Opportunities all around: NEIT’s program promises to help students, employers

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 8/18/15

By KELCY DOLAN

Thanks to a new partnership between New England Institute of Technology, Fiat Chrysler of America, local FCA dealerships and the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), …

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Opportunities all around: NEIT’s program promises to help students, employers

Posted

By KELCY DOLAN

Thanks to a new partnership between New England Institute of Technology, Fiat Chrysler of America, local FCA dealerships and the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), NEIT automotive students will have a leg up on the competition entering the workforce.

In October, NEIT will begin offering the Mopar Career Automotive Program (CAP), which begins training and certifying students for occupations in Fiat Chrysler dealerships.

On Wednesday morning representatives from all four parties involved, met at New England Tech’s automotive campus in Warwick.

John Fox Director of FCA Performance Institute, Global Director of Dealer Training at FCA US, said that they were not expecting any monetary investment, simply the dealers’ time and expertise.  

Paul Harden, Director of Transportation Technology for NEIT, said that dealers who wished to get involved would be responsible for reaching out to the students, explaining the benefits of working with a dealer, specifically an FCA dealer.

“The strength of this program will be dependent on the dedication and involvement of the local dealers,” he said.

NEIT was one of the first schools the FCA reached out to to launch the program and is the only program in the northeast.

FCA aims to expand over the next three years to provide similar programs in 100 academic institutions having more than 1,000 students graduate through Mopar CAP annually.

“This is all about bringing future automotive technicians into the FCA family,” Fox said.

Gary Hoe, Service and Parts Operations Manager for FCA’s Northeast Business Center said that this program works like “Match.com”; “we bring the best schools and dealers together.”

He said the FCA understand that dealers are desperate for technicians and created this program to create a pipeline of qualified and talented employees who wouldn’t need secondary training to work with a dealer after graduation.

Executive Director of NC3, Roger Tadajewski, said that by 2018 the Northeast automotive market need for technicians would increase by nearly 1,000 people.

He said FCA dealers are going to want the most talented technicians out there and the best way to ensuring that is being a part of the educational process.

Fox said, “The only way to grow is through the youth. We have to grow new technicians.”

NEIT’s Provost, Doug Sherman said that the school already had one if not the best program and New England and this would be one more opportunity to offer students and students were already starting to show interest.

“Our students will get to start with an advantage,” he said. “They can hit the ground running with dealerships and they can start at higher wages.”

Fox said that this isn’t just an opportunity for NEIT and the dealers, but for students as well.

He said that the automotive industry can sometimes be forgotten and he wants to see this program

“It’s instant job placement,” Fox said. “The earning potential and possibilities of growing with a dealer is unbelievable. It’s a true opportunity for employment.”

The Service Manager from Bald Hill Dodge Chrysler Dealership, Greg Palazzo, believes the Mopar CAP program will become one of the best out there and students will flock to it.

“They will be able to start in better positions than they ever would anywhere else,” he said. “We want techs coming in with this level of knowledge.”

Harden said that the school hears from its students that they are interested in working for specific dealers and this will be a way to help students get where they want to be.

Now, NEIT will begin promoting the program to their automotive students and recruiting the most interested to the program. In October students will be able to commit.

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