SNOHOMISH, Wash. — One of the hottest topics in the marketing industry lately has been how to maintain communication with clients and pivoting company strategies during a global business interruption.
A few drag-racing teams — and the NHRA — have adjusted to remain relevant the past few months.
Perhaps the owner-driver deserving the biggest round of applause is Funny Car’s Bob Tasca III, who continues to spread the Ford Motor Co. gospel even during the spread of the coronavirus.
Tasca was battered with an especially nasty case of the virus in June, sidelining him for the sport’s July 12 return to action.
“Business has been at the forefront during this pandemic like never before,” said Tasca, who is vice-president of Tasca Automotive Group and the CEO of Tasca Racing.
“I speak to high-schoolers around the country at the NHRA’s Youth and Education Services events and I talk about job security,” Tasca noted. “In uncertain times, recessions, you could have your career disappear right in front of your eyes. I’ve made the joke, ‘You’re too young to have lived through a recession.’ I’ll have to modify that now, because we might not necessarily be in a deep recession, but we’re certainly in a very challenging time.”
Tasca and his family own and operate car dealerships in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut that represent Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Volvo, Mazda and Nissan.
“From the beginning of the pandemic until now, our technicians have been the backbone of our company. We did lay off a few and a few took voluntary layoffs because they were concerned about the virus, but our technician base was the main base of our company that never closed and was always there,” Tasca said.
“Granted, we’re not curing the virus like these unbelievably brave doctors and nurses, but they were on the front lines. They were getting in cars each and every day, as they do now, and keeping America rolling,” he said. “That’s the bottom line, keeping our Ford customers on the road.
“The need for skilled technicians has not gone away. In fact, I think it has actually increased,” Tasca continued. “With less people taking airplanes, more people are taking cars: more miles, more service, more issues.”
In February, NHRA introduced its Launch Motorsports Careers portal, with Pro Stock Motorcycle legend and business mogul Terry Vance donating $1 million to plant its roots.
Vance said for young mechanics seeking to start a career in the industry, “If you don’t know anybody, you’re kind of out. I know what that feels like and it is a lousy place to be. I want NHRA Launch Motorsports Careers to help kids not feel that way.”
The plan is for the sanctioning body to find a corporate underwriter that, in Vance’s description, “takes this thing into the stratosphere.”
According to Tasca, an NHRA official phoned him during the racing shutdown and asked him if he wanted to follow other businesses in removing his company’s job-opportunity postings from the Launch portal.
“Absolutely not. Don’t cancel,” Tasca replied. “I need more technicians now than I did last month.”
And Tasca believes this shows the information he has been sharing with students is reality.
“There was such an extreme shortage coming into this pandemic and I believe there’ll be an even bigger shortage coming out of this, with people retiring and demand going up,” Tasca explained. “If you’re out there thinking about what choices you have and where you should go work; clearly, we’re in a very unstable time, depending on the sector. There is no better time to become a Ford technician than right now. There really isn’t.”
Job security is key, along with job portability.
“Being able to travel the country, to move from California to Rhode Island with a phone call; and you’ve got a job waiting for you. Not many career paths offer that — along with a six-figure salary,” he said. “That’s what we have some technicians in our company capable of doing. Some are on their way. It’s a great story to share, particularly with our audience, because there are a lot of people in motorsports who would love to work on vehicles.
“I’m a little biased because I have Ford blue running through my veins,” Tasca said, “but if you’re going to be a tech and you’ve got all these brands out there, why not go for the one that has the most trucks on the road, the most cargo vans on the road, the most work trucks on the road. At the end of the day, those are the vehicles that need the most service and require the most attention. There’s no other brand that can deliver that level of service business than Ford.”
Tasca also works with the local vocational-tech high schools and colleges.
“We’ve been very aggressive, working locally,” he said. “On a national platform, I’m sharing my story, whether it be on Twitter or Facebook. I’m always talking about technicians wherever I go. One of the greatest platforms we have is Y.E.S., getting in front of thousands of kids a year. These are high-schoolers with their eyes wide open, coming to a race, meeting race car drivers and hearing a really powerful message.
“That has been one of the best parts of my job, to be quite frank. We’ll get that going again.”