Under the HOOD
The Newsletter of RPM Foundation • Fueling the Future
Message from the President Industry leaders indicate that the Collector Car Industry began in 1970, including restoration & preservation. Considering that the 18 year olds of the last 25 years graduate from high school with about 1,800 hours fewer under-the-hood time than their counterparts in the 1940s-1950s-1960s, it’s no wonder there is a gap between restoration shop expectations and talent readiness.
the timing of communications and follow-ups with prospective employers and coaching them about the art of interviewing. For the shops, RPM encourages shop owners to understand that, like detailing cars, written communications are “detailing with words” and that job descriptions with basic skills required are good business that will result in good hires.
RPM works hard to safeguard the success of current and developing automotive programs, and to ensure that car-loving students have opportunities to learn the hands-on skills that will be required of them once they embark on their career.
Today’s passionate automotive students are tomorrow’s master craftsmen, shop owners and automotive instructors!
We provide services and develop programs such as Shop Hop (see page 3) that connect students with restoration shops for hands-on work. Services provided by RPM to automotive students include guiding them to get work experience by shadowing in local shops, editing resumes and letters of introduction, teaching them about documenting their work with portfolios, helping them understand
There is a lot to do, and we’re getting it done! See you along the way,
Diane Fitzgerald, President
“The work that is being done by RPM Foundation to connect young people to meaningful careers through their love of automobiles is important. From the events and programs they host that engage young people to the funding they provide to high school and college-level programs, RPM is actively engaged in ensuring the skills and craftsmanship of the past are transferred to a new generation.” — Amanda Gutierrez, VP for Automotive Restoration McPherson College (McPherson, KS)
Collector Car Industry businesses reach out to RPM with short-term, paid internship opportunities, like Ohio-based SEVEN who hired 5 “RPM students” from different states to be part of an 8-person team detailing cars for the Gooding & Company auctions in Scottsdale, AZ.
Group of local Chicago high school and college automotive students, instructors, parents, and hosts at Klairmont Kollections in Chicago, IL who were part of Shop Hop Chicago. (See page three)
Arizona students got a chance to dress up in period costumes and sit in what is probably the oldest street-legal vehicle in the world – a 1898 Jeanperrin high-performance car owned by collector Alan Travis.
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