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Jim Click, Pima Community College Partner to Fast-Track Technicians

By Rodney Campbell

As a youngster, Angel Rojas enjoyed tinkering with things. Whether it was building with Legos, working on his bicycle or helping his dad make repairs around the house, Rojas was always working with his hands to fiddle with something.

The 2022 Sahuarita High School graduate is now on his way to making a living from his childhood interests as a member of the first cohort of the Ford Automotive Student Service Education Training Program at Pima Community College, sponsored by the Jim Click Automotive Team.

“When I was very young, I had a keen interest in fixing things,” he said. “When I got older, I set my mind on something that would be a good career choice.”

The ASSET program is helping Rojas and his colleagues become master technicians and likely earn six-figure salaries. The program combines hands-on classroom education at PCC with on-the-job training at Click’s Ford and Lincoln dealerships.

The two-year pathway has students alternate spending eight weeks in class, then eight in a Click dealership, working in one-on-one paid apprenticeships with a mentor. 

“Every student is sponsored by a dealership,” said Daryl Koeppel, parts and services director for the Jim Click Automotive Team.

Koeppel has been with the Click team for 50 years and was instrumental in getting ASSET started in Tucson. There are 41 participating community colleges offering this technician training program across the country. The other one in Arizona is in Glendale. Pima College was one of three added in 2022, along with Wake Technical College in Raleigh, N.C., and Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, Ga.

Part of Koeppel’s duties include visiting local high schools to recruit students who have an interest in automotive careers. With the ASSET program now as one of his drawing cards, he’s having no problem finding takers. There’s a crop of 21 students who start the program in late August and Koeppel has already hired another 30 who want to be part of next year’s class. The first class of 16, including Rojas, graduates in December.

“Ford ASSET is one of the strongest automotive training programs in the U.S.,” Koeppel said. “We have the diamond that students are looking for in Tucson.”

The Jim Click Automotive Team pays tuition costs for the students and provided funding to the Pima Foundation to purchase six vehicles for the training curriculum. The Connie Hillman Family Foundation provided a 50% match, bumping the total investment to $750,000.

“It’s a great example of public-private partnership and the transformative nature of innovative collaboration,” said Marcy Euler, president and CEO of the Pima Foundation.

Click is happy to support the program, calling it “an investment, not an expense.” It also helps that the students are learning how to become professionals from Ford and the Click team.

“This program has been a real asset to our company,” Click said. “Trying to find master technicians today is almost impossible. We have been so successful growing our people from within. (The students) already know us. They have been in our dealerships the past couple of years.”

Shane Peidl was hired in July 2022 as Pima’s first ASSET instructor. A long-time Ford employee, Peidl moved to Tucson from his native Illinois, where he was an ASSET educator at Parkland College.

Peidl taught his first class at Pima in January 2023. He sees similarities between his current students and the ones he taught back home. They all have strong work ethics and want to succeed in a tough field.

“You need self-discipline and patience,” he said. “The nature of the environment is physically difficult. You need a mental approach of toughness. It’s going to be hot, you’re going to get scratched and bruised. You have to be a self-starter.”

Instruction is comprehensive, including both manual and automatic transmission vehicles and those with diesel and gasoline engines. Steering and suspension, electrical systems, climate control and brake systems are included in the curriculum. The program has 14 vehicles for the students to work on that range from 2010 to 2024 model years.

“Technology never stays still very long,” Peidl said. “You need to be prepared to service any car that comes into the shop.”

Learning in the classroom and at the dealership has given Rojas confidence in his skills. When a more senior technician asks him a question, he feels more assured in his answers.

“I used to question myself,” said Rojas, who works at Jim Click Ford in Green Valley. “I was never actually sure if the advice I was giving was solid. Now I can confidently tell people what’s wrong with their cars. It’s really awesome. It’s like a superpower.”

Students in the program are fast-tracking their way to becoming master technicians. Koeppel said it can typically take between five and 10 years to reach that goal. Participants in the ASSET program can reach this level of expertise in as little as three to five years. Ford guidelines state they must complete five years of service to be officially recognized.

“This could not have been achieved without great representatives at Pima College who worked side by side with the Jim Click Automotive Team for several years to make this a reality,” Koeppel said.

Rojas is grateful to be part of the first graduating class − he learned about the program from one of his high school instructors. Now, he considers himself fortunate to receive the training and financial support that he could never have imagined as a youngster.

“It’s almost like a dream,” Rojas said. “I’m pretty much set for life thanks to this program.”