The McPherson College Automotive Restoration program was recently awarded a grant from The RPM Foundation to fund eight RPM Scholars and provide Internship Gap Funding for students.

“The work that is being done by RPM Foundation to connect young people to meaningful careers through their love of automobiles is important,” Amanda Gutierrez, vice president of Automotive Restoration, said. “By supporting scholarships and providing internship gap funding, the Foundation eases the expenses associated with studying on campus as well as summer learning opportunities around the country.”

The eight students named RPM Scholars are: Braden Hess, Prospect, Pennsylvania; Erik Wallace, Pantego, North Carolina; Zachary Alexander, Newton, Kansas; Dylan Riley, Lake Ozark, Missouri; Matthew Nutting, Foxboro, Massachusetts; Charles Hoehaver, Auburn, Alabama; Gray Irwin, Shawnee Mission, Kansas; Abi Morgan, Lansing, Illinois.

The RPM Foundation supports restoration and preservation training programs for the next generation of automotive, motorcycle, and marine craftsmen. Since 2003, the foundation has funded 87 scholarships for AR students at McPherson College.

“RPM has enjoyed a strong partnership with McPherson College, facilitating more than $700,000 in funding through program grants and we are proud again this year to congratulate the scholarship recipients,” Diane Fitzgerald, president of The RPM Foundation, said. “We are looking forward to assisting these and other students so they may become vital members of the automotive craftsmen community.”

The college along with the industry has benefited from the long-time association with and funding from RPM, according to Gutierrez. For example, there are currently four alumni on the AR faculty and staff who were RPM Scholars while students.

“We can really see the impact of this type of support,” Gutierrez said. “Not only do the recipients of these scholarships go on to work in the automotive industry, but four of our faculty were RPM scholars who are now committed to training the next generation of automotive industry leaders.”

Stepping onto the 18^th fairway of Pebble Beach before dawn to judge some of the most exquisite automobiles at one of the most prestigious events in the world is a rare opportunity. For McPherson College Automotive Restoration students, it is an opportunity that is not so far out of reach. Four McPherson College students recently returned from serving as shadow judges this year at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

McPherson College has been taking students to Pebble Beach since 2012 to involve them in the automotive industry at its highest level. Students Aaron Israel, Abigayle Morgan, Ben Falconer, and Dalton Whitfield, were invited this year to join the teams of expert judges who brought more than 2,000 years of judging experience to the field. The students were assigned to classes and fully participated in the judging experience.

Dalton Whitfield, a senior from Cleveland, Georgia, shadowed judges in the Pre-war Preservation Class and worked with judges eager to share their considerable knowledge with him. “The judges were incredible and willing to show me what they were looking for, from correct places of wear over time to original fabric and paint composition,” he said. “I learned that judging preservation is more like judging an artifact from a museum rather than a restored car.”

McPherson College is recognized in the Pebble Beach program and at its events as a leader in automotive restoration education and the Pebble Beach Company Foundation annually awards four scholarships to McPherson College students. The Foundation has also supported several McPherson College interns, helping defray living expenses while they gain experience. The college’s participation at the event has made it possible for students to experience the industry at its highest level.

“Being engaged with the top players in any industry is unreal, but the automotive industry is a different story than most others,” Aaron Israel, a senior from West End, North Carolina, said. He was part of the team that judged the Early Open-Wheel Race Cars Class.

“Being an automotive restoration student at McPherson College allows us to communicate with leaders in the industry on a personal level because they truly care about our futures,” Israel said. “They realize that students like us are the future of their industry. We are in a growing industry of people who have a passion about their future, their careers, and their hobbies.”

The college’s presence at Pebble Beach extends beyond its current students. McPherson College alumni are highly involved at the Concours at the auction houses, restoration shops, historical archives, in public relations and as automotive specialists for companies like Hagerty and RM Sotheby’s. While many McPherson College alumni are at the event working for a variety of companies there, others work for months prior to the event restoring cars that are shown. This year at least five recent alumni worked on automobiles ranging from Rolls Royces to Ferraris that were accepted to show at Pebble Beach.

“Alumni are a vital part of the restoration program and they provide an outlook on future job possibilities,” Abigayle Morgan, a junior from Lansing, Illinois, said. “It was inspiring to see friends and graduates who are successful in their respected markets. I could see myself in them. They went through the same classes I am going through, and lived in the same dorms I did. I love to see the various avenues that this degree has taken alumni. It is a great motivator.”

The Concours, held on August 20, was the final event of the Monterrey Car Week, a week full of events celebrating classic automobiles. Although judging at Pebble Beach was the highlight for the students, they also were recognized at a reception for patrons of the Pebble Beach Foundation, toured the paddock area of Laguna-Seca raceway during vintage races, watched the start of the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, and attended several other events.

“Pebble Beach is the Disney World and Super Bowl for automobiles,” said Morgan, who helped judge the Rolls Royce Class. Her classmate Ben Falconer agreed.

Falconer, a sophomore from Greeley, Colorado, who helped judge the One-Off Ferrari Class said, “I not only experienced my first Concours, I got to experience it from an insider’s view. Being so young in this industry is often tough, we might not be taken seriously, but experiencing Pebble Beach and applying what we are learning there helps us prove ourselves.”

To a packed auditorium of more than 500 people, the CEO of Hagerty spoke about the importance of passion in the business world.

McKeel Hagerty presented the annual Harter Lecture in Business at McPherson College in April and started his lecture asking the audience whether the career dreams they had as children match up with their actual jobs today. Few raised their hands.

That’s OK, Hagerty said.

“There’s nothing wrong with having those kind of dreams,” he said. “I wanted to be James Bond.”

His work is ostensibly about insurance, which he jokingly said was not exciting on its face. He hadn’t planned on going into the family business, but along the way he discovered a deep passion for the work in a new framework.

“We’re for people who love cars,” he said. “We don’t even talk about insurance anymore.”

Hagerty is the largest classic car insurer and also publishes a valuation guide and the largest circulated classic car magazine. The company McKeel Hagerty oversees – based in Traverse City, Mich. – has been a huge supporter of the classic car hobby, committing 10 percent of net profits back to programs and organizations that support classic vehicles.

Using examples from within Hagerty as well as other successful businesses, McKeel Hagerty shared lessons on how passion in business makes a difference – both for the business itself and the individuals who work at it.

“These the companies that people want to work at,” Hagerty said. “They have a strong sense of purpose.”

Hagerty’s lessons for developing passion in business were:

• Be a Challenger. McKeel said that at the time he started with Hagerty, their competitors had highly restrictive requirements. They introduced more practical and useful policies. They also challenged with creative advertising.
• Seize the High Ground. Hagerty said this was a matter of working in a way that one honestly believes in. At Hagerty, it meant starting a Youth Judging program and the Historic Vehicle Association in support of classic and antique vehicles.
• Be a Great Place to Work. The important consideration is finding interesting and passionate people, McKeel said, they can teach the specifics of a job.
• Don’t Invent Passion. Celebrate It. “Manufactured” passion will come off as artificial. Instead, find out what customers and employees are already passionate about and find ways to highlight and celebrate that.
• Be “The Spirit of…” Figure out what the essential element of a business is, then build a brand around that identity. For example, McKeel said Nike built a brand around “The Spirit of Sports” and Hagerty appeals to “The Spirit of Cars.”

President Michael Schneider said that having Hagerty speak at McPherson College was a wonderful opportunity.

“There is no one who has been at the center of the automotive restoration industry more than McKeel,” he said.

Hagerty is a founding and current member of the National Advisory Board of the automotive restoration program at McPherson College and is the 2016-2017 chairman of the International Board for the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Under McKeel Hagerty’s leadership, he has grown Hagerty from a small agency with 30 employees to 800 worldwide, with branches in Canada and the United Kingdom in addition to the U.S. His company has been named a “Best Small Company to Work For” by Fortune magazine for three consecutive years.