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Students interested in the automobile upfitting industry can begin their training during high school with a new partnership in Caldwell.
CAP Fleet has partnered with Caldwell ISD to provide a cooperative work class to start teaching high schoolers the tools of trade necessary to be successful within the automobile industry. Through the class, students are taught an introduction to the upfitting industry in which the business builds law enforcement vehicles as well as about the automotive industry as a whole.
“Upfitting is a build process that takes an original equipment manufacturered vehicle and installs aftermarket equipment,” CAP Fleet Sr. Vice President Jason Beaver says.
During the program, students learn the ins-and-outs of vehicles and are taught how to properly install and remove different types of equipment on a sample vehicle at the school, Beaver says.
“As they work through this program, they are going to learn various skills that are useful in our industry as well as others,” Beaver says. “These skills include shop safety, the use of basic tools like a pair of wire crimpers and attention to detail.”
Through the two year program during their junior and senior year, students are given the ability to get hands-on training with many opportunities to network with industry professionals.
“Each student has the opportunity of becoming a CAP Fleet employee, and can continue to stay and live within Burleson County,” Beaver says.
As they graduate, CAP Fleet desires to keep each student in Caldwell; however, if the student desires to move to another area, the business has connections across the industry to help place the student with another upfit company.
“CAP Fleet is well known in the emergency vehicle industry across the country,” Beaver says. “We have many friends always looking for trained technicians.” The class is taught currently at Caldwell High School, but the class will soon be conducted in a classroom and on the shop floor at the new CAP Fleet facility under construction now. The dirt work and foundation are complete for the new building at the Burleson County Industrial Park in Caldwell. The steel erection of the building has begun with many other trade work scheduled to start after the first of the year.
The new Caldwell facility will provide 100,000 square-feet of airconditioned production space as well as administrative offices and warehouse space. Construction is set to be completed in late 2023, with operations running by the first quarter of 2024, Beaver says.
“The city of Caldwell came to us with a great opportunity to build our new facility in their industrial park,” Beaver says. “Our parent company dealership, Caldwell Country Chevrolet, is also located in Caldwell and has been the No. 1 Chevrolet Government Fleet Sales dealership in the country for 14 years and running.”
CAP Fleet will be one of the largest employers in Burleson County. The project will be a major boost for the Caldwell economy by employing 100+ employees. There will be many positions within the company that need to be filled including technicians, warehouse clerks and vehicle porters.
“As we continue to add more technicians, the students in the program will have a great deal of opportunities since they will learn early on about our procedures and techniques,” Beaver says. “This will keep these students and many more in the Caldwell community for years to come.”
