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★ Papa's idea, just now

MDC Trade School — one bay, ten kids, infinite future

Papa's pitch verbatim: "10 teenagers. Workstations around one bay. Hot water tank, wiring panel, used transmission. Each kid rotates. Customers who want a discount say yes to having students work on their car — no warranty, but it's cheaper. Now the bay is making money off kids for free AND they're getting an education."

Mike + Irwin + Jordan don't have to invent the curriculum. ATSG, ATRA, AYES (Auto Youth Educational Systems) all have plug-and-play programs. MDC adopts. The trade school IS the next-gen workforce + a forever revenue stream.

🛠 The 8 student workstations

⚙
Trans tear-down bench
Used 4R70W donated by Mike. Each kid takes it apart, names each part, reassembles. Then they swap to a different model.
🔌
Wiring harness panel
Educational harness with deliberate faults. Kid finds the open / short / corroded ground with a multimeter. Repeats with new faults daily.
🌡
Hot water tank (residential)
Papa's specific suggestion. Plumbing + electrical + thermostat. Cross-skill that pays. Many tech students go on to HVAC.
🛞
Brake assembly bench
Old caliper + rotor + pad set. Bleeding, torque, hardware. Done a thousand times by week 4.
⛽
Fuel system bench
Pump, filter, regulator, rail. Pressure test procedure. Why a P0087 happens.
📊
Scan tool / OBD station
Old laptops + cheap OBD readers. Kids practice reading codes, looking up bulletins, talking through what they'd check.
⚗
Fluid lab
Compare new ATF, old ATF, burnt ATF. Smell test, color test, magnet test for metal fines. Builds the diagnostic nose.
🚗
Customer car (the real one)
One bay reserved for the discount-customer car. Kids do the work under direct tech supervision. The "earn it" moment.

💵 Customer-side: the discount option

When a customer is on the fence about price, Deb offers:

"We have a student-supervised option that saves you 35-40%. Our students do the hands-on work under a senior tech's direct watch. Same workmanship guarantee on the watch part, but NO parts warranty from us since students are still learning. Want to look at the savings?"

Customer gets a yes/no. Most price-sensitive customers say YES. Bay generates revenue at near-zero labor cost. Student gets paid experience.

💰 7 revenue streams from one bay

1. Discount customer labor — student-supervised work on real cars
$60k/yr
~200 jobs/yr · $300 avg margin
2. Tuition — kids/parents pay $200/mo for the program
$24k/yr
10 students · 12 mo
3. State apprenticeship grants — GA Department of Labor
$15k/yr
per registered apprentice
4. School district vo-tech contract — Fannin County HS
$30k/yr
if Mike teaches an after-school block
5. Veterans transition program (VA-funded)
$18k/yr
2-3 vet slots · VA pays per slot
6. Tool brand sponsorship (Snap-on, Mac, Matco)
$10k/yr
tools donated + co-marketing
7. Trans brand sponsorship (Jasper, Sonnax)
$12k/yr
curriculum + content rights
TOTAL annual potential
$169k/yr
from ONE bay

🎯 The pre-hire pipeline (biggest win)

After 12 months in the program, Mike picks his favorite 2-3 graduates and offers them W-2 positions. They already know the shop, the customers, the tools, the standards. Onboarding goes from 6 months to 6 days. Recruiting cost: zero. Retention rate: high (they grew up there).

This is how MDC solves the "8/10-speed knowledge gap" Papa wrote in section 16 from inside — train the next generation on the new transmissions while Mike is still around to teach.

📋 What we need to start (Mike + Deb checklist)

  1. One bay reserved (could be Bay 4 or shared)
  2. $3-5k initial workstation buildout (Snap-on may donate)
  3. Register as an apprentice provider with GA Dept of Labor (free)
  4. Reach out to Fannin County School District (warm — they remembered Mike from 2018)
  5. Apply to AYES (Automotive Youth Educational Systems) — they have free curriculum
  6. Sign 2 anchor students for a 90-day pilot
  7. Run the discount-customer offer for 30 days, measure response
📌 Papa & Deb: $169k/yr from ONE bay is the conservative version. Aggressive: state contracts + national tool-brand spotlight + Mike's TikTok presence = $300k+ achievable by year 3. AND it solves the workforce problem 5 years before every other shop in the country gets crushed by it. Future-proofing made tangible.