Ford Motor Co. has teamed up with rental car fleet operator Enterprise Holdings to grow the collision repair industry.
The partnership between the two will support adding a seventh school to the Collision Engineering Program, a two-year apprenticeship model that develops entry-level workers for collision repair. There are currently six schools in California, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas that are part of the program. The location of the new school will be announced later.
Additionally, money from the Ford Fund will provide scholarships to students, assist in startup costs, pay for instructor training and equipment and provide students with toolkits, uniforms and other necessary resources.
More than 110,000 new collision technicians will be needed between 2022 and 2026, according to the TechForce Foundation.
“As the auto industry is rapidly evolving, the need for bright minds who are passionate about technical careers becomes greater every day,” said Mike Schmidt, economic mobility director at Ford Motor Co. Fund. “Partnerships like these allow us to drive progress more quickly and with a greater impact for the next generation of engineers.”