Ten students recently became the first to complete a fast-track automotive technician training program offered by the workforce development nonprofit CareerEdge Funders Collaborative and Suncoast Technical College. The Automotive Lube Technician program was designed in partnership with Gettel Automotive to recruit entry-level technicians. Gettel hired all of the students at $12 per hour for full- or part-time trainee positions while they attended the free 10-week training program at the college two nights a week. Now that the participants have completed the class, they will be paid $13 per hour, full-time, with benefits.