Megan Gardner, MEMA executive director, marketing communications, announced at the 2025 VISION Hi-Tech Training and Expo's opening session on Saturday, March 8, 2025, the addition of a new training platform created by MEMA and supported by supplier partners.
Gardner discussed the Tech Training Hub with Motor Age.
Motor Age: Talk to us a little about the Tech Training Hub. How did MEMA come up with and roll out the concept?
Megan Gardner: So, a few years ago, we started doing some research on ADAS and the opportunities in the aftermarket. Obviously, it’s huge, and one of the things we saw if this ADAS opportunity is as big as it is, the training is going to fall behind. So, we started focusing on how we can get that high-tech, high-quality training that our suppliers offer out to technicians now, preparing them for what's to come.
We started to build the site in early 2024. Got suppliers on board. We started a training council as well, which we'll have at MEMA moving forward, and then, we launched it in the fall.
MA: How did you choose which partners?
MG: It was born of one of our other councils, the Mobility Technology Council. These are supplier members who have ADAS technology, electrification on the higher end of the technology of the aftermarket—the future, you might say. It started there. They had interest, they had a need. So, we started with those supplier members, and now we're adding them with our training council.
MA: Are there varying levels to the course offerings (on the platform)? Beginner, intermediate, advanced?
MG: Yeah, you can search. There's all sorts of training on there based on level category, ASE certification, (or) whatever you're kind of looking for. You can find there.
MA: And you're able to get fully certified through this?
MG: You're not going to get certified through the Tech Training Hub by MEMA, but we can point you to the training that you need to get your certification to make it easier.
MA: How many partners do you have on the Tech Training Hub so far?
MG: I think there's about 30 right now, and we're adding many more. We have 400 supplier members, so hopefully, each one of our members who has training—who can offer training—would be able to.
MA: Did you test it with technicians? How was their reception?
MG: We did, yes, in the fall. So, at AAPEX, we had a soft launch. We had goals for website traffic and conversions to see if it would work—if it did what we thought it would do. And it did. It crushed all the goals, and leadership said this is obviously showing a lot of potential and let's do this.
MA: What's the long game for the Tech Training Hub—future goals?
MG: Lots of things. What we started with was a minimally viable product, the MVP they talk about in startups, to get it off the ground and prove it. We have so many places we can go with it as far as levels of training and types of training. But also, something as simple as adding profiles so that you can track the training that you've had. Maybe we can collaborate with ASE so that you can track your certifications. There are endless opportunities at this point because we are still at that MVP stage, but we have lots of big plans to improve it over the years.
MA: What else can you share about the Tech Training Hub?
MG: I think it's important to note that it was built by suppliers for technicians. I think that's an important note. The supplier is very proud of the training. They work very hard on it, spend a lot of their resources on it, and we want to make sure the technicians can get it easily.
MA: Is there a membership fee involved?
MG: For technicians, no. Suppliers have to be a MEMA member and then a council member to be able to join. But then, you're part of this community where you're sharing best practices, learning, and developing the site, too.
Learn more about the Tech Training Hub at MEMA.org/techtraininhhub.
