5th Annual North Texas Auto Tech Competition Draws Record Number of Students

The Car Pro Show offers its congrats to all the teams recognized at the 5th Annual North Texas Auto Tech Competition!  The two-day event hosted by the North Texas Automobile Dealers (NTXAD) took place in early December at Texas Motor Speedway.   NTXAD says this year's turnout was the largest yet for the biggest high school student auto -tech competition in the state.   The event, which includes a Career Day, can be a big step towards a career in the automotive industry.

“This is the largest auto-tech competition in Texas – it’s growing every year,” said NTXAD President Brent Franks. “It was created out of a need to introduce Texans to a great career and to create a workforce for our North Texas new car & truck dealerships, and it is working. We know it’s working because of the number of schools joining us every year – but more importantly, because of the number of students we see flourishing in auto tech careers as a direct result of the connections they’ve made at these competitions.”

In the past year, Franks estimates students who’ve participated in the NTXAD Auto Tech Competitions and gone on to careers in the industry, have earned a combined $3.5 million. Nationwide, there are more than 76,000 openings for auto technicians, with thousands of those jobs in the Lone Star State.

“We’ve placed 78 students in full-time jobs this year, at an average starting salary of 45 thousand dollars a year. Students today want and need to earn a living wage, and these students are graduating as qualified entry-level auto technicians who meet an important need.”

This year's 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners were:

1st Place

Keller Center for Advanced Learning, mentored by Moritz Kia of Hurst 

2nd Place

Dubiski Career High School, mentored by CarPro affiliate Five Star Subaru of Grapevine

3rd Place

LaGrone Academy, mentored by Bill Utter Ford

1st Place Alternate

Collin College sponsored by CarPro affiliate Park Place Lexus Plano

1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams received thousands of dollars in tools from Snap-On for each student to help them start their career - a huge perk, since auto techs are required to own their own tools and they're expensive. They also won scholarships provided by the Carroll Shelby Foundation & NTXAD members to NTXAD’s Fast Track Automotive Technician Training Program, A fast-track 5-week training course that provides hands-on classroom instruction along with with employment opportunities in a new car and truck dealership service center. Their instructors and dealer mentors received gift cards.

Ten teams in all were recognized - the others being:

• Longview High School mentored by Peltier Kia of Tyler
• Hollenstein Career & Technology Center mentored by Autobahn Motorcars -BMW
• Plano East High School mentored by CarPro affiliate Sewell BMW of Plano
• Wichita Falls Career Education Center mentored by Foundation GMC
• Dan Dipert Career Technical Center mentored by AutoNation Ford Arlington
• Ratteree Career Development Center mentored by Toyota of Irving,
• Vanguard High School mentored by Trophy Nissan

The Auto Tech Competition is supported through regional funding from new car & truck dealers in North Texas with support from Chevrolet, Ford, the Ford Foundation, Buick-GMC, BMW, Nissan-Infiniti, and Subaru. Other mentoring support includes dealers of Audi, KIA, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota.

Supporting sponsors include ASE Education Foundation, Collin College, Dallas College, Tarrant County College, Hill College, Texas State Technical College, Ally, Bank of America, Cumulus Radio Dallas, and Forvis Mazars.

To learn more about auto tech careers and the training/education programs available, visit www.ntxad.com.

Photos Courtesy of the North Texas Automobile Dealers.