Sowela Technical Community College’s vehicle maintenance and repair technology program reflects the ever-advancing demographics and demands of the automotive service industry.

Two current students, Ogden Joseph Boullard, III, and Denise Dowling, are first-hand witnesses to the shift.

The “dad” amongst the students, Boullard, joined the program to pursue a life-long dream.

Boullard is retired military. He served in the Air Force as a structural mechanic, completing maintenance on aircrafts. After a decade in the Air Force, he left to work for Boeing.

While working on aircraft was enriching for him, it wasn’t his end goal. “My passion has always been working on vehicles… Even though I enjoyed what I did in the military, I never loved it.”

After being laid off during Covid-19, he and his wife decided it was his chance to do what he loved. His wife had recently accomplished her goal of becoming a nurse by attending Sowela. He is currently in his last semester.

Denise Dowling is a newer student that started the program in the fall of 2022 with the goal to become an engine machinist.

She grew up around cars, and took inspiration from her parents. “I used to watch my dad pull and put engines in vehicles, and with my mom being a single mother, she took care of her own vehicle, so I followed after her… If my car goes down on the side of the road, I know I won’t have to call road assistance. I can get up there and change my own tire.”

Dowling originally planned to move to Texas to attend the Universal Technical Institute, but did not hesitate to enroll at Sowela after learning about the vehicle maintenance and repair technology program.

As a Black woman, Dowling said she is sometimes underestimated. “It’s very hard to explain your work and your skill to someone who is too narrow-minded,” she explained. “You gotta come into this field with the mindset that ‘I gotta be better and I am better.’”

However, she has been greeted with plenty of kindness from her peers, instructors and technicians visiting from local shops. “These people are so welcoming.”

The seasoned technicians give her guidance. “They are like a bunch of dads to me, and they offer me learning moments.”

Her peers her age view her as an equal. “These younger people, they’re more on the level that you are and they understand and are working with the changes in the world.”

Her determination to carve her own space in the male-dominated field has paid off.  “I don’t want to give her a big head or anything, but she’s better than 98 percent of the students here,” Boullard said.

The program takes about two years to complete. Students take classes, such as engine performance, that help them develop their foundational skills. The program’s curriculum prepares them to earn their National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence certification.

There is a high demand for vehicle technicians, especially for technicians that graduated from Sowela.

“There are so many older people that are starting to retire, so they’re consistently looking for people,” Dowling said. “Everyone needs a technician. Everyone’s car is going to have an issue.”

On average, 15 to 20 students graduate from this program a year. This semester, six students are graduating.

Bolton Ford recently hired three of their peers, and are looking to hire more. Boullard himself has already been offered five jobs just by walking into shops with his Sowela shirt on.

There is a sense of community between Sowela and local automotive institutions. The school regularly communicates with an advisory council composed of industry partners to ensure Sowela’s curriculum is aligned with industry needs, said Thomas Richard, program coordinator.

The local demand for Sowela students is partly attributable to shops seeking employees that are flexible enough to learn new techniques. “When you get somebody young in the field, they’re still moldable,” he said. “When they get into the shop, they’re going to grow from there.”

Most importantly, Sowela students receive an education that keeps up with the technological advances in the auto industry.

One of the most important courses that the students take is fundamentals in electronics, which is imperative because 86 percent of vehicles being manufactured are now electronically controlled, Richard said. “The technology evolves, then some of the fundamental stuff evolves. Our curriculum is updated every so often to compensate for that.”

Recently, Sowela added three new vehicles to its program fleet: an F-150, Jeep Cherokee and Toyota Camry. There are now a total of six vehicles in the fleet, and there are plans to purchase a hybrid vehicle as well.

These vehicles allow the students to work on cars with advanced electronic systems.

Students also become familiar with advanced shop tools, like the program’s new oscilloscope, an electronic test instrument that plugs directly into the car to provide live data of the vehicle’s systems.

These tools are not new to the industry, but they have evolved dramatically. “Years ago, you didn’t get one this small that was a part of a set. You had a great, big $10,000 oscilloscope on a cart,” Richard said. “With the electronics in the car, it is becoming more and more important to see live what is going on in the car.”

“For me, working with these scan tools, that’s advanced,” said Boullard. “I’ve never experienced a scan tool that does as much as this thing does.”

With the continuing advances in technology, the role of auto industry workers has evolved. Instead of mechanics, they are technicians. “Things are changing to where you are not viewed as a mechanic, you are viewed as a subject matter expert… as a technician. I think there is a shift that is happening,” Boullard explained.

New automotive service technicians can expect a typical salary of $20 an hour. After gaining experience, this can increase to an average of $54 an hour, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commision.

This summer,  Sowela will be hosting an open house for those interested in the Aviation Maintenance or Vehicle Maintenance and Repair programs. It will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 on Tuesday, June 6.