ASE recently announced it will be acquiring WrenchWay, after the two organizations have collaborated on projects such as ASE Connects. With the integration, there will be improvements to both groups’ processes, such as collecting data on the industry and connecting shops, schools, and students. 

To better understand what the acquisition will mean for clients of both ASE and WrenchWay, leaders from both organizations break down some of the changes coming soon. 

More Than a Collaboration 

ASE first became acquainted with WrenchWay a couple of years ago. When ASE CEO Dave Johnson first met with Jay Goninen, co-founder and president of WrenchWay, he was blown away, wondering why ASE hadn’t done many of the initiatives WrenchWay had taken on like School Assist. 

“It’s needed so badly in the industry. I said, ‘I hate it, because we should have been doing this years ago,’” tells Johnson. “ASE should have been doing this. It should have just been a natural part of our progression. And we didn’t. And so that started off a partnership on working together on some things.” 

Shortly after that, ASE and WrenchWay began a referral partnership, and eventually would establish ASE Connects together: a platform building upon the existing School Assist solution that aims to streamline how shops and schools work together. 

While an acquisition had been on both organizations’ minds, it wasn’t until they launched ASE Connects that they knew it was the path forward. 

“It just kind of became this natural evolution. So, by the time we had branded it as ASE Connects, we were feeling pretty strongly that this was the path we’re going to go down. And it takes months to go through an acquisition,” says Johnson. 

Combining Strengths 

While ASE benefits from having the technology of WrenchWay to utilize, WrenchWay has even more reach through ASE’s legacy, with the latter having been established over 50 years ago and amassing wide industry recognition. 

“ASE has the general brand awareness. They’ve got the boots-on-the-ground presence that we don’t have, whereas we have some of the technology—and the ability to build more technology—that maybe they were looking for as well,” explains Goninen. “So again, just kind of that natural fit that seems to work out really well for both sides.” 

With the launch of ASE Connects, both organizations are ahead of the curve when it comes to integrating their operations and collaborating—but there’s more to come. Users of ASE Connects can expect to see improvements to the platform coming around this fall, and WrenchWay has its sights set on optimizing the My ASE platform as well. 

“We want to work together to update My ASE and expand that quite a bit,” says Mark Wilson, co-founder and CEO of WrenchWay. “Right now, you use that to schedule a test and to see what certifications you currently have. There’s a lot more we can do with that, and we are going to be doing that in the short and medium term.” 

Additionally, this fall will also see the launch of student profiles, enabling students to request job shadows, apprenticeship opportunities, and part-time or full-time jobs. Also being rolled out soon will be an accreditation management system, which will help schools and programs manage the process of accreditation, as well as help ASE and WrenchWay gather information on how to improve the accreditation process. 

The acquisition will also allow for further evolution of WrenchWay’s Technician Pay Tool, as more shops participate. The company also plans to gather better, more accurate wage data than what’s available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which WrenchWay found to be inaccurate. 

“We were able to meet with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, kind of have a rundown with them of how they go about their business. And what we found was that it was really inaccurate. And so we really want to get that detailed salary information, so that the industry has a better idea of what’s going on there,” Goninen explains. “I think it tells a more candid story; because we don’t want to promise incoming students that they’re going to make six figures a year right off the bat. But we do want to show them that it can be a really fruitful career if they stick with it.” 

WrenchWay will also be working closely with the ASE Education Foundation to maximize the program’s reach. While the School Assist platform has seen approximately 3,500 schools as users, WrenchWay has already identified an additional 20,000 schools that could be brought into the program as well with ASE’s support. 

While a specific timeline isn’t yet available on what the transition will look like, ASE and WrenchWay have already made strides in consolidating their efforts. More changes are coming down the pipeline beyond the fall, especially as WrenchWay gathers more data to further strengthen its tools and data. 

“The coolest part for me to learn is just the amount of passion—for not only ASE, but the industry as a whole, and how many people truly want to be a part of the solution and move the needle in the right direction,” says Goninen.