Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation photo
Students watch a backhoe being operated during a recent career day event hosted by the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation as part of the group’s Vision 2025 initiative to draw more young people into careers in equipment technology.
The article below originally appeared in and is posted with permission from:
https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Working with dealers and manufacturers, the distributors of the heavy equipment industry are on a mission to make careers in equipment technology more attractive to a younger pool of workers.
Through its Vision 2025 initiative, the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) Foundation believes it can draw a large number of workers willing and able to take on more significant roles while creating a pipeline for the industry's next generation of qualified technicians.
The Foundation believes this project will help close in on its mission to address professional education and workforce development. At the same time, Vision 2025 will bring more awareness to the benefits available for the equipment industry.
The Foundation is "challenging AED members to help create a strong and robust pipeline of skilled workers within the next four years."
Launched in 2020, Vision has three areas of focus: schools with equipment technology programs, students within these programs and AED dealer members. The goal by 2027: 120 accredited college programs, 200 recognized high schools, 10,000 skilled technicians and 5,000 Foundation-certified technicians.
Meeting Needs Now, Future
The initiative was conceived in 2019 after a Foundation study showed the industry would need to recruit 73,000 technicians over five years to meet demand.
"We had done a study with the college of William and Mary," said Brian P. McGuire, Foundation president.
Job vacancies already were open twice the average length of time because the industry couldn't draw people who were qualified, he said.
So, the Foundation board decided to call attention to the current situation and establish the tools to solve the problem for the future.
"The situation didn't happen overnight, and it wouldn't solve itself overnight," said McGuire.
The Foundation determined the best course of action would be to start at the high-school level, to get younger students exposed to tech careers early.
"We have to let them see there's a viable career path," said McGuire.
Many of AED's member dealerships are owned by people who came up as technicians, he added. Several CEOs of dealerships stated off as techs.
"Some go into sales from training as technicians. You can have a great career as a technician, but it's also an on ramp to other areas of the business."
The Foundation saw the need to help high-school students and their parents understand that these have the potential to be "six-figure careers," he said.
It required conveying to parents, students and educators that ‘you can go into this career path and your employer will pay for your training, so you have no debt.'
Tim Watters, president of Hoffman Equipment, based in Piscataway, N.J., also sees a career in equipment technology can be a draw. He said the need for qualified technicians is huge.
"And it's going to get exponentially worse," said Watters, AED Foundation chair. "I walk around our shop — we have 50 techs. So many of them are 50 years old plus, and a significant chunk are 60 years plus. Try to find a 30-year-old."
There are a few, he said. "But there are so few it's like gold to find someone who wants to work with their hands and be a technician."
The industry, he said, needs to create a steady flow of kids interested in equipment technology careers.
"We need to implement learning opportunities in schools for students to come into the industry with a basic level of skills and confidence."
The original goal back for the initiative in 2020 was to pledge $5 million by 2025. By 2022, it hit that number.
"So, our chair said let's go to $10 million and go to 2027 with the overall goal to increase the number of accredited collages," said McGuire.
At the same time, the Foundation would restart its high-school recognition program, which had gone dormant from its height of activity in the 1990s.
The initiative also set out to certify 5,000 technicians through the Foundation's certification program.
"And to have 10,000 folks we could point to and say, ‘they've come into the workforce because of this initiative,'" said McGuire.
Working With Goal in Sight
The Foundation currently recognizes 94 accredited colleges, which puts the initiative at 78 percent of its goal. There are 102 recognized high-school programs.
"Our goal was to build a high-school feeder program into accredited colleges," said McGuire. "We're at 52 percent of our goal with high-schools and 88 percent of our goal of certified technicians with just under 4,500. So, we will exceed that goal."
Just under 6,000 technicians have entered the workforce because of the effort, he said.
"The exciting thing is — and the figures change weekly — we're at just over $8.5 million pledged and we've collected $6 million," he said.
Vision 2025 is "a little different" from most campaigns in that this money is being collected to spend.
"We are putting $5 million in a Foundation endowment to continue these efforts after pledging," said McGuire. "We have brought on five staff to make sure we're hitting what we need to keep donors satisfied."
A workforce coordinator connects the dots between dealers, OEMs and educational institutions.
"They make stuff happen," said McGuire. "We'd go and have a workforce meeting with a couple dealers, a community college and a local politician to talk about the needs of our industry. Everybody would say ‘we should start a program.' We'd get back on the plane and nothing would happen short of the politician issuing a press release."
"The workforce development position is geared to make sure things happen," added McGuire. "We have dealers on school advisory committees."
Dealer internship programs are in place as well. And the Foundation has arranged career days where students learn about careers in the equipment industry.
In some cases, hundreds of students attend a single day event.
"In Ohio, just under 500 students came through," said McGuire. "In Illinois last fall, over 500 kids were there. Some rode the bus for an hour to get there."
The events include mock interviews as well as equipment demonstrations where the students "get to do a little digging," he said.
He admits all these efforts are a drop in the bucket of workforce needs in the equipment technology sector. But it's a place to start, he said.
"The Foundation board knows that 5,000 techs and 10,000 workforce entries doesn't add up to what's needed," he said. "But it's getting accrediting programs online and filling them as a start to address the problem."
And though a lot of people in the industry recognized the problem and were working before, it was not the coordinated effort Vision 2025 is shaping up to be.
"The Foundation board was direct in saying ‘Vision 2025 is not a replacement for all the things you should be doing,'" said McGuire. "You should be recruiting locally. You have to continue doing the things you've been doing. But this is an overlay."
Both McGuire and Watters believe this effort is valuable not just for distributors, but for the entire heavy equipment industry.
"Manufacturers need distributors to have a solid gold, youthful workforce for technicians into the future to repair their machines," said Watters. "The skills needed today are different than they were 20 years ago. Today, technicians must be digitally and software confident."
The industry needs to change the image of what a mechanic looks like, he added, comparing the machine technician's job to that of a lab technician.
"You're dealing with software codes and [and understanding of] what the computer is telling you," said Watters.
He believes young people need permission to bypass college for a trade career, and preferably one in equipment technology.
"We — all distributors and manufacturers — need to change the perception of what a mechanic does in our industry and the need for college in general."
Keeping Momentum Going
Watters said the biggest challenge for Vision 2025 is getting more of the industry to pledge to help reach the initiative's goals.
"There are 1,000 member dealers, another 200 member manufacturers, another 200 associate dealers," he said. "We've reached $8 million, but if you count the number of donors that's about 15 percent of our membership."
Overall, said McGuire, Vision 2025 has been very embraced by AED Foundation membership.
"These dollar numbers come from 95 unique contributors. They are a mix of service providers, dealers and OEMs that have come to support Vision 2025.
The Foundation is not seeking deeper pockets, but broader participation from membership, Watters said. "And it doesn't have to be a lot."
Both Watters and McGuire believe the initiative's goal is achievable in the time period the Foundation set.
"We sailed through our original goal," said Watters. "Now, we're so close, we're in that final lap. We just need to get more support."
McGuire said the need never stops. "When we're no longer begging for techs to join the workforce, it'll be mission accomplished."
So, McGuire's question is simple: "If you're in the equipment industry and you haven't supported the program, why not?
He stressed there's only one foundation working on this issue specifically for the equipment technology industry.
"You can give money to a lot of causes. But one that's actually working for the benefit of your industry — I've got to believe there's room for that." CEG
