June 23, 2017—Paul Gage, director of a the collision repair program at Fayetteville Technical Community College, resigned last month, partly because he said the school became too closely aligned with Caliber Collision, according to The Fayetteville Observer.
Paul Gage, a past FenderBender story subject, said Caliber's program at the college, Changing Lanes, differed greatly from Fayetteville Tech’s two-year associate degree program in collision repair, Collision U.
Changing Lanes is programs intended to provide workforce training to transitioning military members, according to Pam Gibson, dean of engineering and applied technology at the college.cFormer troops who successfully complete the 18-week program are guaranteed a job with Caliber, according to college’s website.
Gibson said that while Changing Lanes is a partnership with Caliber, students in Collision U can seek employment with any collision repair company.
The Changing Lanes program was initially located in the same shop as the associate degree program, Gage said. When representatives from other companies would visit, they’d ask about the Caliber program, which require a lot of explanation, he said. Eventually, Changing Lanes moved to another location on the college campus.
Gage said he doesn’t fault Caliber for taking advantage of the opportunity to train their employees at Fayetteville Tech. He just wasn’t personally comfortable with the impact on the collision repair program.
“I want it to be for the whole industry,” he said. “I felt it was becoming too focused on one company.”
