Jamie Darvish, COO, DARCARS from Public Policy Day at the DC Auto Show

Paul J Daly: 0:06

All right, we are here with Jamie darvish owner of darcars. You Brother on it correct, right? It's the first time we've ever had a conversation. So it's a lot of fun to actually be in person. And thank you for giving us some of your time today. Absolutely.

‍Jamie Darvish: 0:18

Okay, so

Paul J Daly: 0:19

we just came down from witnessing an event where a lot of Toyota EVs were given leases were given away to automotive tech instructors tell us about that program?

Jamie Darvish: 0:29

Yeah, you know, it's, if I look at our industry, and I look to the future, the one part of our of our whole industry that scares me the most is the technician side, you know, where, who are going to be the future generation of technicians and the people that are going to actually be able to maintain and repair these vehicles. You know, the technology has just changed so much in the last couple of years, you know, versus the whole time since the first automobile was produced, that, you know, this is something we really need to stay in front of, and we need to really put a lot of focus on so that, you know, we're prepared for the future.

Paul J Daly: 1:02

So what is explained the program in a nutshell? What did we just witness what just happened?

Jamie Darvish: 1:07

Yeah, so what we did, we, we, we felt a need to accomplish two goals. The first goal was to, to honor and thank, you know, the people that are the great instructors, of our technicians in our local community, there are some fantastic programs in Maryland, Virginia, and DC, that that really, I mean, do amazing things to train the next generation of technicians take people that maybe don't even know what they want to do in life and give them a clear path where they can make great money and have a great life. So

Paul J Daly: 1:38

we want to without$200,000 of college debt exactly the way you

Jamie Darvish: 1:43

know, but we want to thank them. And then at the same time, we also want to get this technology in their hands, right? Because if they're the ones that are responsible for training, this next generation of technicians, they have to understand it themselves. Right. Yep. And you know, so So we felt it was important to to help them take that leap to get into these cars, so they can get used to them. And then throughout the rest of the year, we're going to launch a series of training classes to bring them in and really teach them about the technology, as well as get into with first responders and from a safety aspect as well. But, but from their perspective, if they understand the technology, it'll be a lot easier for them to help teach it and promote it.

Kyle Mountsier: 2:22

I love that point where you said, Hey, we're actually going to bring them in, and give them the training that the OEMs have given our team and give them the ability to then go back and train more people that can be brought in into our environment. There's another unique thing and you actually got technicians involved in, in giving these things away like current technicians of yours, right. Talk about how that came to fruition. Yeah, so

Jamie Darvish: 2:46

you know, we we've been real pioneers in the the automotive automobile dealer Education Institute, which is part of Wynonna our trade association, Washington area, new auto Dealers Association. And you know, that what, what happens is these people that want to become technicians, they reach out to either through us or through the program, and they get a mentor, and their mentor is in one of our dealerships. So they actually have a job, they will work in our dealership, but they'll go to the classes through the institute, one or two days a week. And it's all paid, right? So they're getting paid while they learn. And then once they graduate, we give them a set of tools, and get them started. And then there, that's just the beginning of their education constant, you know, more training and more training on top of that. But what's interesting today is all of these technicians that you saw today, were were trained by one or more of those instructors that were the champions. So they were all familiar, they all knew them, and they were all so happy to be part of it is pretty cool.

Kyle Mountsier: 3:46

Like glimmer in your eye we talked about that was different than just like the giving away, it was like, connecting people. I think that that's it, we were just talking to John about the connection between, like when you get to people, like connecting together. And that's something that's so key within our industry, that we have the ability to go, we're going to connect you not just to a job not just to a career path, but to other people that can lead and mentor you. How are you getting that word out into the community? Because you said that people are coming to you asking for that career path, but it's something that I think as an industry, we have to share this, Hey, we have career paths that you can walk along. What are you doing practically to make sure that that message is told?

Jamie Darvish: 4:32

So interesting enough, you kind of got to think, you know, when we were all in school, you know, everybody was would talk about, you know what I want to be when I get older, you know, when I was really young to be an astronaut and I wanted to be an ice cream man and I had all different career paths.

Kyle Mountsier: 4:46

But ice cream, man, I'll take that. But, but

Jamie Darvish: 4:49

none of my friends I remember growing up, nobody raised their hand and said, I want to be a mechanic. Yeah. And that's really where when our industry started, you had mechanics and mechanics would I would fix things, right? And that's, that's so different than what the technician is today, you know, a technician is more of a more of a doctor for a car, right? I mean, there's so much computer work, and the cars today have so much electronic components that are run by, you know, software rather than just hard parts that that malfunction. So it's a totally different job. It's, it's, it's a career path, that if if someone who's really trying to find their way in life really gets an understanding of what it is to be a technician today, I think you'd have so many more people sign up. And this is what we do we go out of our way to really educate people that are trying to find a career path. It's

Paul J Daly: 5:42

like, it's like a yarn awareness issue.

Jamie Darvish: 5:44

100%.

Paul J Daly: 5:45

How many technicians do you do employ?

Jamie Darvish: 5:48

About 400?

Paul J Daly: 5:49

Yeah, so how many of those do you think you're bringing into the business every year? I mean, obviously, there's some churn and I'm sure you're expanding and growing as well. But yeah, what's the new technician count look like? Every

Jamie Darvish: 5:59

so we are in my organization, we're very strong with retention. And I think the industry is getting a lot better at it. They have to write bad or die. Yeah. So but you know, we are constantly bringing young people and you know, and don't just want to start learning and a lot of people want to try it. They don't even know if they're going to be good at it or not. Yeah, so we bring them in, and we'll start them on the program. And a lot of them stay in it. But there are some that say, You know what, it's not for me, but I like the parts department, or I like sales, maybe I can go in sales, or maybe in service management or something. So our industry has so many different career paths inside of it, that a lot of people can find a place in our business.

Paul J Daly: 6:40

That's it's almost like a feeder valve. Yeah, to the rest of the store, does it? Do you ever see it go the other way? They come in at sales and like, say like, oh, maybe I would like to be a technician. I heard what they were making? You know what I mean?

Jamie Darvish: 6:50

Yeah, it happens. Because again, to the point that you get people that they're thinking, you know, the old school mechanic, they're not understanding what a technician is, they come into our business in an administrative role or a sales role. And then they get to realize what's happening. And yeah, they do migrate, they do want to change.

Kyle Mountsier: 7:07

Well, especially because, I mean, we're looking around this floor right here, and 50% of the vehicles, or EVs and they can be completely turned on and operated in this building right now, because of the like, if you just think of the the technology in an ice vehicle, is already so many computers, but you go to an Eevee it's just technology, it's just a computer on wheels, right? And so you get just a person that may just be interested in working on much more technology than then the mechanic side of stuff, like you were talking earlier

Jamie Darvish: 7:38

and the opposite, right, and you get you get some people that have been technicians for a long time and grew up with ice vehicles. They're They're very, they have a lot of anxiety. They're apprehensive, sure to get out, because they

Paul J Daly: 7:50

can take the switch out, you know, a trainee, or you're dealing with their eyes, you're disassemble, put it back together. And then it's like, wait, I have to pay attention to the screen. And like know, what's being routed where? Yeah, so Well, how do you see that transition going on? That's something actually we don't talk about a lot. Right? Like, how do you see, um, the older generation of technicians that have been in the business for a while? Are you seeing those who are kind of throwing in the towel me like, you know what? I'm too old for this. Like, what do you see as far as the ones that are doing that? And the ones who are kind of like leaning in and curious about the new tech?

Jamie Darvish: 8:20

It's a mixed bag, you know,

Paul J Daly: 8:22

would you say like half and half? Yeah,

Jamie Darvish: 8:23

a lot of it is there's so much training that's required to be able to be certified to work on an electric vehicle.

Paul J Daly: 8:29

And a lot of those are already, like, Master tech level. Exactly. We're already at the top, it's kind

Jamie Darvish: 8:33

of like being at the top of your game and your job and having to go back to college. Yeah, you know, and a lot of people just in any career don't really want to do that, and I get it. But then, you know, you have new people coming into the industry that are the opposite. And they're like, Well, I don't want to learn the old stuff. I want to learn all the stuff. Yeah, you know, I actually, it's interesting. And I look at this and, you know, for hundreds of years, you know, human beings have depended on horses, you know, and, and horses are a major were a major part of the economy, right? It's like, there were so many things

Paul J Daly: 9:07

around caring for the horse feeding the horse under

Jamie Darvish: 9:09

for Census, you know, there was so many businesses that thrived off of it. And then, you know, here comes the first automobile. And within 10 years the horse industry was was annihilated. Right, you know, and so we're looking at this as a potential new shift over time, that it probably won't be as quick as the car did to the horse. But but this is a shift and we've, my goal is to make sure we're doing our part to help as many people as possible stay ahead of that wave.

Kyle Mountsier: 9:34

I love it. I love it. Well, Jamie, thank you so much for joining us. Congrats on just the way that you're engaging the community and specific that specifically the technician and leadership community and can't wait to have more conversations with you now that we've had this one in person definite thank you so much.

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