As part of an ongoing effort to encourage more young people to consider careers in the automotive industry, the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) is working to partner with the Universal Technical Institute (UTI) to help graduating students find employment with member shops.

AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant and Mechanical Chairman Keith Krehel (Krehel Automotive Repair, Clifton. N.J.) recently took a tour of the Bloomfield, N.J., campus and learned about the institute’s educational offerings and job placement programs.

The institute has 11 campuses across the country, some of which offer automotive and collision repair training. The Bloomfield campus, which opened about 18 months ago, offers a 51-week automotive technician course.

“As a former high school auto shop instructor, I was very impressed,” said Krehel. “The facility was neat, clean and well organized. The students I observed were focused on classroom activities, while the teaching aids and hands-on workstations were state of the art. This school is ‘top shelf.’ We would be proud to play a role in helping place graduates in our various member facilities for automotive mechanical and collision work.”

Added Bryant, “Our tour of the UTI trade school was an unbelievable experience for me and a real eye opener. It was amazing to see the modern technology and equipment the institute has available to train the students. Each section of the institute was more exciting than the last, and all that we learned while there will help AASP/NJ assist our members, including the possibility of creating a partnership of sorts in order to post job openings on their website. We are presently considering how all we learned can be turned into a benefit for our members. Stay tuned to hear more shortly.”

For more information on AASP/NJ, visit aaspnj.org.