Collex Collision Experts opened its Technical Training Center at 5923 East 14 Mile Road in Sterling Heights. All new Collex employees, including managers, estimators, parts specialists, customer-service representatives and detailers, will be trained at the 9,000-square-foot facility.
Unlike traditional vocational schools, the new Collex training center is believed to be the first of its kind to be created and operated by an independent collision repairer. The new Collex Technical Training Center addresses a critical need for trained collision-repair professionals, according to Robert Gagliano, Collex Collision Experts chief operating officer.
“Many technicians in the collision-repair industry getting older, and eventually there will be a mass exodus of highly qualified workers,” explains Gagliano. “The industry needs to do a better job of introducing itself and getting new technicians interested in collision repair.”
The opening comes at an opportune time, as employment of auto body/glass repairers in the United States is expected to grow more than 19 percent through the year 2020, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That means upward of 32,000 new, well-paying positions will be created, along with many openings coming from existing workforce retirements or transfers to other fields.
“We’re looking to have the new training center be a learning center for not only the Collex technician of tomorrow, but also to help the industry as a whole,” Gagliano says. “It can be for young people coming out of high school, or those looking to transition from another field or work entirely.”
Michelle McMahon, Collex technical training manager, and her staff will facilitate the training program, which includes continuing education classes.
“With this new training center, Collex Collision Experts will bring a strong, hands-on mentoring approach,” says Gagliano. “It won’t be Bodyshop 101 right out of a manual; we’ll have many of our professionals - some with 20 or 30 years of experience - working side-by-side with our students to really understand the nuances of the business. We aim to see that our collision repair curriculum is pretty extensive. In addition to our own classes, we’ll be partnering with some of the industry’s finest education sources, such as Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes and 3M.
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