information from South Seattle College

Since graduating from high school a few years ago, Chantz Hegemann has worked odd jobs here and there, but nearly all of them have left him wanting more.

Hegemann found what he was looking for in a new seven-quarter program at South Seattle College that is a public-private partnership to train heavy diesel repair technicians and starts Fall Quarter of 2015. The program was created to satisfy the industry’s growing need to hire employees with these skills.

South’s Diesel and Heavy Equipment program was in talks with some of the other companies to do similar work for them. Dean Duncan Burgess came up with the idea to join these companies to go into this project together.

A Diesel Industry Sector Cohort, or DISC as the program is being called, provides students with a foundation of skills needed to enter into the diesel technician profession under the guidance of South’s Heavy Diesel program. Employers from the private sector sponsor a student of their choosing with an eye towards employment during (and at the completion of) the program.

The average salary for an entry level diesel mechanic in King County is $38,279. Their annual earning power quickly rises with 3-5 years of experience pulling in an average of $53,058. Veteran field diesel mechanics command a salary of $65,000 – $75,000 annually.

Cummings Northwest came to South Seattle College to address the need that they have to hire employees with these skills.

“South’s Diesel and Heavy Equipment program has a long history of developing the skills in the industry that they need and that’s why they came to us,” Duncan Burgess, Dean of Professional Technical Programs at South, explained. “The end goal of this program is to provide our students with the employable skills for this industry”

Soon after Cummings Northwest, other companies came to South with the same need. They include Pape, Western Peterbilt, and Gary Merlino Construction, some of the leading diesel employers in the area.

To fill this need, South has formed a consortium partnership, the only one of its kind in the area, that will provide students with a foundation of diesel technician skills. This training will be complemented by in-the-field instruction, by the private company sponsors for selected students.

On September 15, DISC will hold an event called “Employer Selection Day” where the participating companies will have an opportunity to identify students they would like to sponsor. Students who are already enrolled in DISC will have first priority to meet with the employers. Students who are interested in this career, but have not yet enrolled in DISC, will have second priority to meet with the employers. The event runs from 2 pm -5 pm in South’s Diesel Classroom and Labs at the north end of the West Seattle Campus.

All sponsored students will receive some benefit from the employer. For some, this will include a paid internship and the sponsor will pay for their schooling and even equipment. At a minimum, the students’ instruction will be enhanced by a paid internship.

Throughout the program, sponsors will be working closely with the students and South instructors Steve Scheuffele and Jesse Ruiz to assure that their training needs are met.

“We will be in touch on a regular basis,” Scheuffele, who has a 27-year career in the diesel industry, said. “We’ve already sat down with some of the sponsors to identify key points and key skills that they want from their employees. We want to prepare them (the students) for wherever they go.”

At the end of the program, students will earn an Associate of Applied Science degree and will be well-positioned to enter the industry as a full-time technician. Classes will run from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm weekdays to allow students to work while in the program.

“Training is a major investment for our company. Our company has expectations to be the best – and we want our people to be the best,” Larry Phillips, a recruiter from Pape, explained. “It’s really critical for us – and really our competitors too – to get to these students involved early and get their skills and interest up to speed. They are the future of the business, and it’s growing.”

Chantz Hegemann, who will start in the DISC program this fall, has his eyes set on being a part of that future. After taking a shop class in high school, he discovered that he is mechanically inclined but, more importantly, he really enjoyed the work.

“Ever since then, I’ve been hoping for something in this field,” he explained. “The coolest part about the program is that I will have a job before I even graduate which is something that most people in college don’t have.”

The future of this program is bright. Burgess sees more and more companies participating in this program based on the success they will see from the original sponsor companies. What that means is that the students entering into this program would have to be only sponsored students.