Charley Guardado of Perry completes auto tech program at DMACC

May 4, 2023

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charly guardado — DMACC student Charley Guardado of Perry, center, receives congratulations and a plaque from General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales Field Service Engineer Team Leader Dan Beerends, left, and Chevrolet District Service Manager for Des Moines and Northeast Iowa Colin Brouillard for successfully completing the General Motors Automotive Service Education Program (ASEP) at the DMACC Ankeny Campus. Photo courtesy DMACC

The 15 DMACC students graduating from the General Motors Automotive Service Education Program (ASEP) at the DMACC Ankeny Campus includes, front row from left, Benjamin Dirksen of Ankeny, Charley Guardado of Perry, Joseph Njue of Ames, Caleb McGinnis of Pella and Cade Schable of Carroll; second row from left, Connor Kinnick of Johnston, Carson Hinds of Norwalk, Joseph Anderson of Bellevue, Kelli Helmer of Ames and Andrew Tyrrell of Waukee; third row from left, Tyler Koning of Des Moines, Daniel Henze of Melbourne, Toby Sturm of Carroll, Tyler Tessman of Ames and Dominic Baker of Ankeny. All 15 are employed as full-time technicians by their sponsoring dealerships. Photo courtesy DMACC

Charley Guardado of Perry has graduated from the General Motors Automotive Service Education Program (ASEP) at DMACC in Ankeny, leaving the five-semester program with an associate of applied science degree in automotive technology.

Guardado was also hired full time by his sponsoring dealership, Willis Chevrolet of Granger.

“ASEP is designed to train and employ the industry’s best automotive technicians,” said DMACC Automotive Technology/ASEP Program Chair Jerry Burns. “ASEP students learn the skills necessary for entry into a highly-skilled profession along with the opportunity to practice and develop these skills with a considerable amount of on-the-job training.”

DMACC established a partnership with General Motors to provide both entry-level training and advanced technology training for GM dealership technicians. More than 450 students have so far graduated from the 37 ASEP classes at DMACC.

Burns said students in the program spend half of their time at the community college, learning the latest automotive technology on current production GM vehicles, and half of their time in applying what they’ve learned at their sponsoring GM dealership.