Duluth Ashland Ironwood Marquette Crystal Falls Iron Mountain Rhinelander Wausau Menominee Marinette Green Bay Appleton Oshkosh Sheboygan Milwaukee Madison Chicago Rockford Cedar Rapids Dubuque La Crosse Rochester Marshfield Eau Claire Minneapolis St. Paul OUR N I NE ZONES SCAN IT! ••• Our footprint is impressive The Wisconsin Automotive & Truck Education Association brings likeminded transportation businesses, educational institutions, community organizations, and individuals together to create innovative solutions for increasing workforce opportunities in the transportation industry. Our Mission To improve awareness of career paths and opportunities in the automotive/truck industry; and to promote technical and continuing training, educational development, and certification for workers in the automotive and truck industry. In the late 1990s, a small group of business and educational leaders joined forces to save the Automotive Technician training program at a local technical college. Through this experience, the group discovered the power of their combined influence and, in 2000, the Wisconsin Automotive & Truck Education Association was formed. Since that time, businesses and organizations that might be competitors elsewhere have collaborated to achieve their shared goals of increasing transportation industry training opportunities. In 2011, WATEA launched the Wheels to Work program to provide reliable vehicles to low-income employees. Wheels to Work (W2W) has helped more than 300 low-income clients obtain or repair a vehicle so they can get or keep a job. Qualifying applicants receive affordable, 0%-interest loans with payment plans that fit within their budgets so they can fix their current vehicle at discounted rates or obtain a new-to-them vehicle from WATEA’s donated vehicle inventory. Community organizations partner with WATEA to ensure applicants are connected to key resources. In addition, regional businesses and educational partners offer discounted rates for vehicle parts and labor, keeping repairs affordable and maximizing the program’s impact. Through Wheels to Work, likeminded community partners collaborate to assist people struggling with personal and financial challenges to overcome key barriers, including transportation. More than a dozen different non-profit and community organizations work together to provide applicants with access to the resources they need to get on a path to personal and financial success. W2W applicants benefit from the program’s unique financial literacy component, which teaches them how to develop a viable spending plan and guides them through three introductory financial classes, ensuring they come away with skills to support their long-term financial success. Applicants also participate in a vehicle maintenance class to learn how to decrease vehicle ownership expenses. The W2W program is a key part of Marathon County’s community service system. Organizations with clients facing a transportation barrier send them to W2W and in turn, W2W staff connect applicants to other organizations if they require additional resources. This symbiotic relationship has enabled the W2W program to thrive for more than a decade and has put countless individuals on the path to long-term success. Done with your used vehicle, do good with it and donate it to our Wheels to Work program today! In 2019, Commute2Careers was created to give shuttle rides to new employees lacking transportation to work. The Commute2Careers program is now a shuttle service for students at the Mid-State Technical College campuses and has served over 100 individuals! WATEA.org
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