TESTIMONIALS

  • We have been utilizing the Give Me Ten internship program for a few years and have been able to work with these young people and also have hired some after their internship was over. As of today we have hired five of the students that came through the program and three are still working for us. The Give Me Ten program gives us and them a chance to work at our shop and get a feel for the work and how they will get along with the other techs and service people. Finding good employees these days is getting tougher every year with this program. We are able to bring some young people on to the staff and train them in our system and possibly make a long time employee out of them.

    — Michael McBride, Waukegan Tire

  • Building a strong and sustainable workforce in the independent aftermarket is one of our industry's top priorities. We need a pipeline of diverse, skilled, and passionate people who look forward to a long and successful career as a technician, or wherever their dreams take them. The Give Me Ten program is a proven way to identify, nurture, and create a pool of candidates who want to be a part of our great industry.

    — Megan Gardner, AASA

  • I have been in the automotive industries for 28 years from Body shop owner to TSM for last 20 years. I have seen a growing issue with staffing in all areas of the Automotive industries . When I heard about this program, Give Me Ten, and how they were looking to help all the different areas of the automotive world with young people, this was very exciting. I talked to Auto-Wares (my employer), everyone sees the great opportunity to add a pipeline of staffing with these eager people who can add a jump start to the automotive aftermarket world. Give Me Ten helps link students to the automotive shops with a road map of success to becoming great technicians. If you are in the automotive field, you need to be a part of Give Me Ten. This is the future of how we will receive our next superstars in our marketplace.

    — Scott Biggs, Territory Sales Manager, Auto-Wares Bumper to Bumper

  • It’s refreshing to witness Sue’s commitment and partnership with Tech Campus and to our program students. The industry partnership she and Jack Wilson, automotive program instructor, have developed is the foundation of building essential career development programs for our students. They both have a mutual understanding of Tech Campus’s long term objective: assisting our students, the future workforce, in developing the needed employability and technical skills required for their success in their career pathway and in life.

    — Elizabeth Del Rio, College and Career Pathway Endorsement Coordinator, Lake County Tech Campus

  • The partnership between the Tech Campus, Closs Tire and all of our business partners has been one that is mutually beneficial to not only our students but also our business partners. The “Give Me Ten” internship experience has afforded our students and opportunity to be able to experience real world work situations while still in high school. This program has even lead to job offers for our students in our local community. I value this partnership so much and look forward to its continued growth and success.

    — Derrick Burress, Principal, Lake County Tech Campus

  • As a career development specialist and automotive aftermarket trainer, I have witnessed, firsthand, the value and success of the Give Me TEN process. When a service dealer follows Sue’s plan, auto-technical students are transitioned from school to productive working technicians. If you want to build your bench, this is a great place to start for long-term success.

    — Bob Joynt, Retired AutoWares Trainer

  • The ”Give Me Ten” program is exactly what our industry and the entire trades industry needs. It takes students from the classroom and puts them in the workplace, giving them hands-on experience as they learn. Students are more motivated as they see immediate results from their learning experience. Business owners get the opportunity to mold these young individuals as they are being trained to enter the workforce. It is truly a “Win Win” for all!

    — Jack Wilson, Automotive Service Instructor, Lake County Tech Campus

  • Thanks to Mr. Wilson and Envision’s I got to participate in a grant where I was working for Closs Tire & Auto to pursue my career, which has helped me in so many different ways. Working in Closs Tire & Auto has been one of the best things that has happened to me, allowing me to attend Universal Technical Institute and work. I will always be thankful for Sue giving me the opportunity and for the staff for giving me amazing knowledge. st Item

    — Ruben Alcala Jr., Graduating UTI, March 2023

  • Thanks to Mr. Wilson, Sue, and the Give Me Ten program, I was able to start my automotive career. I was able to start a paid internship at Closs Tire & Auto and get real world experience in a shop. Thanks to the grant, I won a Milwaukee Tool box and tool. Also, thanks to the program, I was able to get into the Workforce Development program which gave me the opportunity to continue my education in the automotive field at CLC. I am still currently working at Closs Tire & Auto and attending CLC to further my education. `

    — Leo V. Diaz, Tech Campus Student of the Year

We are excited to share that Lake County Workforce Development Department shared their review of Closs Tire, whose owner, Sue Dickson, is the founder of Give Me Ten.

Written by: Demar Harris, Director of Programs, Lake County Workforce Development

Female-Owned Family Business is a world-class innovator  

Overview

Closs Tire is a superior fleet repair automotive business located in Waukegan Illinois that has serviced local residents in the automotive industry for over 40 years. Closs Tire is committed to delivering quality repairs to its customers, while striving to have an industry impact within its local community. Closs Tire a Workforce Development Ambassador nominee has consulted and partnered with the Lake County Workforce Ecosystem endorsed by the Lake County Workforce Development Department to identify recruitment, apprenticeship, industry exposure, internal training, high school engagement, and paid internship strategies to meet their immediate and long-term talent acquisition and development needs. The Ecosystem is a network of partners in Lake County that ensures businesses have access to a continuous pipeline of talent and deploy retention strategies that promote business growth. This network includes Lake County Partners, the College of Lake County, Lake County Workforce Development, and the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Closs Tire’s focus on talent development, flexibility, youth engagement, job center collaboration, and its deployment of nontraditional strategies and tools have achieved measurable results for Closs Tire.

Innovative Talent Attraction Has Equipped the next generation.

Closs Tire’s investment in young adults and our next supply of workers has transformed the typical mindset of recruitment, development, industry exposure, and talent attraction. Closs Tire has successfully created a set of proactive and repetitive strategies that show creativity comes before capital and that large budget ideas are not required to manage a successful employee engagement, attraction, and development program. Closs Tire’s ability to think outside of the box and provide leadership as it pertains to onsite industry exposure to high school students, transportation resources for job applicants, high school apprentice ship programs, and endowment donations and time to CTE programming initiatives to support automotive classes at the locale Technology Campus has been enriching. Lake County Workforce Development has created an apprenticeship/work base learning model with Closs Tire, which allows current high school students and graduates to learn a variety of automotive task over a six-month period, while working part time or full time and earning an average wage of $16/hr, or more. The Work, Earn, and Learn model has allowed the next workforce generation to be exposed to an in-demand industry, learn essential task associated with automotive repair, and earn a sustainable wage while learning from industry experts. 

Superior Automotive Employer has expanded its partnerships Community Wide.

Lake County Workforce Development and Closs Tire have shared and expanded its partnerships collectively to implement initiatives by working with a consortium of Automotive Companies and Employers to create apprenticeship/work base learning programs, while supporting the Lake County Tech Campus which addresses and offers dual credit career and technical education for upper class students. Closs Tire’s community advocacy for the automotive industry has led to three other local automotive employers creating paid internships and apprenticeship programs for the local community and residents. Closs Tire’s advocacy work and partnership with Lake County Workforce Development has led to over 10 students receiving tuition assistance grants through the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act to cover the cost of college as the young adults attained a industry certification, or associates degree.

Automotive Companies Leadership has resulted in significant impacts in the Community.

Closs Tire has received community, municipal, and economic development, and workforce awards due to their community impact as it pertains to retraining residents, deploying training programs to local high schools, involvement in advisory committees, conducting industry seminars to young adults, donation of vehicles to lake county residents and being part of local hiring events to provide employment opportunities to an underserved community and the Lake County community. Closs Tire has been recognized locally by stakeholders and nationally due to their local, regional, and national impact on the next supply of workers and young adult engagement. As a family-owned company, Closs Tire understands the greatest asset the company has is its employee base. Closs Tire has taken a long view approach to developing talent that extends beyond the company’s walls. They have become a thought leader in workforce development, playing an instrumental role in shaping strategies that will benefit Lake County and the Automotive Industry as a whole.