Virginia dealership group trains nonviolent inmates to become its service techs

Damion Britt was serving a sentence for felony drug distribution in a state prison in Capron, Va., when he saw a flyer advertising a new and unusual work-release program.

Priority Auto Group, of Chesapeake, Va., was recruiting nonviolent offenders to train as service technicians. Not only could the inmates work for pay at a Priority dealership during their training, the 18-rooftop dealership group was guaranteeing them full-time jobs after they graduated.

Britt, 44, has been locked up since 2014 and is scheduled for release in July. He says a career path is rare for someone in his situation.

"It's often hard to obtain meaningful employment when you've got that 'F' on your record," Britt told Fixed Ops Journal. "You're excluded from being able to obtain a job as soon as you put 'felony' on that application."

Priority CEO Dennis Ellmer worked with Virginia lawmakers, the Norfolk Sheriff's Office and a local community college to develop the program. At a time when dealerships are desperate to find talented technicians, the program will create a tech pipeline for Priority.

Of more than 100 applicants, 16 were selected for the first class. The dealership group spent more than $1.6 million on the inmates' tuition and to build a training center next to its Priority Toyota Chesapeake dealership. The center includes 12 bays, a classroom, tools and computers.

An automotive instructor from Tidewater Community College in Norfolk teaches the inmates two days a week. The inmates work for Priority three days a week; they are paid to shadow dealership technicians who mentor them and to help work on customers' vehicles.

Britt earned a spot in the inaugural class; training began in September and runs through May. Successful candidates went through an intensive vetting and interview process. All had General Educational Development certificates. Program graduates receive a certificate that affirms their competence to perform jobs such as tire rotations, brake alignments, oil changes and basic electrical troubleshooting and diagnostics.

The 14 inmates who remain in the program (one dropped out; another was removed) are housed in the work-release section of the Norfolk City Jail. The sheriff's office transports the inmates to and from their classes and jobs.

As Ellmer offers inmates a second chance and a concrete career opportunity, he is recruiting the technicians his dealerships need.

"If you're waiting for them to come apply for a job," he says, "you're going to run out of technicians and your customers are going to suffer because you can't do the work."

Graduates of the Priority program can attend classes at Tidewater Community College toward an associate degree, making them eligible for manufacturers' training programs.

"Priority is training their own employees, essentially," says Beno Rubin, director of the college's Regional Automotive Center.

Ellmer says Priority revised its previous ban on hiring felons and now considers former inmates with nonviolent records individually. Other dealerships will have to do the same to remain competitive, he predicts: "They're not going to have much choice."

Norfolk Sheriff Joe Baron says the program offers an important opportunity for inmates to find stability when they are released. He says 96 percent of the inmates in his jail re-enter the Norfolk community.

Anthony Sexton Jr., 38, is enrolled in the Priority program. Like Britt, he is serving a sentence for felony drug distribution. Incarcerated since 2013, he is scheduled for release in August. He worked to get his GED certificate in time to apply for the tech training.

Sexton says he has worked as a "shade-tree mechanic" and wanted to become a certified technician after his release, but was unsure how to do it.

"I had a direction, but this program secured it," Sexton says. "I'll be working for a dealership, and I'm going to school and I'm going to be certified, and the goal is to become a master technician. My whole thing when I got out was, 'How was I going to do all that?' And this program just fell out of the sky."

Rubin of Tidewater Community College says the most important aspect of the tech training program is Priority's guarantee of jobs for graduates. The program's next class is to begin in August.

"While [inmates] are more than welcome to take classes here, it's hard for them to find a position in the industry," Rubin says. "It took the courage of one owner to create this program. These students are good workers and understand what's in front of them and are taking full advantage of the opportunity."

Sexton and Britt say they are looking forward to the chance that Ellmer is giving them.

"I know for a fact that someone feels just like I did," Sexton says. "Somebody in [jail] wants a second chance and deserves it. A lot of us paid our debt to society, changed our life, and this helps."

Britt agrees. "I'm not going to tell you that everyone who comes from a situation like this is going to make the grade, but I think the majority would if given the opportunity," he says.

"That's what it's really all about — being given the opportunity versus not having any."