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Most industries are still complaining about the talent shortage. New Jersey decided to fix it.

In this episode, Laura Perrotta, President of NJ CAR, breaks down a bold, fully funded technician training program that’s flipping the script on workforce development. Backed by state grants and built in partnership with dealerships, the program pays students to learn, trains them inside real service departments, and guarantees job placement—no debt, no guesswork, no fluff. It’s not just workforce development—it’s a full-stack solution to one of the auto industry’s biggest bottlenecks.

We also go deeper into how NJ CAR operates as more than a typical dealer association—running title and registration processing for the state, generating revenue, and reinvesting it into programs like this. The result? A scalable, repeatable model that could reshape how dealers across the country think about hiring, training, and long-term growth.

Timestamped Takeaways

00:00 Why New Jersey’s Reputation Is Completely Misunderstood—and Why It Matters for Dealers

01:22 Inside NJ CAR: The Hidden Infrastructure Powering 500+ Dealerships

03:59 What Truck Dealers Already Solved That Auto Dealers Are Just Facing Now

06:30 The 3-Day Title Processing System That Shouldn’t Work (But Does)

10:58 The Moment Dealers Realized the Technician Shortage Needed a Radical Fix

11:43 How a $665K State Grant Turned an Idea Into a Scalable Workforce Engine

12:50 The 18-Week Program That Replaces Years of Traditional Technical Schooling

13:37 Free Training, Paid Students, $3K in Tools—Why This Model Changes Everything

14:26 “I Thought It Was a Scam”: The Unexpected Talent Entering the Industry

16:07 Why Most States Haven’t Built This Yet—And What They’re Missing

17:56 The Shocking Number: 9,300 Technicians Needed in One State Alone

20:14 Why Hands-On Apprenticeships Are Outperforming Traditional Education

Connect with Laura Perrotta at https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-perrotta-cae-plc-585a6510/

Learn more about NJ CAR at https://www.njcar.org

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