Denver Auto Show to host high school and college career fair

“Hosting the career fair at the Denver Auto Show offers the collision industry an important opportunity,” said Brandon Eckenrode, Director of Development at CREF, “Not only can students connect with prospective employers, but sponsoring businesses in collision repair can shine a light on industry issues like the technician shortage with an audience made up of the general public.” The career fair is held during the Denver Auto Show Friday March 29 from 2-7 p.m. and Saturday, March 30, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Colorado Convention Center located at 700 14th Street in Denver. During the career fair, auto show attendees and the anticipated 400+ high school and college student attendees will have the opportunity to learn about career opportunities from participating sponsors and connect with potential employers. “Partnering with CREF was an opportunity for CADA to offer Colorado’s tech students additional career choices,” said Kim Jackson, Marketing and communications Director at CADA. Career fair employers can choose one of three sponsorship tiers to showcase the various career paths available to partners, students, and families who attend the auto show. The Foundation is aiming to recruit 20 collision repair industry employers or representative companies as table sponsors. CADA is also aiming to recruit 20 table sponsors, most of which will be auto dealers. “New car dealers are painfully aware of the auto technician shortage in their bays,” said Jackson, “As Baby Boomers continue to retire in droves and vehicles become more technologically advanced, the demand for today’s well-trained automotive technician is high.”Sponsor Information: The 20 CREF and 20 CADA table sponsors will each have a 10’x10’ booth, an eight foot draped table, two chairs, electrical connections, WiFi, their company name on the passport, and a copy of the student registration list. Investment: $1,500. The four supporting sponsors will receive all the benefits of the table sponsor, plus their company logo featured on the sleeve of the student tech shirts (as long as the sponsorship is secured by February 16, 2019) and have their company logo on the passport. Investment: $3,000. The lead sponsor receives all the benefits of the table sponsor, plus their company logo featured on the front of the student tech shirts (as long as the sponsorship is secured by February 16, 2019) and have their company logo on the passport. Investment: $7,500. To register your company for the event, email [email protected]Additional 2019 CREF Events at Special Locations CREF is hosting a list of career fairs this spring, including the Chicago Spring Career fair. Hosted in conjunction with the World of Wheels/AutoRama Student Day Event, the Chicago Career Fair is another opportunity to increase awareness of collision repair industry issues, like the repair technician shortage. Student Day takes place during the Friday morning of opening weekend of World of Wheels/AutoRama event and is only open to local students. Over 700 collision and auto service students attend annually. For more information, look at the AutoRama website. https://autorama.com/student-day/ Complete CREF Career Fair Schedule for Spring 2019: Miami, Florida - February 27, 2019 Tampa/Orlando, Florida - February 28, 2019 San Antonio, Texas - March 6, 2019 Chicago, Illinois - March 8, 2019 Denver, Colorado - March 29-30, 2019 Phoenix, Arizona - April 6, 2019 Atlanta, Georgia - April 28, 2019 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - May 8, 2019 Houston, Texas - TBD Dallas, Texas - TBD Detroit, Michigan - TBD Northern California- TBD Southern California- TBD Industry members interested in working with the Collision Repair Education Foundation in support of secondary and postsecondary collision repair students, instructors, and their school programs should contact Education Foundation Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at [email protected] or (312) 231-0258.