manufacturers. It’s hard to find all of these abilities in one person. With his breadth of teaching experience, administrative skills and practical industry experience, Pete is the right man for the job.” “Pete’s career path, natural abilities and achievements speak for themselves,” says PSADA Executive Director Jim Hammond. “He knows automotive education from the inside out. As an administrator and an experienced technician, his leadership, insights and ideas will take the PATC to the next level. Pete knows that guiding young adults into successful automotive careers has immediate payback for dealers financially.” What was the career opportunity that brought him to Shoreline Community College? After gaining a toe-hold in the industry at an Oldsmobile dealership in Denver, Pete discovered General Motors’ ASEP tech training program and decided “to make a living working on cars.” He honed his skills as a technician and gained experience in auto warranty service. Then, with a little encourage- ment from his wife, he landed a teaching job in electrical and engine performance at the Denver Automobile and Diesel College. While taking full-time classes at a local commuter college, Peter continued to teach – and then learned about a full-time teaching position at Arapahoe Community College in the Denver suburb of Littleton. Not only did he get the job, Pete accepted the school’s offer to be the department chairman. “As a faculty member, I was exposed to different teaching methods through two manufacturer programs: GM’s ASEP and DaimlerChrysler’s CAP. As an administrator, I developed class schedules, supervised faculty and was at the center of assessment and strategic planning,” he says. One of Pete’s success stories at Arapahoe came from the automotive students’ participation in SkillsUSA, previously known as VICA (Vocational and Industrial Clubs of America). The program gave students both technical know-how as well as the “soft skill” proficiency in resume writing, interviewing, on-the-job punctuality, appearance, team building and problem solving. At Arapahoe,
Pete helped students carry on the college’s tradition of winning SkillsUSA statewide skill-assessment competitions and representing Colorado at the national level. “I would like to develop and encourage the same kind of student achievement at Shoreline.” There was also a bit of serendipity at work. Three years ago, Pete met Don Schultz at a GM western region event in Burbank, California and at a Chrysler CAP conference in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The two swapped stories about their respective workplace schools. Pete recalls, “When Don told me what he was involved in at Shoreline, the PATC sounded too good to be true, particularly the relationship of the center to the college, the relationship of the college to the dealers, and the involvement and support of the PATC’s participating manufacturers.” Pete and Don’s conversations set the stage for an unusual invitation. “When Don told me he was retiring, he suggested I apply for the job. At the time I wasn’t quite ready,” says Pete who, last fall, topped a field of quality candidates. “My near-term goals are to help with the future expansion of the PATC facility. When you’re elbow to elbow like we are, you look forward to the day of the additional space. Long term, I’d like to bring in new manufacturers to the PATC. In GM, Toyota, Honda and Chrysler, we’ve got four quality factory partners, and of course we would like other auto makers to help more dealers grow their own technicians. “Up ahead, I’d like to partner directly with dealerships, including those who aren’t represented by our four current corporate brands.” Clearly, promising opportunities abound for dealers, manufacturers and students, alike. Now driving the educational work of the PATC, Pete Calkins has a firm grip on the wheel for the curves and straight-aways ahead. � Growth and Expansion at the Professional Automotive Training Center The Professional Automotive Training Center (PATC) at Shoreline Community College is the first manufacturer-specific training center of its kind in the United States. The first dealer-specific classes were offered at Shoreline in Fall of 1978. The design and plans that grew to be the PATC were based on the exact outline presented by NADA President Jack Pohanka in 1977 at a meeting held at Hilton Head, South Carolina. The PSADA/Shoreline plans adhered strictly to Pohanka’s ASE standards and manufacturer-specific training. Within a couple of years the Shoreline training program not only attracted the attention of General Motor, Toyota, American Honda, and DaimlerChrysler, it also caught the attention of colleges across the nation and governments around the world. Through the years more than 60 community colleges (frequently accompanied by their local dealers’ association executives), numerous municipalities and multiple foreign governments including Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and two different delegations from China have visited the PATC. Needless to say, the success of the Center has been exceptional, and it is recognized as one of the cutting edge manufacturer-specific automotive colleges in America. Of course, along with the success comes growth. Not only does the PATC house some of the top manufacturer-specific programs in the country, it also provides training for 7,000 to 10,000 dealership employees each year. The need to expand the facility became very evident many years ago. Two years ago an active capital campaign was begun by PSADA to generate the funds necessary to expand the PATC. To date over $4 million has been collected from manufacturers, dealers, interested parties, PSADA and the State of Washington. Because fund raising has gone so well for this project, it is anticipated that the design and permitting process for construction should begin in November of 2007. Recently, the PATC faculty began meeting with the architects to start the design of the expansion of the PATC. The College has hired Group Mackenzie to design the expansion. Group Mackenzie has extensive experience with the auto industry; their firm designed the new Training Center for American Honda in Portland, Oregon, and also the new Honda Dealership in Wilsonville, Oregon. The PATC expansion project will be about 24,000 square feet and will include six training rooms for the automobile manufacturers. These rooms will be used by Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, Hyundai, Kia, Volvo and other auto manufacturers. This means the new car dealers in this region will be able to get their technician training at Shoreline instead of sending them out-of-state. There will also be additional training bays in the addition for the factory-specific technician training programs housed at Shoreline. These programs include Toyota T-TEN, General Motors ASEP, Honda PACT, DaimlerChrysler CAP and Volvo V-CATT. There will also be some additional classroom and office space on the second floor. � 11
Page 4: 4 The Puget Sound Dealer Official P
Page 8 and 9: 8 Termination Checklist By Thao Tie
Page 12 and 13: You see your product. We see your l
Page 14 and 15: Adam Buchanan 14
Page 16 and 17: Adam Buchanan By the time Steve was
Page 18: 18 One excellent way to learn about
Page 21 and 22: The Entitlement By Eric Chester Per
Page 25 and 26: The Best of NADA 2007 By Jeff Forsb
Page 29 and 30: Coffee Break That's A Fact Jack!
Page 31 and 32: ��
Page 33 and 34: Adam Buchanan 33
Page 36 and 37: PSADA Team from page 34 Susan Leonh
Page 40: Puget Sound Automobile Dealers Asso

MultiPage PDF File - psada

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?