Rick’s Automotive Recognized as of Employer of the Year

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Aug. 6, 2015 - PRLog -- Rick Hughlett, founder and president of Rick’s Automotive, has received recognition as Employer of the Year through the Breaking Traditions Program of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The program recognizes outstanding educators who teach in nontraditional career education programs for their support of nontraditional students and employers who are supportive of these students’ choices. Nontraditional careers are occupations or fields of work in which one gender comprises less than 25 percent of the individuals employed in that occupation or field. Since 1994, Missouri Breaking Traditions Awards have honored outstanding students who have chosen specific career and technical education programs based on their interests and who have not let their gender influence their career decisions.

Hughlett has been active with Ozarks Technical Community College since before its conception. He is a 1975 Automotive Technology graduate of GraffVoTech, the original Career & Technical School from which OTC was formed. Hughlett remains active with OTC in various capacities. He has served on the OTC Transportation/Automotive Advisory board for approximately 25 years. Hughlett also serves on the OTC Foundation Board, where he and his wife provide an endowment with the Foundation for automotive scholarships.

Rick's Automotive has built community partnerships and is actively involved with more than 30 organizations and charities.

Additionally, Hughlett currently employs five OTC graduates, including Tara Stewart, the 2014 winner of the Secondary Breaking Traditions Award.

“Ozarks Technical Community College is an amazing, important institution for young people in our area,” said Rick Hughlett. “OTC opens doors for students like Tara, providing them with the skills and capabilities to enter competitive markets. Particularly those industries that are mostly dominated by men.”

Through his community work, Hughlett’s goal is to improve the hiring pool in Springfield and the surrounding areas including placing and retaining the top technicians and employees in the automotive field.

“I am incredibly proud of our college here,” concluded Rick. “And I look forward to meeting the next generation of innovative technicians.”

Rick and Karen Hughlett founded Rick's Automotive in 1980 with the determination to bridge the gap between dealerships and chain stores with an honest and competent auto repair facility dedicated to quality and affordability.  Over the years, Rick's Automotive has been named one of the top ten shops in America.

Rick's Automotive is a "founding" member of the Automotive Service Association in Springfield and is one of the very few businesses to qualify as an approved repair facility by the American Automobile Association (ASA).

To learn more about Rick's Automotive, go to http://ricksautomotive.com/