Ebert and Mahoney detail how Crash Champions is supporting the Collision Engineering Program as it seeks to solve the technician shortage facing the collision repair industry.
In August, Crash Champions announced that the Collision Engineering Program will be the primary beneficiary of its 2024 Charity Golf Outing taking place December 5 at Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point, Calif.
In our video interview embedded below, Matt Ebert, Founder and CEO of Crash Champions, and Mary Mahoney, VP at Enterprise Mobility, discuss the industry’s technician shortage and how the innovative Collision Engineering Program is helping people start off their careers with the skills they need to succeed.
Commenting on the decision to use the proceeds from its charity golf outing to support the Collision Engineering Program, Ebert said, “The easy answer is it’s a cause we believe in. Ultimately, it was a bit of a tough decision because in the past the golf outing had benefited Make-A-Wish, and we’ve been able to do some really good things for kids in need there, and we’ll continue to support the Make-A-Wish. But ultimately we thought it was very appropriate to align the golf outing and the beneficiary of it with the overwhelming need we see in the industry, and our desire to try to help to do something about it.”
“It’s a huge gap in the number of technicians that we have today compared to what the industry needs today, and especially tomorrow as baby boomers start to get to retirement age,” continued Ebert. “So we felt that, here it is our own industry, it’s a huge need that needs to be met, and we have this function where we can help monetarily contribute to do something about it, so we thought that was the best path.”
Mahoney explained how the Collision Engineering Program is designed to prepare students for a career in the industry.
“The Collision Engineering Program is innovative and it’s a rotation-based apprenticeship training model, and it focuses on preparing the student in the classroom for multiple weeks, and then we move them over to the shop to practice those skills in a real-world environment, and then back again into the classroom for two years,” said Mahoney. “At the end of that two years, they have an associate’s degree, it’s backed by the Department of Labor, they’ve been a part of an apprenticeship, and the focus there was retention and increasing the skill level.”
“Our first couple of years in the pilot we had 162 students at 87.5% retention with 100% job placement, so it’s working,” said Mahoney.
While collision claims are down off of the highs last year, increasing repair complexity and changing skills needed continue to drive training and the need for new technicians.
“Yeah, the need is very real. Even in a softer market, we could hire a lot of technicians today. I would say there’s also the bringing up of the technician base that we have because the vehicles have gotten so much more complicated,” said Ebert. “I feel, as an industry, we still have a ways to go to catch up to where the vehicles are, and the advancement in vehicle technology certainly isn’t stopping. The education process around repairing vehicles and dealing with the electronic side of it definitely brings an even bigger need that we see that needs filled, and ultimately view it as a problem that’s bigger than us.”
“First you look, of course, as a business to take care of your needs, but this is one that we can’t do alone, so this program is one that we view as kind of a mutual effort amongst our peers in the industry with Enterprise leading it,” said Ebert about the Collision Engineering Program.
“As manufacturers continue to invest in connectivity, and more and more technology in these vehicles, our technicians are really going to be lifelong learners,” said Mahoney. “They’re going to have to continue to evolve their knowledge and education to meet the requirements of the manufacturer and what they’re building.”