The Service Professionals General Session at AAPEX 2018 will tackle an important industry issue: building rewarding careers for automotive technicians and ensuring they have the skills to repair vehicles equipped with new technology, regardless of where they are employed in the automotive aftermarket. AAPEX represents the $740 billion global automotive aftermarket industry and will take place Tuesday, Oct. 30 through Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas.
The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), with an alliance of aftermarket organizations and industry support, is leading the general session, Automotive Career Pathways: The Road to Great Technicians. The session will help identify career paths for current and future technicians and how students, parents, instructors and shop owners all play a role in career development. It will look at establishing a curriculum to ensure that technicians are uniformly trained and certified for their milestones of achievement, and ultimately, that they choose to stay in the automotive aftermarket industry.
Panelists include Donny Seyfer, executive officer and shop owner, NASTF; Chris Chesney, senior director of customer training, Carquest Technical Institute; and Kyle Holt, president, S/P2. Carm Capriotto, podcast host, Remarkable Results Radio Podcast, will moderate the general session, which will take place Nov. 1, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (PDT), at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
The Service Professionals General Session is part of the comprehensive AAPEXedu program at this year’s event. The general session and all AAPEXedu sessions are included in the AAPEX online registration fee, which is $40 (U.S.) through Friday, Oct. 12. To register, visit: aapexshow.com/attendee.
AAPEX 2018 will feature more than 2,500 exhibiting companies displaying the latest products, services and technologies. More than 47,000 targeted buyers are expected to attend, and approximately 162,000 automotive aftermarket professionals from 135 countries are projected to be in Las Vegas during AAPEX 2018.
AAPEX is a trade-only event and is not open to the general public.