Welcome to the First Issue of MWACA Magazine | President’s Message | May 2019
I am Jerry Holcom, President of the Midwest Auto Care Alliance, or MWACA. If you don’t know anything about us, I’ll give you an extremely brief summary: Our organization was formerly the Midwest affiliate of the Automotive Service Association. We had an idea that we could serve our members better if we were on our own, so we set the wheels in motion and on September 14, 2018, we became MWACA.
Shortly after we started MWACA, I met with Sheri Hamilton, our executive director, along with Chris Messer and Bryce Evans from Ratchet+Wrench, to discuss the possibility of having our own dedicated magazine. We had experience with them and we knew they published one of, if not the, top industry magazine.
You are holding the results of those discussions in your hands right now. MWACA Magazine will be printed quarterly and mailed alongside that month’s Ratchet+Wrench to over 7,500 industry professionals within the Midwest.
The contents of MWACA Magazine will vary from issue to issue. We will have a pre-selected main feature and a message from the MWACA president. In successive issues we will rotate through MWACA shop and member profiles, articles and commentary submitted by members, educational/training calendars, chapter meeting information, shop management tips, interviews with various instructors and speakers, and much more. And it goes without saying that you will be kept abreast of any VISION information.
None of this is free, however, so we will feature advertising in the magazine that represents an opportunity for supporters to direct advertising messages to such a specific readership. Allied Members, Ratchet+Wrench advertisers, and VISION exhibitors will get a discount on the already reasonable rates.
This issue’s main topic is the shortage of qualified technicians. The shortage seems to be on a lot of people’s minds, and MWACA has already devoted time and money to finding answers. One thing we do annually is to award scholarships to deserving students and working technicians to help them continue their automotive training. In other venues I have asked for donations to our TTEF (Technicians of Tomorrow Educational Foundation) to allow us to continue or even expand our scholarships.
At VISION this year, we hosted a panel discussion with some of the smartest people in the industry discussing methods of growing and retaining our automotive workforce. Many great ideas were exchanged, and hopefully you, our primary audience, left with a plan to be more involved in the growth of our industry.
Another new MWACA benefit began in January stemming from a meeting with Sheri Hamilton, Chris Chesney with Advance Commercial/CTI Training, Kyle Holt with S/P2, and me. Chris and Kyle are making MWACA the beta site for an unbelievable mentoring/apprenticeship program that will help match students with shops that are willing to “grow their own.” When it was announced at a chapter meeting in Kansas City in February, more than half of the people present expressed an interest in participating in the program. Please keep your eyes and ears open for more information on this important endeavor.
Now, sit back and enjoy the first issue of MWACA Magazine. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them to me at jerry@ssservicecenter.com.