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The Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association, concerned about a shortage of service technicians, is taking a different approach than the Greater New York City dealers association which is building a $25 million training center.
Instead of financing its own training facility, the 180-member NFADA prefers to support and strengthen area educational institutions that it has partnered with in a program that is marking its loth anniversary.
"The New York City makeup is a lot different than Western New York,'' says Paul Stasiak, president of the NFADA. "We are fortunate to have very strong vocational technology centers - Erie Community College and its Vehicle Technology Training Center in Orchard Park, Orleans-Niagara BOCES and, in the city, the Burgard Center.
"New York City doesnt have the makeup that we do for suburban sites and a proximity of them to dealers and industry. We'd rather make the investment into the schools as well as the two-year program at ECC, and the various high school and BOCES programs as opposed to investing tens of millions of dollars. We dont see that as a shortterm solution," Stasiak said.
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