May 2025 was a busy month for Manchester resident Matthew Robillard. He completed his Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) at Merchants Automotive Group and became a technician at the company, earned his associate degree in Automotive Technology from Manchester Community College (MCC), and he and his wife celebrated the birth of their first child. “It was kind of a mad dash to make it all happen,” he admitted.
Robillard is the first New Hampshire apprentice in the automotive industry to receive his associate degree while completing an apprenticeship program. Credits earned at MCC while completing the apprenticeship automotive courses, coupled with some general education credits from Suffolk University and Quincy College earlier in life, enabled him to meet the associate degree requirements.
“School didn’t come naturally to me when I was younger and I had a bad early experience with college, but I’m grateful that my time at Suffolk and Quincy ended up helping me years down the road,” Robillard said.
After a few years trying different professions in his 20’s, Robillard set his sights on a career in the automotive industry. He had always enjoyed working on cars and built on that interest through automotive jobs in Massachusetts before moving to New Hampshire in 2022 at the age of 32. When he interviewed for a job at Hooksett-based Merchants Automotive Group, he was given the opportunity to join the company as a flat rate technician or expand his knowledge and boost his career potential by participating in Merchants’ apprenticeship program.
Merchants Automotive Group is one of nine New Hampshire auto dealers that offer RAPs sponsored by the New Hampshire Auto Dealers Association (NHADA). In 2021, NHADA, ApprenticeshipNH and the Community College System of New Hampshire (CCSNH) collaborated to create standards and the training program for an initial automotive technician apprenticeship program. This program became the foundation for subsequent apprenticeships for tune-up mechanics and automotive mechanics. As the program sponsor, NHADA administers, manages, and sets standards for the apprenticeships while CCSNH provides the educational component and ApprenticeshipNH provides technical assistance, helps secure state and federal approvals, and collaborates with NHADA to provide scholarships to help cover the educational costs for apprentices.
“Automotive technology education programs are among the most popular trade offerings at New Hampshire’s community colleges. Through our partnership with NHADA and individual dealers, we extend that learning with vital on-the-job training to meet current and future workforce needs and help people advance while earning and learning,” said Anne Banks, apprenticeship programs manager for the Community College System of New Hampshire.
Adam Memmolo, workforce development coordinator at NHADA, says 500,000 more automotive technicians are projected to be needed nationally by 2027. He hopes that more New Hampshire dealers will leverage the power of apprenticeships to attract and train more technicians to meet this demand. “The ones who offer apprenticeships have full shops and are filling their pipelines for the future,” he commented.
Merchants Automotive Group embraced the apprenticeship model as soon as NHADA created the program. Joe Wentworth, assistant director of talent management at Merchants, had experience with apprenticeships before he joined Merchants in 2021. He championed their effectiveness to strategically build and train a workforce rather than compete for scarce talent in a tough labor market.
“We were really struggling to recruit after the pandemic because technicians were retiring or leaving the field for other reasons. Apprenticeships create a pipeline from the bottom up. We now have a three-phase program so you can go from no experience to having your associate degree, as well as a pre-apprenticeship program for high school students. At this point, we don’t go looking for applicants because we have people coming to us,” he said.
The Merchants apprenticeship program combines 2,000 hours of paid, on-the-job training with classes at MCC twice a week for eight weeks for each of the automotive technician, tune-up mechanic and automotive mechanic apprenticeships. Merchants pays apprentices while they are in the classroom and most of the tuition fees. The company also covers the cost of books and provides tool kits for apprentices. “It is a significant expense, but it became much more financially feasible because of the grant assistance we got from ApprenticeshipNH and NHADA,” Wentworth explained.
Robillard was motivated to become an apprentice primarily to learn more about handling electrical work. He completed Merchants’ RAPs knowing so much more than he anticipated and says he is now comfortable tackling any challenge. “Give me a couple of years of putting what I’ve learned into practice, and I’ll be an incredibly valuable technician,” he commented.
Robillard was first to blaze a trail to an associate degree in automotive technology through New Hampshire’s apprenticeship program, but other Merchants employee are expected to follow very soon. The company anticipates meeting future workforce needs by maintaining eight to 10 people each year in apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships for high school students.
“Our goal is to continue to build the skills of young people and create a strong industry,” said Wentworth. “We are proud of Matt and all he has accomplished and look forward to a stream of future employees following in his footsteps.”
