Bruce Knudsen, MTADA’s vice president, is a board member of SkillsUSA Montana, and Mary Heller is the state director. She has been the state director for two years. In June, Mary will begin working with the Montana Office of Public Instruction. She plans to continue supporting the SkillsUSA organization as instructors teach students skilled trades and help them connect with potential employers.
Before 2002, SkillsUSA was known as Vocational and Industrial Clubs of America (VICA). SkillsUSA is one of several national organizations that work with students to develop job-related skills. The organization was founded in 1965. Montana got involved in 1966. Nationally, there are currently 19,019 instructors and more than 394,000 members. Mike Rowe is the national spokesperson.
MTADA recently spoke with Mary about SkillsUSA, what dealers should know about the program, the most recent skills competition, and how it can help them hire well-qualified and well-rounded employees for their dealerships.
Finding skilled employees to work at your dealership can be challenging because of the employee shortage. For more than 40 years, most teachers and counselors have directed students toward a four-year degree as the path to a good, financially stable life, but “there are other good options besides a four-year degree,” said Mary.
Industries need to advertise the many high-paying and rewarding careers available for anyone with the right skill set, such as repairing engines. Solving the problem includes reaching out to K-12 students and encouraging them to learn trade skills as part of their general education.
That’s what SkillsUSA does. It is a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) with programs for students as young as fifth grade. Industry experts develop the curriculum for schoolteachers, and subjects include soft skills. For example, students learn about leadership, community service, fundraising and Robert Rules of Order.
The course framework looks like a triangle. “On one side, you have technical skills grounded in academics,” said Mary. “Then you have workplace skills, like being reliable, having a team attitude and working hard. The last side of the triangle is personal skills. When you get off work, you still need to be responsible and act with integrity, but you also need to care about your community. Our students have solid employability skills that outweigh knowing how to crank wrenches. These are potential employees who can explain why the car engine light came on to someone who doesn’t understand engines. Some dealership employees from Kenny Simpson Nissan had a table at our most recent conference, and they said, ‘These are some of the most respectful young teenagers we have been around in years. It’s so refreshing. We would hire every one of them if they are interested in the automotive industry.’ That feedback means we are doing it right at SkillsUSA.”
The state organizations partner with the state education department. SkillsUSA Montana focuses on hands-on skilled trades such as automotive and diesel technology, manufacturing and building trades. It gives teachers resources as they teach needed skills to their students. Students who participate in local chapters become well-rounded employees.
Montana currently has 48 chapters at different schools across the state. Teachers who want to become advisers in the SkillsUSA program can start new chapters. When they contact the state SkillsUSA office, they can sign up for a $25 state and national membership and get access to the curriculum. Student members can attend two conferences each year; a Leadership Conference in the fall and the State Conference in the spring. The individual chapters generally have about two meetings a month. The advisers organize students and involve them with community service projects. “The president of the Great Falls chapter is a girl,” said Mary. “Her goal was to double the number of girls in the automotive classes, and she got it done.”
The fall workshops provide professional development for students and their advisers. There are workshops on critical thinking, work responsibilities, conflict management and effective communication.
“The state conference is fun for the students,” said Mary. “They get engaged and get to test their skills in various contests. SkillsUSA Montana is not just a club. It is about getting involved, learning technical skills, gaining leadership skills, and becoming involved in their community. It also gives students a chance to think about whether they like doing something mechanical and which career path to follow.”
The three-day April 2022 State Conference was held in Helena, Montana, for the first time since 2019. Four dealerships were represented, and MTADA participated in a career fair with them. Students and advisers talked with dealership employees, and the dealerships were able to see demonstrations of basic technician skills. The specific competitions allowed students to showcase mechanical skills with regular, diesel and small engines. A job interview contest required students to put together a resume, apply for a job and interview. Students also competed in public speaking competitions. The Job Skills Demonstration contest, for example, requires students to demonstrate a job skill, such as the proper way to use a certain tool or how to change a tire.
This year’s automotive contest was the first in-person competition since 2019. “Everyone had a good time,” said Mary, “and the students learned a lot.” There are 48 chapters, and 34 came. “Some schools were still concerned about COVID-19 variants and didn’t want to risk attending. Others, such as Great Falls High School, have about 30 students but only brought a few to compete,” said Mary.
There were 15 participants on regular engines, nine on small engines, and four on diesel engines. The top three in each contest win a gold, silver or bronze medal. “Montana has a small population,” said Mary, “so having 15 students compete is good. The top three regular engine competitors were invited to attend the 2022 Auto Dealers Convention in Billings, June 9-11. After that, MTADA will sponsor the gold-medal winner in automotive at the end of June to attend the national SkillsUSA convention in Atlanta, Georgia. The gold medal winners compete with the other winners from other states.”
Interest from the industry in what SkillsUSA is doing has increased because people know students with mechanical and leadership skills become a future quality workforce. Montana has 524 members, the biggest number since 2016, and 254 of them — almost half — attended the state conference.
Mary wants dealerships to offer internships or scholarships to students so they can gain experience in the dealership industry before they graduate. “We want dealers to let students job shadow or hire as students get older and can work more,” said Mary. “For example, Capital High School in Helena has a very active automotive and SkillsUSA program. They had a young man who loved to work on cars. He was a senior in 2020 when COVID-19 hit, but he had already started working with Helena Motors on weekends. He graduated from high school and started full-time the next week as a technician. Now that’s a success story!”
“SkillsUSA Montana is an excellent way for the dealership industry to connect with a quality future workforce in the K-12 education sector,” said Mary. “The automotive industry needs to do some marketing and tell their story the same way universities did in the 1970s. This industry has amazing opportunities, and people don’t know about them. It’s not just working as a mechanic. Dealerships also need people to work in financing and sales. Together, we can teach young people about the various careers and help them get the training they need.”
If you want to establish an internship or scholarship, your local school doesn’t have a chapter, or you want to learn more about SkillsUSA, please contact Mary Heller. Her cellphone number is 406-399-0640. You may also contact Bruce Knudsen at MTADA. He has been offering small annual scholarships to students who want to go to a trade school.
The following photos are from our 2022 State Conference held in April in Helena, Montana.
