Phoenix, January 2, 2020: Richie Bello Institute of Leadership and Management’s Founder, Richie Bello heads back to Washington in the continued saga of what to do and not do to gain government support for his not for profit. Bello drives to bring the automotive industry qualified and certified trained veterans into its workplace. Veterans currently represent approximately one in five of the automotive industry personnel population, but Bello looks to address the other 80%. “The turnover in the industry is beyond belief!” said Bello. “Dealers are putting tremendous revenue into marketing, but when the buyer hits the floor, the team is not trained well enough to get the maximum ROI”. Bello chants that it’s a vicious cycle. He is countering the cycle by recruiting veterans offering certification and placement into dealerships at no cost to the veteran. This complimentary program is being self-funded by the institute under the guidance of Washington’s grant program that takes approximately two years from launch to achieve. Bello worked with Washington when Phil Roe was serving as liaison for Veterans Affairs. Bello is going back to bridge the new representation to assure that the grant approval process is compliant and expeditious. At this time, Bello brought the country’s leading industry vendors together to support the program funding as many as fifty veterans per month for a minimum of one year. This will help the institute achieve the proof of claim that the government looks to review. The Richie Bello Institute of Leadership and Management provides an eco-system for the automotive industry, where trained veterans can use its programs to continue to move up the ranks. The veteran and the dealer benefit from the program. The dealer will gain trained veterans at much lower than usual and customary for recruitment and training. Dealers will also receive a one-time replacement should the veteran not pass a three-month evaluation. Once certified, the veteran will have access to on-going support from the institute for the life of employment with the dealer placed. Areas of training include Sales; F & I; Service Managers, Technicians and Advisors; Operations; Parts Management and Parts Counter.
Bello assembled a seasoned team to support the initiative. Jeanne Fontana serves as Executive Director. Fontana brings thirty-five years of experience overseeing marketing and business development initiatives for various companies and not for profits. David A. Castillo serves as Director of Veteran Affairs and brings his nine-year term in the Marine Corps to bridge the national organizations and enrolled veterans. Brandon Hardison serves as Director of Training, with decades of experience developing sales and training programs for national brands and dealers throughout the country. John Fairchild serves as Director of Dealer Relations and brings his trained dealer network stronger returns on Fixed Ops. This top team has volunteered their services to this date and will be compensated for services from placement fees to dealers. A large portion of dealer recruitment fees will go back to the institute to support another veteran.
Bello’s goal with his visit to Washington, is to be able to work hand in hand with the government agencies to expedite an approval, allowing for a larger population of veterans to be served.
The Richie Bello Institute of Leadership and Management is a 501C3 not for profit with its training center in Phoenix, Arizona and its business offices in Long Island, New York. The mission of the organization is to improve the quality of the automotive industry employee and improve the career paths of veterans of the United States military through this highly lucrative industry.
