Chief Auto Plays Its Part in Student Hiring

Chief Auto Parts, a national chain that operates 64 outlets in central Los Angeles, has formed a partnership at Dorsey High School that trains and places students in sales and other positions at its stores.

“I’m just happy to be working,” said 19-year-old Marvin Gonzalez as he stocked shelves on a recent morning at the Chief Auto store at Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road. “I had been looking for work before school let out. . . . I’m glad I applied and passed the interview. I like it here.”

Launched last spring, the program is the brainchild of Deron Williams, an aide for 10th District City Councilman Nate Holden. Williams said he was inspired to contact Chief Auto with the idea of forming a corporate-community partnership after Chief built the store at Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road, which had been a vacant site.

Williams said he had been considering the idea since a Pep Boys store on Crenshaw near Jefferson closed after the riots two years ago and did not reopen. The store has become a Crenshaw-district eyesore, filled with trash and scrawled over with graffiti. Williams said he was looking for a way to counter that closure when Chief Auto opened its Crenshaw/Rodeo store last year.

After talking with Chief Auto regional managers at the opening, Williams said they quickly formulated plans for the auto parts chain to adopt Dorsey.

“It seemed like a natural thing,” Williams said. “Everyone was looking for ways to be good corporate citizens. Chief does a lot of business in the community, so it was very easy to convince them to do this.”

The pilot program provides Dorsey auto shop students with monthly lectures and training sessions in several aspects of the automotive business, including parts sales, cash register operation, customer service, automotive repairs and work ethics. Seven students from the class were hired to work at Chief Auto’s central Los Angeles stores. Chief officials say they plan to hire a group of about 10 each financial quarter.

Arturo Merino, 18, said his job at the Crenshaw/Rodeo Chief Auto store fits with his plans to work in the automotive industry. “I get to do a little of everything--sell, help customers find the parts they need, stock,” said Merino, who graduated from Dorsey in June.

“It’s a lot of fun. . . . I had thought at first of being a mechanic, but I like this kind of work better. You don’t get dirty. And it’s so close I can walk to work.”