Hennepin Tech’s Ford ASSET Program Has 100% Job Placement Rate
Program at Hennepin Tech is Real Asset to School
Elliot Ramos is kind of an usual student for a local technical college. He’s already got a job in his chosen field at a ford dealership. But not a local one. Elliot works at Vern Eide Ford, 300 miles away in Mitchell, South Dakota. After he graduates, he’ll keep working there, with an upward career path. Vern Eide is paying for Elliot to attend the Hennepin Technical College ASSET — Automotive Student Service Educational Training — program. That’s a factory-backed training program laser-focused on turning out technicians ready to work in Ford service departments.
Instructor Brian Friede says the program is attracting students from a much larger territory than normal local tech college courses. Some students who aspire to become Ford techs make an expedition from places as far away as Montana, sometimes even Canada to attend the ASSET program.
Once at HTC, students follow a fast-tempo schedule. Morning classes are followed by afternoon labs where students get hands-on experience with the systems they’ve been studying. Between semesters, they work at dealerships gaining real-world automotive experience. The three-pronged approach is a fusion of book and practical knowledge.
State of the Art Training
“We’re training on the latest technology,” says Friede. “The latest equipment. Everything that the students are gonna find at the dealership, that the dealership’s using for diagnostic equipment, we have here.”
Ford and its dealerships donate parts, tools, manuals – even whole cars for the ASSET students to work on at the school. “Most technical programs, automotive programs, they’re depending on donations of vehicles, and then once in awhile they can get funds together to buy a newer vehicle,” says Friede. “But we’re getting brand new 2017, 2018, brand new model year vehicles from Ford, 60, 70 thousand dollar vehicles to work on.”
What makes the ASSET program popular is the certifications students earn. Graduates of the program will be fully checked out in every certification Ford expects of its techs. That gives graduates a galaxie of opportunities that other programs can’t necessarily match. Those certifications along with five years experience working at dealerships make students Senior Master Technicians. And that gives graduates a distinct edge.
100% Placement for Graduates
“If you have your senior masters, it’s not trying to find the next job, it’s when you can start,” says Friede. “Everyone’s looking to hire you. There’s a big demand for technicians right now.”
Friede knows first-hand how effective the program is. He’s not just an instructor; He’s also a graduate. And he says the results speak for themselves – the program has a 100% job placement rate for graduates.
That makes them the top Ford ASSET program in the country, which is no surprise to Elliot Ramos.
“I’m going back to a job,” he says of his future. “I might even be able to go higher and higher.”
