State Director

For more information:
Tom Holdsworth
(703) 737-0607
E-mail: tholdsworth@skillsusa.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASE/AYES/SkillsUSA Announce Partnership

Leesburg, Va., September 2, 2008 - The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) and Skills USA today announced an agreement to provide co-branded end of program exams for students in secondary and post-secondary automotive technology programs.
The new exams will merge the well-known NATEF End-of-Program tests into a joint offering from the three groups. The boards and leaders of all three organizations agree that this a tremendous example of association partnership to best serve the needs of students, schools and the automotive service industry.
Through the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF), ASE will oversee the question development and delivery of the exams for all three organizations. Candidates and instructors will be able to access the exam through a single co-branded test entry portal. Partner websites will link to this common portal. A Spring 2009 launch is anticipated.

"This combined effort will provide our AYES high school students with quality testing that is industry led and nationally recognized," said Susan Moe, Executive Director of AYES. Tim Lawrence, SkillsUSA Executive Director, agreed, adding: "Taking advantage of this unique co-branding opportunity helps us provide our students industry developed assessments without reinventing the process. The automobile, truck and collision repair areas of SkillsUSA will also be covered with the new co-branded assessments."

"ASE is proud to provide our assessment development expertise and partner with leaders in our industry such as AYES and SkillsUSA. The students will benefit from having just one set of end of program exams that are endorsed by our three organizations," said Tim Zilke, ASE President & CEO.

Incorporated on June 12, 1972, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence was established as a non-profit organization to help improve the quality of automotive service and repair through the voluntary testing and certification of automotive technicians and parts specialists. Today, there are approximately 400,000 ASE-certified professionals at work in dealerships, independent shops, service stations, collision repair shops, auto parts stores, fleets, machine shops, schools and colleges throughout the country. For more information about ASE, visit the Web site at www.ase.com.

AYES is a partnership among participating automotive manufacturers, the National Automobile Dealers Association, Automotive Trade Association Executives, State Departments of Education and Labor, local dealerships and select high schools across the country. AYES' goal is to encourage quality students with a good mechanical aptitude to pursue careers in the fields of automotive technology and prepare them for entry-level positions in dealerships. For more information, visit www.ayes.org.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. The organization serves more than 300,000 students and instructors annually, with 16,000 school chapters in 54 state and territorial associations. Founded in 1965, SkillsUSA has served more than 9.6 million students and teachers in career and technical education training fields. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.

<<<<< BACK >>>>


For more information: Tom Holdsworth (703) 737-0607 E-mail: tholdsworth@skillsusa.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ASE/AYES/SkillsUSA Announce Partnership Leesburg, Va., September 2, 2008 - The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) and Skills USA today announced an agreement to provide co-branded end of program exams for students in secondary and post-secondary automotive technology programs. The new exams will merge the well-known NATEF End-of-Program tests into a joint offering from the three groups. The boards and leaders of all three organizations agree that this a tremendous example of association partnership to best serve the needs of students, schools and the automotive service industry. Through the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF), ASE will oversee the question development and delivery of the exams for all three organizations. Candidates and instructors will be able to access the exam through a single co-branded test entry portal. Partner websites will link to this common portal. A Spring 2009 launch is anticipated. "This combined effort will provide our AYES high school students with quality testing that is industry led and nationally recognized," said Susan Moe, Executive Director of AYES. Tim Lawrence, SkillsUSA Executive Director, agreed, adding: "Taking advantage of this unique co-branding opportunity helps us provide our students industry developed assessments without reinventing the process. The automobile, truck and collision repair areas of SkillsUSA will also be covered with the new co-branded assessments." "ASE is proud to provide our assessment development expertise and partner with leaders in our industry such as AYES and SkillsUSA. The students will benefit from having just one set of end of program exams that are endorsed by our three organizations," said Tim Zilke, ASE President & CEO. Incorporated on June 12, 1972, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence was established as a non-profit organization to help improve the quality of automotive service and repair through the voluntary testing and certification of automotive technicians and parts specialists. Today, there are approximately 400,000 ASE-certified professionals at work in dealerships, independent shops, service stations, collision repair shops, auto parts stores, fleets, machine shops, schools and colleges throughout the country. For more information about ASE, visit the Web site at www.ase.com. AYES is a partnership among participating automotive manufacturers, the National Automobile Dealers Association, Automotive Trade Association Executives, State Departments of Education and Labor, local dealerships and select high schools across the country. AYES' goal is to encourage quality students with a good mechanical aptitude to pursue careers in the fields of automotive technology and prepare them for entry-level positions in dealerships. For more information, visit www.ayes.org. SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. The organization serves more than 300,000 students and instructors annually, with 16,000 school chapters in 54 state and territorial associations. Founded in 1965, SkillsUSA has served more than 9.6 million students and teachers in career and technical education training fields. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.

	<<<<< BACK >>>>