Automotive Aftermarket Challenged to Recruit More Global Automotive Aftermarket Scholarship Applicants

The automotive aftermarket industry has been challenged to recruit more students to seek careers in the market segment and sponsor more applications for the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) Scholarship program.
This unique scholarship is available to students in two-year vocational/technical school programs and four-year college degree programs. Steve Hoellein of Felt Auto Parts Co., Ogden, Utah, has pledged to donate $1,000 to the GAAS scholarship fund in honour of the first company to sponsor more applications than his company.
"This challenge is an effort to get more of our industry people involved with education in their areas, and to reach out to the high schools and meet with teachers and students," Hoellein said.
More than 75 percent of GAAS scholarship recipients are currently employed in the aftermarket. It is anticipated that the 1,000th GAAS scholarship will be awarded in 2005, a million-dollar milestone for the 10th anniversary.
Scholarship applicants must meet the GAAS scholarship application criteria for submission. GAAS scholarship program details and an application are available online at www.automotivescholarships.com. The deadline for 2005 applications is Thursday, March 31.
The scholarship program is funded through donations such as Hoellein’s challenge and the proceeds from the annual Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS). In 2004, the program awarded a record 145 scholarships of $1,000 to students planning aftermarket careers and to sons and daughters of industry families.
Donations should be sent to GAAS Fund, c/o Susan Medick, AAIA, 4600 East-West Highway, Suite 300, Bethesda, MD 20814, susan.medick@aftermarket.org or 301-654-6664.
GAAS 2005 is set for Wednesday and Thursday, May 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Chicago, Ill. The theme for 2005 is "Lessons from the Past, Perspectives on the Future". It will include a keynote presentation on global economics by Lester Thurow, MIT economist; a motivational address by Joe Gibbs, coach of the Washington Redskins and team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing; a discussion of marketing, service and business excellence by Donald Cooper, international business coach and speaker; and a look at the "Past, Present and Future" by Dr. David Fry of Northwood University. Several popular panel discussions are planned covering manufacturing, service and repair, and retail/wholesale distribution.
GAAS registration information is available at www.globalsymposium.org.