The industry has touted special training, vo-tech education, SkillsUSA-VICA and mentoring, among many other tactics, to keep the industry equipped with enough qualified techs, but now the concern about the shortage of qualified collision repair technicians has reached celebrity status.
The Tonight Show host Jay Leno, known for being a car enthusiast, is doing what he can to ensure that those interested in entering the automobile repair business have resources they need to pursue it as a career. He started the Fred Duesenberg Memorial Scholarship at McPherson College in McPherson, Kan., in 1997, but it's now getting more recognition as the industry continues to look for funding, training and opportunities to bring in qualified entry-level techs. The annual scholarship recipient receives $20,000, says Robert Vaughn, director of restoration technology operations for McPherson College. A year later, Leno established the Jay Leno/Popular Mechanics Scholarship, a full scholarship for second-year automotive restoration students at the school.
Leno established the scholarships "in order to give something back" to the hobby of car collection and restoration, which includes autobody and sheet metal repair, according to the McPherson College press release about the scholarships. Leno is an honorary member of the college's national advisory board for the automotive restoration program. Robert Vaughn, director of restoration technology operations, says Leno is a great supporter of the school's program and the automotive industry in general. "He does great things for us," Vaughn says. "When we have students with a financial need, it [the scholarship] allows them to go to school. It gives them the opportunity to become professionally trained," Vaughn says.
Randy Ema, owner of Randy Ema Inc. in Orange, Calif., has worked on several of Leno's cars. When Leno came to Ema's facility one day, he inquired Ema as to a good place to put funds for automotive education. Ema knew of McPherson College because every year he has an intern from the school, and because it's the only school that offers an auto restoration program as well as bachelor degree programs in several areas including historic automotive technology and restoration management. "I was aware of the school, and he's aware that a lot of the talents and trades are dying," Ema says. "He [Leno] felt this was a good opportunity to put money where it would enhance the long-forgotten craft of automobile restoration."
Although the program for which the scholarship is endowed is specific to automotive restoration, it's also significant for the collision repair industry, Ema says, "Because automobile restoration covers every aspect of the automobile. It's still meaningful for the collision repair industry because restoration encompasses collision repair and sheet metal repair. It's all part and parcel."
Diane Ditzler, co-owner of Gary's Auto Body Inc. in Pine Grove, Pa., says the industry support from high-profile people such as Leno is both encouraging and exciting. When Ditzler first learned about Leno's scholarships for the industry, she contacted her local vo-tech school to see if the program could somehow use the information to get a scholarship established at the school. "There aren't a lot of scholarships for the kids because people don't think vo-tech is worth it," Ditzler says. "But someone has to do it."
[Sidebar]
Autobody students repair 1932 Roadster
Fayetteville West Campus Technical Center autobody repair and mechanical repair students teamed up with students from other disciplines in the school to restore a 1932 Roadster as part of a joint effort between several areas of study.
Students from West Campus' building trades, welding, auto collision and auto mechanics programs took part in the restoration process, the Northwest Arkansas Times reported.
The car, which has been painted a shiny purple in honor of the school's colors, has become "the pride of the school" after coming in as "just a heap of metal," the paper reported.
[Author Affiliation]
By Tina Grady
Senior Associate Editor
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