HOULTON, Maine – A grant for costly master auto mechanic tools helped Zack Hagan complete his Northern Maine Community College training and spur his career.
Hagan, 24, who graduated from Houlton Middle High School in 2018, started at NMCC in the auto collision program but started thinking he wanted more. A technician at York’s of Houlton suggested he try the auto mechanic program at the community college.
But getting into the program requires the purchase of all the tools on the school’s tool list, totaling $4,500, he said. It’s a cost that many students are unable to pay.
“To stay in the program you have to have every single tool that is on the tool list because once you get into a dealership they expect you to come ready to work,” Hagan said. “I witnessed a student who got bumped from the program because he couldn’t buy the tools.”
Many students are prohibited from advancing careers in the trades because they do not have the money for the high-priced tools required to continue their training. For some students like Hagan, a Houlton Alumni Association $2,500 Training and Tools grant is making it possible to seek careers in cosmetology, carpentry, auto mechanics, culinary arts, welding and nursing to name a few.
Hagan was awarded the $2,500 toward the purchase of his required tools and following two years of study and hands-on training at a dealership, he became a Ford Master Technician two years ago, he said.
“The grant absolutely helped me,” he said.
Today, he’s a mechanic at York’s where his training continues, he said, pointing to the experienced mechanics he works with.
“This place has been a huge savior,” he said.
The Houlton Alumni Association is known for giving a college scholarship to all high school graduates who apply. This year’s graduates received $79,000 in scholarship money, said association president Nancy Ketch.
But the association wanted to do something for those students who stayed in the community and worked, according to Training and Tools program chairwoman Lisa Perfitt.
In 2021, they started the program and have given upwards of $17,000 in tools or training grants, she said.
“We have some auto mechanics, we’ve helped with carpentry tools, we helped a few kids who were Certified Nursing Assistants who wanted to advance to a Medical Assistant in the doctor’s office and that required additional training,” Perfitt said.
When they first started the program, the association got some funding from the Aaron A. and Maria H. Putnam Family Charitable Trust and the alumni association has actually started a sub fund in their endowment to build that up so they will have money to perpetuate it. Additionally, some businesses stepped forward to contribute, Ketch said.
The grant applications are reviewed each month. The applicant must be a Houlton Middle High School graduate and live in the southern Aroostook area.
For the first few years, the association did not have a large number of applicants. But that has changed this year and since February they have awarded another eight grants. They have three more applicants to interview, Ketch said.
The program is not limited to recent graduates. They have helped former students looking to change or advance careers, she said.
“It’s been exciting the last few months because we’d go two or three meetings at a time and not have any new applicants.” Ketch said. “This year, every month there are new applicants. It’s really exciting.”
