By Mark A. Phillips

The editorial staff of aftermarketNews and Counterman magazine spent some time talking last week with a number of individuals who have a vested interest in the future of the aftermarket. While attending the dedication of the Sloan Family Building for Aftermarket Studies on the Northwood University campus in Midland, Mich., Editor Mark Phillips sat down to chat with three individuals involved in the Northwood’s Aftermarket Studies program. Their conversations were captured in the video interviews below.

In this interview, Phillips speaks with Jim John, chairman of the aftermarket studies department at Northwood, about how he believes the Sloan Family Building for Aftermarket Studies will draw more students into the program. “I think it raises our aftermarket program to the next level. By focusing on aftermarket studies… we think it will draw more students into the program and enhance the aftermarket program and the industry,” John said in the interview.

In this interview, Northwood University President Keith Pretty tells Phillips about the road to getting the Sloan Family Building for Aftermarket Studies built and how Northwood is a partner with the automotive aftermarket industry. “This effort goes back about eight years now. It’s a real collaboration — a real partnership, if you will — between the automotive aftermarket industry and Northwood University. And this building is really a symbol to me of that partnership and an opportunity for us to grow that partnership,” said President Pretty.

In this interview, Melanie Desharnais, a student at Northwood, whose family is in the aftermarket business in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, share with Phillips how Northwood University’s aftermarket studies program has prepared her to return to the family business. “Most of them [faculty] have been in the field. It’s so interesting to see what their opinions are. They actually know the industry.”