CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Owen Howard knows a thing or two about cars, but that’s to be expected when you work at a car dealership. His love for cars started as a kid though. 

“I was around racing growing up a lot,” said Howard. “My dad is involved in NASCAR and marketing and things like that.” 

When he learned about a unique internship program through his high school, he jumped on the opportunity. 

“I learned so much not even from the actual services that we do, but just from being around my friends, or my now friends I should say,” said Howard. 

Two years ago, the Scott Clark Auto Group partnered with Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Union County Schools to launch a trade internship program. 

The program was designed to expose students to the automotive world. 

“A lot of them think they want to go into marketing, or business, or they want to go into the automotive industry, and so it really gives them an opportunity to get their hands dirty and see what this industry’s about,” said Ryan Fay. 

Fay serves as the Director of Business Operations and says this program is not just providing hands-on experience, but also working to fill the demand for auto technicians. 

“There’s kind of two ways that you’re going to get technicians,” he said. “You’re either going to get them from other dealerships or other locations or you can grow them from within, so with this program we’re really focusing on trying to grow our technicians from within and be able to develop them ourselves.” 

This internship helped Howard learn and see firsthand what goes into being an auto technician. 

“So I didn’t really realize how in depth all these processes got and it overall gave me a better general understanding of how everything worked just by seeing it happen,” he said. 

Overall it’s led him to a job opportunity and a much clearer path for the future. 

“With this experience that I’m building up at a young age, I’ll be able to go anywhere else and say 'hey, I did this internship, I took these classes at high school, and I got this job experience already and that will put me a step ahead of everyone else,'” Howard said. 

Howard also completed a marketing internship through this program as well. 

Scott Clark Auto Group says they offer internships ranging from auto technicians, marketing and even graphic designers. 

Scott Clark Auto also offers entry-level opportunities for full or part-time work for interns that are 18 years of age and are in good standing. 

To apply, students must be enrolled in an approved automotive class or course and receive instructor permission. Interns will receive school credit and must apply through their school counselor.