The AED Foundation’s (AEDF) Vision 2025 campaign (previously Vision 2024) has multiple goals, but this campaign’s primary focus is to reduce the workforce shortage that currently impacts the industry. The AED Foundation plans to combat this by certifying 5,000 technicians by 2025. The Foundation is working to achieve this goal through college accreditation, scholarship opportunities, technician certification, and social media outreach.
College accreditation plays a significant role in certifying technicians. The AED Foundation has been continuously working with college programs across North America to help them become accredited. Students who attend an accredited college program are educated in AEDF’s six core competencies over two years. Upon completion of the program, these students earn the title of Certified AEDF Technician.
The AED Foundation is currently awarding scholarships, which were generously granted by the Caterpillar Foundation, to high school students interested in attending an accredited college program. Students can earn $2,000 towards their education at an accredited college as they train to become certified technicians, with no prior industry experience necessary. The first portion of the application, which takes less than five minutes to complete, can be accessed here. The Foundation hopes that this scholarship opportunity will encourage more students to consider an industry career.
Certification isn’t limited to accredited programs; technicians who are already working at a dealership, or are seeking new opportunities, can enter the Foundation’s Certified Technician Program. Earning a certificate through this program helps candidates and current employees stand out from their peers. Dealers often choose to certify their technicians as it is a sign of excellence to display to customers.
In addition to these efforts, the Foundation promotes certification and Vision 2025 on our social media platforms. Throughout November 2020, the Foundation has provided blog posts, social media posts and press releases on the topic of technician certification. AEDF hopes to attract aspiring or current technicians to become certified technicians with these promotional materials.
For questions regarding technician certification, please contact the Vice President of Education and Programming Liz McCabe at lmccabe@aednet.org.