WESTFIELD-Westfield native Gregg M. Sheldon’s passion for cars and drive for entrepreneurship has aligned with an epiphany he had several years ago – “my dream job is to be an auto shop teacher.”
Sheldon, who now resides in Colorado, will be conducting a crowdfunding campaign next month to help raise funds to start Auto Shop Vocational (ASV), providing youth with the knowledge and skills that are required in today’s demanding auto industry. He expects the campaign to run for 30 days.
Westfield native Gregg “3G” Sheldon will conduct a crowdfunding campaign in September to raise funds to start Auto Shop Vocational in Colorado. He is seen with his father’s 1962 Corvette at Stanley Park.
Sheldon was recently in town visiting his parents, Gail and Michael C. Sheldon, and dropped by Stanley Park on one Saturday morning in his father’s ’62 Corvette. Needless to say, during the interview there were several interruptions as onlookers stopped to take photos and inquire about the car’s history.
“My father has had this car since I was born,” said Sheldon, noting he has always shared his father’s passion for cars.
After graduating with a major in psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 2004, Sheldon found employment in a variety of social work settings over the years, from a group home for developmentally challenged individuals in the Boston area to serving as a supervisor in West Springfield at a residential youth detention facility. During all of his career transitions, Sheldon knew something was missing.
While employed as a case worker for an intensive foster care agency, he said he attended a school meeting with an automotive shop teacher and at that moment he had an epiphany that would change the trajectory of his life.
Sheldon said it took time to build up the nerve but soon he enrolled in a year-long automotive vocational program at the Porter and Chester Institute for the “sole purpose” of becoming an auto shop instructor.
After graduating with ASE certifications in 2012, he first pursued career options at Subaru dealerships in particular and eventually landed at the Heuberger Subaru in Colorado Springs where he learned the management side of the industry as the automotive shop manager.
Since he did not meet “their high sales demands,” he turned the corner and officially became an entrepreneur as director of ASV – a role he knows is part of his ultimate career destination. In addition, he also creates “car part art” for a Colorado gallery which will help fund his plans to give scholarships to young people when he opens the doors to his shop in early 2018.
“ASV is a 10-week program to help fulfill a gap in the skilled auto trade industry,” said Sheldon, noting a steady decline of skilled workers in blue collar industries due in particular to retirement. “The curriculum will include each of the major systems each of us use every day and upon completion the graduate will have knowledge, experience and the ‘do-it yourself’ attitude that is missing in many of today’s schools.”
Gregg Sheldon’s dream is to teach automotive basics.
Sheldon will begin ASV with home school students and eventually expand to include at-risk teens from the Life Skills High School, an alternative school in Colorado Springs School District 11.
“One of the largest problems at post-secondary ‘for-profit institutes’ is the instructors do not hold the students accountable for the hands-on work that they perform,” said Sheldon. “This becomes a major problem when the student enters the workforce because their quality of work suffers greatly.” ASV classes will include knowledge-based learning as well as hands-on training.
Curriculum topics will range from shop safety, vehicle maintenance, basic electrical theory and brake repair and replacement, to steering, suspension and alignment techniques and engine configurations for both diesel and gasoline vehicles. Additionally, topics will include intake, fuel systems and exhaust, transmissions, transaxles, cooling, heating and air conditioning systems, and power adders, turbos and superchargers.
Sheldon is “stoked” to instill the proper knowhow and confidence with the next generation of young people interested in the auto industry – either as a hobby or a career. The crowdfunding campaign he expects to start in September will help him open the garage in Colorado Springs for classes that has been on the drawing board now for several years.
Followers can also stay abreast of his progress through several social media sites including Auto Shop Vocational on Facebook and Car Part Art on Instagram. Sheldon also anticipates offering the curriculum in a scaled-down version to adults who desire a foundation in automotive technology as ASV evolves.
“I’m following my dream,” said Sheldon, adding he is hopeful that people will reach out and support the crowdfunding effort. For more information on the campaign, email Sheldon at [email protected].
With his positive attitude and can-do spirit – it is only a matter of months before Sheldon opens the garage doors for his first students to enter.
