With the sluggish growth or even decline in sales many shops have experienced in recent years, the technician shortage and recruitment of employees have not been the troublesome issue they were for the industry during the late 1990s. 

But with the economy bouncing back to various degrees in different markets, and with shops struggling to continue boost productivity to remain competitive, smart operators are keeping their recruiting skills honed.

Here is a look at how some shop owners are working to ensure they are continuing to attract - or create - the industry's top new talent.

Thinking outside the box

Mike Anderson said he thinks too many people in the industry complain about the shortage of quality technicians, but too few are actually willing to do anything about it.

Anderson, president of the 40- employee Wagonwork Collision Center with two locations in Alexandria, Virginia, points to the difficulty the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association has had getting shops to participate in a program the association operates with GEICO Insurance. As part of the program, GEICO pays $3 of a shop apprentice's hourly wage for 40 hours a week for one year. GEICO is currently sponsoring three such apprentices in Washington, D.C., area shops each year.

"GEICO says, 'We're going to pay to have you hire an apprentice,' yet it can be like pulling teeth to get shops to participate," Anderson said. "I think we all want a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but the majority of us don't seem to want to invest any time and energy. I don't think there is a miracle cure for this or a magic wand we can wave. We just have to really want to invest some time into it."

Anderson said the growth of such cable television shows as "Monster Garage" is reigniting young people's interest in automotive careers. He said he's worked to capitalize on that interest by getting an insurer to donate a totaled vehicle as a recruiting tool for one of the six schools in which his company is involved. The school had the vehicle in its shop on a day when they were trying to recruit students into the program.

"We just got out the panel cutters and plasma cutters and things like that and just let the kids go to town," Anderson said. "It really generated some excitement."

He said some high school collision repair programs have been successful establishing parent "booster clubs" - similar to those organized for a school's sports or music programs - to help raise funds and ensure administration support for the programs.

But Anderson is also not one to limit his own shop's recruiting efforts to just local students and collision repair programs. He said police and fire departments often have people retiring in their early- or mid- 40s after 20 years on the force.

"They love cars, they're mature and they have supervisory skills," Anderson said. "We actually have two retired police officers working for us that are doing great. They're not looking to make tons of money because they have a [pension] income, and they don't necessarily need the benefits."

Similarly, those leaving the military post their resumes on searchable websites (such as the Army Career Alumni Program, www.acap.army.mil) that also enable employers to list job openings nationwide.

"And if you hire someone out of the military through this ACAP program, the military, as part of the GI Bill, will pay for them to take I-CAR classes, get ASE certification and things of that nature," Anderson said.

He's also successfully hired five overseas students through the Association for Inter-national Practical Training (www.aipt.org). Under immigration rules, the students can work in the U.S. only for 18 months, he said, but they may know others looking to come work in the industry from other countries which have a glut of technicians.

"I'm not trying to steer people away from recruiting from the local vocational programs," Anderson said. "That's probably where 80 percent of my employees come from. But I think we need to also think outside the box."

One-on-one

Tony Molla, vice president of communications for ASE, said no national television or advertising campaign would be as effective in recruiting new talent into this industry as face-to-face interaction with successful people in this industry.

"It's got to be a grass-roots effort," Molla said. "We won't convince people over a television set. You don't convince people with a newspaper article. You convince people one-on-one, talking to them about the value and benefits we offer as a career choice for their children."

But some shop owners have been discouraged by the lack of interest they have found when offering to speak at local schools about collision repair technician career opportunities.

Jeanne Silver, owner of Butterfield Bodyworks CARSTAR in Mundelein, Illinois, said she almost accidentally discovered one way around this problem. She said she has had no shortage of interest in having her speak to students about "entrepreneurship" and "small business ownership." She uses that as the hook to make presentations in which she also talks about specific careers in the collision repair industry.