On July 11, 2024, Jonathan Allen, CEO/president of J. Allen Automotive Group, and President Dr. Mary S. Graham of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) announced a groundbreaking partnership when they launched the Automotive Technician Apprenticeship program.
Both Jonathan and Mary expressed their enthusiasm for the partnership and excitement for the opportunities it will provide to students. The program kicked off with a signing event as David Garcia, the first to enroll in the program, chose his draft team and signed up for the Toyota tech program.
This new apprenticeship program gives enrollees a chance to “earn while they learn.” Students will spend three days in the classroom learning from expert instructors and two days working at the dealership, making money, being mentored by experienced professionals and gaining real-world experience.
Unbeknownst to each other, both Jonathan and MGCCC had been thinking about this idea for years. But no one knew how to execute the program until Rachel Mills was hired to the position of chief experience officer at J. Allen Automotive Group. Rachel came from the healthcare field and had run a successful program, hiring medical students to work at the local hospital. It was a win-win. The students gained real-world experience in their field of study, and the hospital had knowledgeable employees who could easily assimilate and get right to work. When Rachel suggested they apply a similar program for skilled techs, Jonathan was all in.
The program opens doors for franchise dealers to start filling their service departments with much-needed, highly qualified techs. According to NADA, “The industry needs to replace 76,000 technicians each year to keep up with retirements and new demand, but only about 39,000 new technicians graduate from training programs each year.” That leaves dealers with approximately 56,000 unfilled tech positions.
With the launch of this program, Jonathan’s love and dedication for the industry have come full circle. As a third-generation dealer, Jonathan brings all the experience he gained from his grandfather, Bert Allen, and his father, David Allen, who were both successful dealers in their own right. Jonathan also brings out-of-the-box thinking and persistence to solve problems, instilled in him by his mentor that Jonathan’s mentor, Butch Oustalet.
In helping to get this program up and running, Jonathan brought MGCCC and the Ford, Mazda and Toyota representatives together. MGCCC asked the representatives, “What do you need us to teach?” Without any hesitation, the representative from Ford said, “We desperately need transmission techs.” So, a Ford transmission class was formed. The conversation of “what’s needed” and “this is the class we are going to have to fill the need” continued and everyone did their part to bring the program to fruition.
“We have been frustrated over the years with sending our technicians to go get certain certifications at schools outside of the community and as far away as Houston, Texas,” said Jonathan. “MGCCC can teach these classes, and they’re right here.”
“The world needs automotive technicians, and they need them badly,” said Jonathan. “I could hire double what I have at my dealerships, and there would be enough work for all of them.”
When students finish the program, they walk out of MGCC with an associate degree, and they walk into a well-paying career. “We need to prioritize techs, treat them like doctors because that’s what they are,” Jonathan stated. “A car has 15,000 moving parts; it takes a diagnosis and someone who knows what they’re looking at to properly fix it. This is a real profession that takes real thinkers and that needs to be taken seriously. So, anything we can do to support that, I am all in!”
There will be about 20-25 students per class, so once the wheel gets turning, a steady flow of skilled techs will be entering the local workforce. That is a huge benefit for J. Allen Automotive Group and for South Mississippi dealerships. “We’ll get the pick of the litter of the interns that come through the program,” said Jonathan. But ultimately, it’s the industry that wins.
Additionally, J. Allen Automotive Group has committed to donating older cars to the schools so the students have the opportunity to take them apart and put them back together. If needed, parts will be donated as well — whatever it takes to help the techs of tomorrow receive the best education possible.
Looking ahead, there are talks of implementing a scholarship program of sorts. Scenarios have been played out where a student with promise suddenly stops showing up to class, the school would then reach out to them and ask them why. If tuition, or something similar, is an issue, the financial barrier would be removed with some sort of scholarship from the dealership side. That is how passionate Jonathan, J. Allen Automotive Group and MGCCC are about the future generation of techs.
