The National Auto Auction Association launched its autoauctionjobs.com in 2019 with the notion of creating a one-stop, registry of technical schools and scholarship opportunities for young people interested in pursuing careers as service technicians.

Then came 2020. And on its heels, COVID-19.

NAAA continued working on the program and identifying technician apprenticeships throughout 2020, but getting students into auctions for hands-on training during a pandemic, was nearly impossible.

COVID is still with us, but the association hopes to make at least one impossibility, a reality in the coming year.

Recruiting students for those apprentice programs and bolstering the association’s digital jobs board will be high on NAAA president-elect Charles Nichols’ list of priorities when he takes the reins of the association at its annual convention, Sept. 28-30 in Chicago.

Nichols, 54, is the president of Bel Air Auto Auction and president its parent, BSC America. BSC America is a collection of privately-held asset management companies, which counts Tallahassee Auto Auction in Tallahassee, Fla., among its holdings.

His father Ray Nichols, served as president of NAAA for the 2001-2002 term and is chairman of BSC America. Nichols’ sister, Michelle Nichols-Neff, is executive vice-president of BSC America and executive vice-president of Bel Air Auto Auction.

Bel Air Auto Auction and BSC America are headquartered in Belcamp, Md., and are owned by the Nichols family.

Current NAAA president, Julie Picard, who is also Manheim vice-president of industry partnerships, becomes NAAA’s chairperson during its Sept. 30 ceremony.

Helping NAAA members find service techs

A shortage of service technicians created by older technician retirements and younger people who are opting for other careers, has vexed the auto service industry for years.

“We’re very excited to have a new jobs board for NAAA this fall,” Nichols said during a video conferencing interview in early August.

“It’s something NAAA has worked on but COVID put a kibosh on some of it. We need to help address our members’ technician shortage and provide much more job support.”

Tricia Heon, who became the association’s CEO in July and was also in the video conferencing meeting with Nichols, said the next phase of the jobs program is to post on the site current openings at member auctions for service technicians and other positions and then push links to the site to community colleges and technical schools.

“The build-out is happening right now,” Heon said, of the enhanced jobs site. “We have a timetable of fall 2021. We don’t have a definitive date yet, but it’s going to be a wonderful benefit for the whole industry.”

Despite the uncertainty created by the onset of COVID, the auction industry capitalized on the pandemic by more fully embracing the digital transformation which was already underway,  Nichols said.

For example, his family’s Bel Air Auto Auction conducted 100% of its sales digitally for 28 weeks.

“We embraced multiple channels of communications as well as videos and sound files to communicate to the buyer base,” he said.

Creating a safe workplace

The company made a comfortable and safe work environment for employees by following practices such as social distancing, mask wearing, sanitization and COVID testing.

“We did everything, every day,” he said. “We set the cars up normally, we did all the services.

“Our sales people were very active, they were taking videos (that showcased) all types of different ways to look at the vehicle in order to give good information back to the buying dealers.”

Though virtual sales are becoming more prominent in the industry, physical auction sites are and will be in demand for the foreseeable future, Nichols said.

Vehicles that are reconditioned and awaiting sale have a physical presence.

Some auctions may need less space based on population shifts as people relocate as a result of the pandemic and there are inventory disruptions fueled by the new-car shortage caused by the widespread microchip shortage, said Nichols.

But he doesn’t foresee major shifts or downsizing of auction sites in the foreseeable future.

“There is a lot of technology that goes into these locations. It requires a lot of folks to move and service the vehicles. I don’t think any of that is going away,” he said. “We just need our supply chain to get leveled off.”

Electric, autonomous cars: coming to an auction near you

Nichols said NAAA is working hard to help its members get ready for a new and evolving vehicle ownership model that includes more electric and autonomous vehicles.

According to Nichols, the association is sharing data about current and forecasted electric and autonomous vehicle sales trends with its membership and urging them to begin training technicians to repair and service those vehicles if they aren’t already doing so.

Despite the setbacks and inconveniences caused the pandemic, NAAA continued its work, holding regularly scheduled business meetings with members via telephone and video conferences, Nichols said.

NAAA always makes a point of acknowledging member auctions’ milestone anniversaries with plaques but has added “virtual visits” to touch bases with owners and managers and to see if the association can be of assistance.

But Nichols and association members are looking forward to this year’s conference and the opportunity to meet in person.

The convention theme, “The Reconnection Event,” is in recognition that the convention is NAAA’s first in-person event in two years, Nichols said.

“We’re so excited about our NAAA convention in Chicago. I think reconnecting is something we want to highlight.”

Not surprisingly, Nichols doesn’t have a lot of spare time, but he loves the outdoors, and especially enjoys hunting and off-shore fishing.

He has been married to wife Mechelle, for nearly 32 years. They have three children, a grandson, and a niece and nephew.