Driving Central Florida's Future - Together!

From sleek sports cars to hard-working pickups and family minivans, automobiles are what move America. As automotive technology evolves, the demand for highly-trained technicians to keep American rolling continues to escalate. Seminole State College and the Central Florida Auto Dealers Association (CFADA) recognize this need. Following 10 years of planning, fund raising, campaigning and building, the College and CFADA opened the new 55,000 square foot, CFADA Professional Automotive Training Center.

The $10.1 million CFADA Professional Automotive Training Center is a one-of-a-kind facility in Florida, and one of only a handful of similar facilities in the nation. The center is a fitting location to house Seminole State's General Motors Automotive Service Educational Program (GM-ASEP), which was recently named the top manufacturer-affiliated post-secondary automotive program in the nation by the Automotive Industry Planning Council (AIPC).

On October 19, 2004, CFADA members joined College officials as they broke ground on Seminole State's CFADA Professional Automotive Training Center, which will enhance the training of a desperately needed workforce. The Center will allow Seminole State to improve and expand its current automotive programs, develop new curriculum and make it possible to offer dual-enrollment opportunities to high school students. Those students will then feed into Seminole State's college-level programs, resulting in economic benefits that will impact the local community for years to come. The new Center will also house the CFADA's administrative offices.

The CFADA Professional Automotive Training Center was designed and built to meet the unique training needs of Seminole State's automotive programs and includes a 19,200 square foot shop with 40 bays, four alignment lifts, four above ground lifts and 29 in-ground lifts. A corporate training suite houses eight bays with four in-ground lifts and one heavy duty in-ground lift. With five classrooms, 12 offices and an impressive 2,000 square foot show room, the Center is truly a one-of-a-kind facility for the state of Florida.

The facility, which opened January 19, 2007, is located on Seminole State's Sanford/Lake Mary Campus and will provide students state-of-the-art classrooms and labs, on-the-car experience and on-the-job training. Seminole State currently offers Ford ASSET, General Motors ASEP, TACT and vocational programs. The new CFADA Professional Automotive Training Center will enable Seminole State to not only add additional technician programs, but also eventually offer training opportunities for title clerks, fleet managers, finance managers and salespeople.

Did you know?

The Automotive Technology Program offers current professionals a one-year, non-credit, comprehensive day program that provides training on new technology and industry updates.