ABOUT US
WHERE INDUSTRY COLLABORATES WITH EDUCATION
WHERE INDUSTRY COLLABORATES WITH EDUCATION
Mission:
To provide a work-based learning model that any industry can utilize to bridge the skills gap. Combining classroom instruction with on the job work based learning opportunities. This program integrates the classroom with employers to create an introduction to a career path of the student's choice.
What Our Program Provides:
The program simplifies the relationship between an industry lead business and vocational education that can lead into a career path. We ask for no money. Our “ask” is for your time. Time to integrate a student into your business to create a career fit. It starts with 10 hours and can grow into a new employee. Can you “Give Me Ten?”
Vision:
To integrate the students with a business partner to create a career path that is beneficial to both. To enhance education and career growth by providing the student with possible grant opportunities, internships, and apprenticeship paths. This pathway begins when the student and employer enter the “Give Me Ten” program.
Experience:
This program is designed to partner a student with a specific business/industry leader and combine classroom instruction with on-the-job training. One of the best ways a business owner can create its own skilled workforce is through internships.
Objectives:
Businesses partnering with students to explore a future career in the industry of their choice. Take the student out of the classroom and give them a work-based learning experience. Each student will be matched with a business near the home school location. Expose students to general operations of any industry/business from front office to general operations. This experience is not limited.
About Our Founder:
I grew up immersed in the automotive industry, with my father working as a service trainer for Uniroyal in the 1960s. Weekends were often spent at flea markets, where my brother and I helped him sell tires and parts—a childhood experience that unknowingly planted the seeds for my future career. Although I never imagined becoming a shop owner, the industry eventually became my life’s work.
After earning an associate degree from Northeastern Illinois University, I initially envisioned being a stay-at-home mom. However, when Uniroyal restructured and sold its retail stores, my father purchased the Waukegan location and founded Closs Tire & Auto. In 1984, he asked me to step in “temporarily” to handle the office work—a decision that would change my path forever.
Wanting to strengthen my technical knowledge and better serve customers, I studied automotive service repair at Triton College and have continued my professional development for more than four decades. Through conventions, seminars, and hands-on learning, I gained a deep understanding of the business from both a technical and operational perspective.
By 2014, I had assumed daily operations as my father’s health declined, and in 2019 I officially became the sole owner. Following his passing in 2020, I continued running the business until June 2024, when Closs Tire & Auto closed its doors after the building was sold. With closure, I shifted my focus entirely to my passion: bringing education and work-based learning to the forefront. I am now fully dedicated to advancing the Give Me TEN model and helping schools and businesses nationwide develop their next workforce.
As an owner, one of my greatest challenges—and passions—was workforce development. Hiring skilled technicians was increasingly difficult, and I saw firsthand the urgent need to attract and prepare the next generation of talent. In 2017, I attended an advisory meeting at my local tech campus and learned about the struggles in creating internship opportunities for students. To help, I launched Give Me TEN, a simple, scalable internship program designed to meet the needs of small businesses while connecting education with real-world work experience.
Through my connections in the industry, the University of the Aftermarket, and local Career and Technical Education programs, I have successfully expanded Give Me TEN. The program has been adopted by schools in Illinois and Oregon and is now recognized as a model for businesses of any size to develop a pipeline to their next workforce. I am also a member of the Auto Care Association’s Car Care Professional Network (CCPN) and regularly attend Auto Care Connect, supporting my ongoing engagement with industry peers.
What began to support my father’s business has evolved into a lifelong mission: bridging the gap between education and industry while helping to grow the workforce of tomorrow.