Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) recently recognized Valley Automotive Group for its 18-year sponsorship of the General Motors Automotive Service Education Program (GM ASEP).
DCTC GM ASEP Instructors Tim McCluskey and Mark Hickman presented Valley Automotive Group Fixed Operations Manager Ron Groves with a plaque in recognition of the dealerships support.
The DCTC GM ASEP program is a unique cooperation with General Motors and A/C Delco that allows student to become highly specialized service technicians for General Motors. Through ASEP, students are able to gain work experience through a sponsoring General Motors dealer, such as Valley Automotive Group, allowing them to apply classroom learning to real-world situations.
“We have had 22 students from the DCTC ASEP program. The students are taught on current GM vehicle models and come to my store ready to work. The new car business and repair business changes so fast that without the ASEP program, the industry would have a huge technician deficit,” said Groves.
In addition to the high skill level of the GM ASEP graduates, another fact Groves pointed out was that the DCTC students tended to stick around his shop.
“Our dealership appreciates getting DCTC students because of the excellent retention. All ASEP students that interned here and graduated are still here with the exception of two,” said Groves.
The retention rate that Groves sees at his dealership is not uncommon amongst graduates of the DCTC GM ASEP program. In fact, the great majority of graduates tend to have a long employment history with their sponsoring dealership. A fact, amongst others, of which instructors McCluskey and Hickman are proud.
“We are very proud of the work our students do at these dealerships, and we are very thankful for the support that dealerships like Valley Automotive group give our program,” said DCTC GM ASEP Instructor Mark Hickman.
