Car dealers unveil mechanics’ school
Chad Reynolds wasn’t looking for a $50,000 job three years ago when he bought the 1989 Chevrolet Lumina. He was looking for a ride.
One problem and then another led him to realize something. He was good at figuring what went wrong in the Chevy and how to fix it.
On September 18, the pony-tailed Olive Branch teenager is among the first students enrolled in the new Moore Tech automotive school in Memphis.
The Greater Memphis Auto Dealers Association showed off the 40,000square-foot school Wednesday, September 18.
The grand opening completed the association’s four-year effort to raise $4 million, find a site and equip a vocational school designed to forestall a shortage of car mechanics in the region. William R. Moore College of Technology, a private vocational school in Memphis, was signed on to operate the school for powertrain technicians.
“When they walk into one of our shops, it’ll look just like this,” said Landers Auto Group president Kent Ritchey, head of the dealers’ association, as he toured the service bay in the new school.
Hoists are in place to lift vehicles between $50,000 wheeled tool boxes containing wrenches and other hand tools. Eight classrooms can fit in as many as 400 students. The classrooms are inside the old Dobbs Honda dealership at 2785 S. Mendenhall Road. The dealers bought the empty building from Florida-based car dealer Autonation and renovated it into a school.
The first class of 39 students is on pace to graduate within two years, most of them owing no school debt, and find permanent jobs at auto dealers. Tuition costs $10,500 per year.
OState tuition assistance through the Tennessee Promise program is available for qualifying students at the private school. Memphis’ legislative delegation ushered through a measure covering lower-income Moore Tech auto school students under the Promise program. Moore Tech is among a number of private schools in Tennessee covered under Tennessee Promise.
Higher-income students can obtain tuition aid through donations provided by philanthropists specifically for the mechanics’ program. Paid internships are also available through dealerships so students can work for an income and study.
“We’re thrilled we think our students can graduate without any debt,” Ritchey said.
The dealers association earlier sought to encourage Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis to ramp up its automotive tech program. The association, which represents about 50 area auto dealers, couldn’t reach an agreement with the public college on issues such as state-of-the-art curriculum for rapidly evolving engine technology.
The dealers took over the Memphis International Auto Show and made it a keystone event set up to raise money for the new mechanics’ school. Dealers also sought assistance from automakers to supply engine software and vehicles. Nissan, for example, will donate a Titan sport-utility-vehicle to the school, Ritchey said.
Moore Tech brought in Martin Gambill as director of automotive service technology. Gambill, who held a similar post at Southwest Tennessee Community College, oversees two full-time and one part-time instructor.
The new mechanics’ school has formed education alliances with five high schools in Memphis, although the lack of convenient transportation hinders high school students from reaching the classrooms on South Mendenhall.
For now, student Chad Reynolds drives himself to class in his ‘89 Chevy Lumina.
“It definitely started for me when I bought my first car,’’ said Reynolds, 19, recounting his interest in vehicle repairs. “It wasn’t the most reliable car.”
Ted Evanoff Memphis Commercial Appeal USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE