College Scholarships of $422,207 in 5 years. Photo credit: OCADA

The Orange County Automobile Dealers Association’s (OCADA) well-established partnership with local community colleges has been strengthened over the past few months, despite the challenges of virtual classes and programs.

This is due in part to the leadership of Jaime Gonzalez, ATL Regional Director, and the ongoing engagement OCADA has with its partner colleges: Cypress, Fullerton, Golden West, Saddleback and Santa Ana College.

When COVID-19 hit, Gonzalez worked with OCADA to continue supporting Orange County auto students since need for trained techs remains strong in the region. Read More →

The logistics sector in Southern California is expected to grow by 17% over the next few years, adding more than 25,000 jobs to the region by 2023. What role can community colleges play in meeting this workforce demand?

A new report spearheaded by Larry McLaughlin, ATL Regional Director in the Inland Empire/Desert Region, inventoried existing logistics education programs, presented five-year labor market projections, and made recommendations for how community colleges in the region can create career pathways for logistics workers. Read More →

Photo credit: College of the Canyons

Gary Sornborger has big plans for the automotive department at College of the Canyons. He built the program from scratch 15 years ago and is poised to expand it to cover alternative-fuel vehicles.

Sornborger is also working with two groups for whom automotive training can help with their transition into normal life — returning veterans and soon-to-be-released inmates. The idea for these programs dates back to Sornboger’s time as an independent auto body shop owner, where he taught inmates from the Pitchess Detention Center chosen in groups of 15 at a time by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. Read More →

Pamela Gutman, ATL Regional Director in the Bay Region was interviewed by the Centers of Excellence to share the status of Advanced Transportation & Logistics in the Bay Region, including employers that are hiring, occupations in demand, and strategies the sector is taking to help train students or re-train workers.

What is the status of Advanced Transportation & Logistics in the Bay Region right now? 

Transportation has been hard hit, especially in the early months of the COVID pandemic. While things seemed to get better in July, August was disappointing as COVID cases began to surge again.

Automotive: Uncertainty and volatility characterize the responses of many in the industry: “It’s a nightmare.” Automotive repair is deemed an ‘essential service,’ so mechanics are the last to be laid off. Dealerships closed all non-essential business areas and laid off an estimated 45-60% of their employees. Many independent shops laid off everyone except the owner and 1 employee, while some closed. New and used car sales began to pick back up in June as people returned to work and deliberately avoided using public transportation. Recovery is being assessed month-to-month, driven by COVID conditions. Read More →

The ATL Community of Practice has been hard at work determining strategies and best practices for how students can work safely in labs this fall, and how instructors can make the most of online tools to limit time in the classroom to essential hands-on activities.

A series of recommendations was presented at a webinar on June 19 led by Mariano Rubio, an automotive instructor at Citrus College. He’s part of a team on his campus who is working on a back-to-campus plan for the fall that spans multiple departments.

Rubio showed diagrams for how to set up labs to adhere to social distancing guidelines, reviewed protocols for sanitizing vehicle surfaces between student uses, and reiterated that students and instructors should wear masks and gloves while working in the labs. Read More →

The health and safety of our educator colleagues and industry partners is our highest priority.

After careful consideration, and in light of the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) developments, we are rescheduling the Mobilize California Summit to February 4-6 2021. Rescheduling this second annual event will enable us to provide the experience that our faculty, industry partners, and clean transportation stakeholders expect and deserve in a safe environment.

The in-person dialogue, hands-on training and collaboration around the future of clean transportation are important components of Mobilize California. We will continue to release announcements around keynote speakers and sessions, and look forward to an even greater level of participation this fall.

We look forward to seeing you in February. Until then, stay safe and healthy!

ATL Statewide Director Jannet Malig has partnered with the Clean Cities Coalition to host a series of webinars to discuss the benefits of alternative fuel vehicles in fleet services.

There are more than 90 Clean Cities coalitions across the U.S., including several in California. The group’s mission is to foster the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States by working locally to advance affordable domestic transportation fuels, energy-efficient mobility systems, and other fuel-saving technologies and practices.

Malig, who serves as a coordinator of the Long Beach Clean Cities Coalition, started the webinar series in partnership with Clean Cities partners in San Francisco, East Bay, Oregon, Washington, and Utah. The organization’s primary goal is to provide more choices for fleet managers and consumers alike. Read More →