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New Car Dealers Help Crank Up Recruitment of Auto Techs

Scholarship Foundation To Raise Over $200,000 at Auto Industry Event

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 21 -- The California Motor Car Dealers Association (CMCDA) announced today that over the next 10 years California's new car dealers will have to recruit 3,600 auto technicians each year to keep up with today's demand. Facing a shortage of auto technicians, CMCDA, car dealers and auto manufacturers are pumping money into the Association's Scholarship Foundation aimed at attracting high school and college students to this career path.

With the pending shortage, job opportunities for students who complete automotive training programs in high school, vocational and technical schools, and community colleges will be abundant. Auto technicians can earn $40,000 to $100,000.

To jumpstart its fundraising efforts, CMCDA is hosting a Gala Fundraiser Dinner in April headlined by Emmy Award Winning Comedian Dennis Miller to benefit the Association's Scholarship Foundation. Proceeds from the Gala Dinner will be used by the Foundation to fund auto technician scholarships.

The Gala Dinner will bring together California's auto dealers, auto manufacturer executives and other allied industry members to recognize the role that CMCDA plays in empowering and educating auto technicians.

"California faces a growing shortage of qualified automotive service professionals that are needed to keep our vehicle fleet the cleanest in the world," said Bert Boeckmann, CMCDA Chairman.

Today's cars require a new breed of automotive technicians who are capable of servicing California's sophisticated fleet of vehicles. Repair skills range from knowing how to replace a simple mechanical water pump to reprogramming computer controlled hybrid systems.

In addition to raising scholarship money for deserving students, the Gala will provide a forum to showcase CMCDA's Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) and its unique public/private partnership between auto manufacturers, new car dealers, and the California Department of Education (Jack O'Connell, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, is an AYES board member). AYES is the premier school-to-work initiative in partnership with local new car dealers and high school career technical education programs.

CMCDA's AYES has nearly 30 California schools on its roster that join more than 400 AYES school programs nationally. Ontario High School is scheduled to become the newest California AYES school with a launch and implementation in April.

About CMCDA

The California Motor Car Dealers Association is the country's largest state association of franchised new car and truck dealers with over 1,400 dealer members.