Whether you’re hiring new people or wanting to “upskill” your current technicians, frequent training is a must for your staff to stay on top of new technologies and best practices. Training can come from many sources–manufacturers, parts suppliers, internally or even your own state tire and automotive association.

This year, the Ohio Tire & Automotive Association (OTAA), in partnership with the Tire Industry Association (TIA), decided to reallocate some resources to offer TIA training for its member shop technicians across the state. So, how did they get this training going? And what goals do they hope to achieve with it? In this episode of What’s Treading with Tire Review, presented by AAPEX 2022, we find out. Members of the OTAA –including Jeff Wallick, president and K&M Tire’s director of training, Alex Bohenke, executive director, and Tom White, OTAA board member and owner of six locations of Tire Source throughout Northeast Ohio– visited our studio to chat about the association’s recent training initiatives and how training can be a tool in retaining technicians and fighting the technician shortage.

EPISODE OVERVIEW:

-How the Ohio Tire & Automotive Association organized its month of training (1:02)
- The OTAA’s long-term training goals (5:09)
- Why making the investment in training is important for tire dealers (6:16)
- The need for a skilled workforce at the shop level and how it can be a retention tool for shops (9:43)
- What the OTAA hears from its members about the technician shortage and the resources it's offering to help (12:29)
The OTAA’s advice to other state associations interested in implementing a training program (15:02)

More on OTAA: ohiotire.org

More from the AAPEX Show: www.aapexshow.com

More from Tire Review: www.tirereview.com

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