Year: 2017

Eight will be awarded to CNC students at UTI’s NASCAR Tech

Scottsdale, Ariz. — Nov. 15, 2017 — TechForce Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on championing and aiding aspiring vehicle technicians, is administering a scholarship program established by Roush Yates Engines to support students enrolled in the CNC (computerized numerical control) Machining Technology program at Universal Technical Institute’s (UTI’s) NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, NC.

Of the eight $4,000 CNC Machining scholarships to be administered, four will be named after Roush Yates Engines’ co-founder Robert Yates, while the other four will be named after co-founder, Jack Roush. Awarding of the scholarships will start in the fourth quarter of this year with the remainder being awarded in 2018 and 2019.

“We are elated to administer these scholarships — first, for such an innovative company as Roush Yates Engines and second, for the specific need they address,” said TechForce CEO and Executive Director Jennifer Maher.

“Students will get the hands-on training a CNC machinist needs to create and engineer everything from aerospace parts and industrial applications to medical equipment and high-performance engine components.”

Doug Yates, president and CEO of Roush Yates Engines, pointed out the importance of the scholarships: “CNC machining is critical to the current and future success of Roush Yates Engines and manufacturing in the U.S. and beyond. By partnering with UTI we have created a platform for success in the CNC manufacturing industry.”

He continued, “The Roush Yates Engines’ scholarships support our belief in the next generation of CNC manufacturers. The future is bright and we are 100 percent dedicated to this dynamic industry.”

Mary Ann Mauldwin, Roush Yates Engines’ Chief Operating Officer, said, “The manufacturing industry has evolved, seeking highly skilled workers who have not been easy to identify nor hire, but are in great demand.”

To help solve that problem, she said, “We are committed to this partnership with UTI, which leverages each of our business’ strengths, because it provides the framework to ensure our industry has a pipeline of future CNC machining technicians with the skills and experience to fuel this growing segment of our business.”

“On behalf of UTI’s students, I want to thank the TechForce Foundation and Roush Yates Engines,” said Kim McWaters, president and CEO of UTI. “At UTI, we’re committed to student success, which is why we partnered with Roush Yates Engines to create the CNC Machining program. With these scholarships and the ongoing support of the Roush Yates Engines’ team, more students can access our training and the abundant career opportunities available for CNC machining technicians across multiple industries.” Mauldwin summed up the importance of collaboration for the benefit of the students, “We want to invest in our collective future together.”

CNC students at NASCAR Tech can apply for the scholarships at www.techforce.org.

---

About TechFroce Foundation

TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) with the mission to champion students to and through their education and into careers as professional technicians in the transportation industry. The Foundation distributes more than $1.5 million in scholarships and grants annually, thanks to its generous corporate sponsors and donors, and is spearheading FutureTech Success™, the industry-wide initiative to help encourage and support more young people to pursue the vehicle technician profession. For more information, visit www.techforce.org.

About Roush Yates Engines

In 2003, Jack Roush and Robert Yates decided to partner with Ford Motor Company to join forces as the exclusive Ford Engine Builder for the NASCAR Series. These two legendary engine builders, led by President & CEO Doug Yates turned the partnership into an immediate success with winning the 2004 NASCAR Cup Championship and forever changing the face of modern day racing. Since the first engine hit the race track back in 2004 Roush Yates Engines in partnership with Ford Performance has won over 300 races in current participating motorsports series.

Roush Yates Engines is a leading edge engine development company, with three state-of- the-art facilities based in Mooresville, NC; which include Roush Yates Engines, Roush Yates Performance Engines Group focused on road racing and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class manufacturing center and ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified.

The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose built race engines. A dedicated team of engineers, technicians and fabricators work together to build the most powerful and reliable engines in racing. Roush Yates Engines provides the power to an international market place that spans nine countries and three continents.

One key component is, Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a 35,000 square foot facility which includes 40 top-of- the-line CNC manufacturing machines from; 3, 4 and 5 axis CNC milling equipment, multi-axis mill turning equipment, robotic pallet pull system machining center and a premier Quality Assurance department that holds an impeccable standard for achieving the highest level of quality for customers in the automotive, aerospace, military and industrial sectors. For more information, visit www.roushyates.com.

About Universal Technical Institute

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) is the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians. With more than 200,000 graduates in its 52-year history, UTI offers undergraduate degree and diploma programs at 12 campus locations across the United States, as well as manufacturer-specific training programs at dedicated centers. Through its campus-based school system, UTI provides specialized post-secondary education programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech). For more information, visit uti.edu.

For further information, please contact:
Jennifer Maher, Executive Director
jmaher@techforce.org
602-550- 0371

She signs on as a key ambassador for the Future Tech Success™ campaign.

Scottsdale, AZ — Nov. 8, 2017— Julia Landauer, NASCAR powerhouse, female racer and advocate for women in S.T.E.M., has signed on as an official partner of TechForce Foundation and its FutureTech Success™ campaign. This industry-wide initiative aims to drive tomorrow’s workforce of transportation technicians by repositioning the image of the profession. Moreover, the campaign provides middle- and high-school students and their parents opportunities to experience automotive and motorsports technology and to encourage diverse audiences, including women and people of color, to enter the field.

Bearing the title of FutureTech Success™ Ambassador, Landauer will work with the Foundation through media appearances, public service announcements, and fundraising efforts to inform and inspire young, tactile-minded individuals seeking to pursue careers in the field of transportation tech, a mission the accomplished racer is very passionate about. Since graduating from Stanford with a degree in science, technology, and society, Landauer has made it her goal to apply such subjects to the world of racing, and to do everything in her power to involve others in the industry she is so passionate about.

“Some people are a great fit for suit and tie careers and others are built to build—to work with their hands. We are all wired differently,” explains Landauer. “That’s the message TechForce is projecting through FutureTech Success™ and why I am so excited to be an ambassador of the cause. It is so important for young people to discover early on what they click with, and for their parents and other authority figures to provide them with the tools, opportunities, and support to develop those gifts and build exciting futures.”

As the highest finishing woman in K&N Series history and the only auto racer on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list, it is safe to say Landauer knows a thing or two about success — and the hard work and dedication it takes to get there. “We should all have an underdog mentality that forces us to stick with it, make it work, and see it through. That's how you win,” Landauer says. Through her work with TechForce Foundation, Landauer seeks to instill this mentality in today’s youth, encouraging them to pursue greatness both for themselves, and for the industry in which they will become the lifeblood.

Unfortunately, some have had to work a little harder than others to find that success. Historically a white, male dominated field, careers are now more accessible than ever to women and people of color seeking to dive into the world of S.T.E.M. Landauer has held true to her dedication to encouraging diversity and involvement in such careers, utilizing her rising notoriety as a platform for the cause.

“I’ve always been passionate about the intersection of technology, community, and racing,” recalls Julia. “Everyone has something unique to contribute, and the industry loses out on so much when it’s not inclusive. Women and people of color have as much to give in racing and tech as anyone else, and working together toward innovation only makes us all stronger and better off.”

Landauer describes racing as a team effort, where having the best of the best in your pit can make all the difference. “Racing is about so much more than just the person behind the wheel,” she explains. “As a driver, you rely pretty heavily on your pit crew technicians to make sure everything is working the way it should. In order to be a great driver, you have to have great techs on your team — limiting the pool of talent you’re pulling from for a crew doesn’t just hurt the industry, it can hurt you.”

Through FutureTech Success™, TechForce seeks to break down those barriers, equipping each and every child with the information and tools necessary to pursue success in the industry. Landauer’s passion for and experience with this same goal provides invaluable insights to the Foundation, and with the help of her established reputation and platform, will allow TechForce to reach even farther than before, impacting the lives of students across the nation.

“Take one look at Julia’s career and you know exactly what she’s all about,” explains Jennifer Maher, CEO of TechForce Foundation. “She’s driven, she’s talented, and she is absolutely committed to the future of the technician and racing industries. That is exactly the kind of fire TechForce needs to ensure the FutureTech Success™ initiative reaches its fullest potential. With such a force behind the campaign, great things will be possible for young people who are poised to revolutionize the industry.”

Maher continues, “Julia has injected every aspect of her image with the truth that the next generation is well worth pouring into to create a brighter future for all. With an entire career of experience advocating for more involvement in racing and tech under her belt, Julia is a perfect partner to work with TechForce Foundation and its FutureTech Success™ initiative. Together, we’re on track to make a huge difference in the lives of future technicians.”

---

About TechForce Foundation

TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), with the mission to champion students to and through their technical education and into careers as professional technicians for the transportation industry. TechForce Foundation awards more than $1 million in scholarships and grants annually to students facing financial hardship so they may obtain their post-secondary technical education. Additionally, TechForce leads the FutureTech Success™ campaign, an industry-wide initiative to drive tomorrow’s workforce of technicians by inspiring, supporting and connecting middle- and high-school students and their influencers with the resources to support their technical education and career development. For more information, visit www.techforce.org.

About Julia Landauer

Julia Landauer is a two-time championship winning NASCAR driver from New York City. Since making history as the first and youngest female champion in the Skip Barber Racing Series at age 14, Julia has amassed dozens of wins in many different racing series. After becoming the first woman to win a NASCAR Track Championship at Motor Mile Speedway in her division in 2015, Julia graduated to the televised NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2016. In the K&N series, Julia finished 4th in the series championship, becoming the highest finishing female in the series’ 62-year history. Julia is currently competing in her second season in the K&N Pro Series West. Now settled in North Carolina, Julia is making her name synonymous with more than speed and grit; as she climbs the NASCAR ladder Julia uses her racing platform to continue advocating for STEM education and women’s empowerment.

Media Contact:
Jennifer Maher, Executive Director
jmaher@techforce.org
602-550- 0371

FutureTech Success™ is a first of its kind initiative aimed at young people and their influencers

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Oct. 31, 2017 — TechForce Foundation, a non-profit organization championing and aiding aspiring vehicle technicians, has launched a first of its kind campaign to help provide an ongoing stream of qualified technicians to North American vehicle repair businesses.

Created by Greg Settle, TechForce Director of National Initiatives, and Jennifer Maher, TechForce CEO/Executive Director, the campaign is called FutureTech Success™. Its purpose is threefold: 1) to give middle- and high-school students, parents and influencers the tools and experiences to recognize and foster tactile intelligence, 2) to help reposition the image of the profession; and 3) to help the industry speak with a collective voice with regard to its workforce development needs.

To the first point, Settle said, “Our goal is to identify and provide naturally talented tactile learners with the after school programs, clubs and activities, mentors and experiences that allow them to engage with the highly advanced and rapidly expanding world of vehicle technology so they — and their parents and influencers — understand there are prosperous technical career opportunities that they may not have considered.”

To help drive the campaign to students, parents and influencers, TechForce created a website — www.futuretechsuccess.org — that contains all of the pertinent information needed for students to ascertain their interest and aptitude for a technical career. To assist students in their quest to become technicians, a number of resources are presented, including after school and summer camp programs, a listing of technical schools, available internships and scholarships, a job board, needed certifications, industry events and industry associations.

Also, through the FutureTech Success™ campaign, TechForce will serve as the “collective hub,” harnessing the myriad of excellent resources that exist throughout the industry, collecting, packaging and presenting them in a one-stop- shop microsite that speaks to future techs and their parents, school counselors, youth directors and other influencers.

Another feature on the site is the bank of videos featuring successful professionals sharing their technical experiences and insights. Likewise, students share their own stories, and also have the opportunity to join the FutureTech Success™ community. In the near future TechForce will launch I-Hub, a resource hub for industry, so that best practices to attract, develop, train, hire, recruit and retain technicians can be shared by all.

The campaign’s second purpose is to help right a wrong that has existed for decades, that is, the “grease monkey” image. “Not that this image was ever deserved, but today it is simply absurd,” Maher said. “The complexity of today’s vehicles rival some of the most sophisticated aircraft —and the technical and computer knowledge, as well as the tactile and STEM skills required to work on them, is truly amazing.”

Moreover, Maher said that striving to be a vehicle technician today is hardly a “fall back” career. Rather, it is a desirable profession with readily available and unlimited opportunities that cut across several market segments ranging from automotive, motorcycles, motorsports and boats to medium and heavy duty trucks to collision repair and the massive machinery used in construction, mining and agriculture.

“What everyone knew anecdotally — that there is a tech shortage — was recently confirmed in a report authored by Settle and Doug Young, Managing Director of his own strategy consulting company, Wilcap LLC. Called “Transportation Technician New Entrant Demand,” the report revealed that new Bureau of Labor Statistics’ average annual new entrant demand over the next ten years is projected to be 75,900 auto technicians, 28,300 diesel techs and 17,200 collision techs, which is more than triple previous estimates.

“Not only is there a tech shortage, it’s much worse than we thought,” Settle said. “That being the case, the opportunities abound in this industry.”

The opportunity story speaks to the campaign’s third point: getting everyone in the industry on board to speak with a collective voice. Fortunately, that is already taking place with 14 corporations signing on as partners to the campaign: Advance Auto Parts, Autoshop Solutions, AutoZone, Babcox Media, Bridgestone Retail Operations, Cengage, General Motors, George Arrant Enterprises, Interstate Batteries, Nissan North America, Snap-on, Shell Lubricants, S/P2, Sunstate Equipment, 10 Missions Media and Universal Technical Institute.

Additionally, a growing number of high profile industry associations are supporting the effort. Presently, on board: the Auto Care Association, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), the Automotive Service Association (ASA), the Automotive Maintenance and Repair Association (AMRA), Arkansas Trucking Association, the Automotive Training Managers Council (ATMC), the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF), SkillsUSA, Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES), Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) and the American Trucking Association’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC).

---

About TechForce Foundation and FutureTech Success™

TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) with the mission to champion students to and through their education and into careers as professional technicians in the transportation industry. The Foundation distributes more than $1.5 million in scholarships and grants annually, thanks to its generous corporate sponsors and donors, and is spearheading FutureTech Success™, the industry-wide initiative to help encourage and support more young people to pursue the vehicle technician profession. For more information, visit www.techforce.org.

Media Contact
Jennifer Maher, Executive Director
jmaher@techforce.org
602-550- 0371

 

New BLS new entrant estimates are more than triple previous estimates.

 

Scottsdale, Ariz. Oct. 27, 2017 — TechForce Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on championing and aiding aspiring vehicle technicians, has released a new report — “Transportation Technician New Entrant Demand” — that reveals the severity of the vehicle technician shortage.

 

Based on an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) data, TechForce found that the estimated demand for “new entrant” vehicle technicians is much higher than previously reported. For the period between 2016 and 2026, that demand is more than triple the prior BLS estimates for the period between 2014 and 2024. “New entrant” technicians are those needed to fill the growth in new positions in the occupation as well as replace those who leave the occupation. They are distinguished from experienced technicians who may move between employers but don’t add to the overall trained workforce in the occupation.

 

The report reveals that the newly projected BLS average annual new entrant demand for 75,900 auto technicians for the 2016-2026 period is far greater than the previous BLS projected demand of 23,720 technicians for the 2014-2024 period. Moreover, by extrapolating data from the economy and vehicles in use, TechForce has been able to provide annual projections that are much more useful for industry planning than a 10-year average, which masks the cyclicality of individual years. As an example, in the case of auto technicians, the highest demand in the next five years is 92,071 in 2018, while the lowest is 65,020 in 2021.

 

The demand for collision and diesel technicians is similar. The newly projected BLS average annual new entrant demand of 28,300 diesel technicians far exceeds the previous projected demand of 7,690.  For the collision market, the newly projected BLS average annual new entrant demand is 17,200 technicians compared to the previous projection of 4,810.

 

Greg Settle, one of the co-authors of the report and TechForce Director of National Initiatives, said, “BLS had underestimated the replacement component of demand—replacing existing technicians who have retired, been promoted or decided to find a new career. That methodological problem has been rectified with the new projections just issued by the BLS for the 2016-2026 period.”

 

Doug Young, the other co-author of the report and Managing Director of his own strategy consulting company, Wilcap L.L.C, said, “The TechForce report is the first to provide annual historical and projected demand that also utilizes the new BLS replacement rate. The great benefit is that the numbers now correspond to actual industry experience and explain why the shortage occurred and why it has persisted.”

 

What has exacerbated the technician shortage to the point of the “perfect storm” are essentially three things, according to Settle. “We’re caught in the middle of a strong growing economy, a ‘catch-up’ demand for technicians created by the Great Recession of 2008 and the increasing complexity of vehicles.”

 

As to what can be done to alleviate the shortage, Young said, “We have adequate training facilities for prospective technicians. Our concentration has to be on getting young people interested in this vocation by changing the image of the ‘grease monkey’ mechanic that students and their parents, teachers and counselors may have.”

 

Jennifer Maher, CEO/Executive Director of TechForce, added, “In order to solve the tech shortage, the industry needs to pool its resources and create and disseminate consistent public messaging highlighting the many and varied opportunities of a tech career. Right now, the industry is suffering from inadequate, fragmented financing for the cause. It’s not enough for us to talk among ourselves, we have to pull together as an industry to first, resolve it, and then to stay ahead of it so we never wind up in this position again.”

 

Funding for the report was provided by TechForce donors, including Advance Auto Parts, Autoshop Solutions, AutoZone, Babcox Media, Bridgestone Retail Operations, Cengage, General Motors, George Arrants Enterprises, Interstate Batteries, Nissan North America, Shell Lubricants, Snap-on, S/P2, Sunstate, Universal Technical Institute and 10 Missions Media.

 

The full report and its executive summary are available at www.techforce.org

 

---

 

About TechForce Foundation

TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) with the mission to champion students to and through their education and into careers as professional technicians in the transportation industry. The Foundation distributes more than $1.5 million in scholarships and grants annually, thanks to its generous corporate sponsors and donors, and is spearheading FutureTech Success™, the industry-wide initiative to help encourage and support more young people to pursue the vehicle technician profession. For more information, visit www.techforce.org.

 

Media Contact

Jennifer Maher, Executive Director

jmaher@techforce.org

602-550-0371