search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
THE GREATER MEMPHIS AUTO DEALERS ASSOCIATION (GMADA) SPENT $3 MILLION TO RENOVATE AN OLD HONDA DEALERSHIP THAT HAD BEEN VACANT FOR FIVE YEARS.


see Promise scholarship program. Eligible students receive free tuition to attend a community or technical college in Tennessee for two years. “So far, dealers have had to spend a lot of money to get this done. We haven’t gotten any factory support but we think we will,” says Ritchey, adding that the association has “total buy-in from all the service directors” aligned with members’ dealerships.


Selling an Industry An ad hoc committee of 15 GMA- DA service directors meets monthly to evaluate the school’s curriculum. The goal is to make it an attractive option for employees in service de- partments looking to speed up their ascension to master status, as well as for high school students con- templating their futures. For more than a year, GMADA members have been gaining ground in this area by visiting area high schools and talking up the pluses that come with an automotive tech career. Starting salaries at some dealerships are as


much as $45,000 a year and techs that reach master status earn in excess of $100,000 annually. “High schools have finally recog- nized that all of their graduates are not going to college,” says Ritchey. “It’s still in the formative stage, but some have agreed to participate in the school’s dual-enrollment pro- gram.”


As far as prospective candi- dates within local dealerships, GMADA dealers have the option of sponsoring a student. “If they want to send them, we’ll take them,” says Ritchey. “If a dealership wants to pay the entire tuition, we’ll let them.” His company, Landers Auto Group, is leading by example.


“I have a student that’s 21 years old; he works in one of our Ford stores,” says GMADA’s president. “He approached me about going to the school and I offered to pay his tuition, but his parents said they wanted to pay it. I said, ‘Fine, you can come work for us when you graduate and we will reimburse you.’”


Graduates, of course, are free to work for their employer of choice. “In a couple of years, they’re going to be in high demand,” says Ritchey. “Any tech that leaves this school will be able to walk into one of our local dealerships and feel right at home because they will have worked on some of the same equipment in the same physical setting.


“When they write up a report, they will do it on a computer and they have to write it in a format the customer and the factory can understand. If they can’t type or communicate the problem in an easy-to-understand narrative, they can’t work in a modern dealership.” He can’t wait until Moore Tech produces its first class of grad- uates. That’s when the fireworks are going to begin, thinks Ritchey. “It’s going to be interesting to see where they’ll decide to go,” he says. “Some dealers are going to regret not sponsoring a student.”


Pre-Spring 2019 49


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60