CRENSHAW : Auto Repair Course Places All 14 Grads

For the first time in its 17-month history, the Los Angeles Urban League Automotive Training Center hit on all cylinders: All 14 of its recent graduates have been placed in full-time jobs.

The Crenshaw center, a partnership between the Urban League and Toyota Motor Sales, has been training students and finding them jobs since opening in April, 1993, but until this month could not claim 100% employment for a graduating class.

“We’re thrilled about it,” said Toyota spokeswoman Nancy Hubbell. “The center is certainly coming into its own. It’s developing a very good reputation among employers as well as students.”

Hector Lopez, 47, said his air-conditioning repair training and subsequent employment at DSL Transportation in South Gate was something of a godsend. “I came out of jail in April and was looking for something exactly like this,” he said enthusiastically. “When I saw an ad for the center on cable TV, I thought, ‘Wow, this is just what I want to do.’ ”

Since its opening, the center has schooled 116 students in a variety of automotive repair techniques, including air conditioning, brakes and suspension, emissions and smog check, exhaust, accessory installation and detailing.

Toyota committed more than $3 million to the project after the 1992 riots to help mitigate local unemployment. The free, full-time training program is offered continually and is open to all Los Angeles residents.

For Karen Williams, 29, the sole female graduate this month, the center afforded the opportunity to make good on a longtime wish to be a mechanic. “I was working in security, but that’s not what I really wanted to do,” said Williams, who installs brakes, tires and batteries at the Sears Automotive Center in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. “This is an excellent program. You learn a lot in a short amount of time.”