Institute does it differently, with hands-on work, no textbooks

Automakers constantly seek to fill the "white space" in their lineups with niche vehicles aimed at specific market segments. The Matrix Trade Institute applies the same concept to automotive training by taking a decidedly different approach to educating young technicians.

Matrix, in suburban Cleveland, is the brainchild of Dustin Peugeot, former CEO of an eight-store dealership group in Ohio and 24-year auto industry veteran, and Richard Blum, a longtime technician and former service director.

The two met when their daughters played on the same volleyball team. They soon realized they passionately shared a common viewpoint — young technicians aren't taught the right skills in a hands-on manner that emphasizes efficiency, says Peugeot.

"There are gaps in trade education that contribute to the industrywide technician shortage and a decline in technician retention," he says. "A lot of technicians just don't come out of schools fully prepared. So we felt a disruptive approach was ripe for the taking, as well as essential to furnishing the industry with the next generation of young men and women to maintain and repair cars."

To fill those perceived gaps, Matrix tilts the curriculum heavily toward hands-on training. And to appeal to younger people, the curriculum is completely digital — no textbooks.

"We tossed out the textbooks because introducing theory digitally is much more relevant to today's learners," Peugeot explains. "The digital interface allows us to provide 80 percent hands-on training, which is the core of the program. You're lucky if you get 20 percent with traditional automotive education."

The 20-week general curriculum centers on efficiency in maintenance and light repairs, which represent the majority of repair orders.

"The average car on the road is 11-plus years old, so there's big demand for efficient maintenance and repair work," he says. "We stay true to where the work is."

Allowing students to immediately apply what they learn is a critical program component. It gives them the confidence and proficiency to "move their tools into a shop and use them to the benefit of a shop," Peugeot says.

Matrix also gives students the tools to succeed — literally. The $16,500 tuition for the 600-hour basic course, which students attend in person daily for half a day, includes a full set of tools and a tool cart valued at about $3,000.

"You can't teach someone to play golf for 20 weeks, then give them golf clubs and expect them to play well," he notes. "At Matrix, we give you the tools on day one, and you'll have blisters on day two.

"But we're not tearing down engines while wearing NASCAR uniforms," he adds. "We focus on things that help students feel valued and make money."

Another unique aspect is the course structure. Because students — 75 percent of whom have no technician experience — only attend part time, they can work in the afternoons at either a job or an internship. To keep the student-teacher ratio at about 8-to-1, Matrix limits enrollment to 25 students per 20-week session.

In addition, each work bay in the 20,000- square-foot shop is equipped with a time clock. That way, as students apply what they just learned, they get a feel for their own labor time vs. a prescribed flat-rate time, Peugeot says.

For more specialized training, where experienced technicians can upgrade their skills, Matrix offers efficiency "boot camps." Each of the five available sessions costs $3,000 and includes 30 hours of training split into 10 three-hour afternoon sessions over two weeks. This allows students to keep working part time while attending school, he says.

Up-skill training that enables technicians to advance is critical to employee retention, Peugeot says.

"The auto repair industry has to evolve to retain people who want to get into the field, not just complain that millennials don't want to be technicians," he asserts. "These boot camps give dealerships a lever to pull to put people on career tracks."

By January, two years after classes started, Peugeot expects to have 100 graduates of the 20-week course. Another 125 will have graduated from various boot camps, he says.

Bill Housholder, director of fixed operations at Ganley Automotive Group in Cleveland, says Matrix fills a valuable niche but can't completely replace other training options.

"But you can definitely feel there's something different about Matrix," he says. "It's a very high-energy atmosphere and a state-of-the-art operation. Their whole outlook is different."

He noted that about a half-dozen Ganley technicians have attended Matrix, which the group reimburses tuition for in exchange for certain commitments from the techs. "We feel we're getting a good return on our investment."

Ganley technicians could train and mentor young technicians, but that's usually not the best use of their time, Housholder says.

"We're not in the training business; we're in the auto repair business," he says. "We let people that are good at teaching do the teaching while we concentrate on what we're good at."