Solving the Technician Shortage
Everyone loves to talk about the growing technician shortage. Not only are less students enrolling in technician programs, but existing technicians are retiring and leaving the industry at alarming rates. However, what has actually been done to help solve this massive shortage?
At WrenchWay, we believe the key to fixing the shortage can be broken down into two areas: 1. Promote the great parts of the industry, and 2. Improve the parts that need fixing.
Schools, shops, and technicians all need to do their part. WrenchWay makes this easier by providing solutions that highlight top shops to work at, educate shops on how to become better employers, listen to feedback from technicians, and help schools attract the next generation of technicians.
Our Founders
Jay Goninen started working in his family’s independent repair shop at the age of nine, and has worked in the industry ever since. Jay started his professional career as a technician, and then moved into management roles within the automotive and diesel industries.
In 2017, Jay founded Find A Wrench as a way to help shops and dealerships find and hire qualified technicians. As business quickly grew, it became apparent to Jay that while he found success helping shops find talent right now, there was still a bigger issue that wasn’t being addressed — the growing technician shortage. But, Jay knew he couldn’t tackle this problem on his own.
Jay Goninen
Co-Founder & President
Mark Wilson
Co-Founder & CEO
Mark Wilson started his professional career as a CPA for a large public accounting firm. He went on to work as a Controller for a publicly traded software company, and then led finance and operations as CFO for a software startup that sold to Microsoft in 2007. In 2010, Mark went on to found and lead his own startup as CEO, which was acquired by Esker in 2015.
Mark and Jay have been long time friends and would regularly meet over… beverages… to discuss Wisconsin sports teams and other topics. The conversation always shifted to what Jay was working on with Find A Wrench. Mark offered advice on how to grow the business, but the two realized what they really wanted was to work on a bigger mission — to help with the technician shortage and to shine a light on how great of an industry this is.
Mark’s experience leading software startups along with his expertise in process improvement and user experience made him the perfect partner to team up with Jay to create what we now know as WrenchWay.
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