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Sonoma County donates electric vehicles to Santa Rosa Junior College

The EVs will help the auto tech program develop Sonoma’s workforce needed to accelerate the electrification of its passenger vehicle fleet

Santa Rosa, Calif.—Three electric vehicles will be handed over to Santa Rosa Junior College this week from the County of Sonoma to support SRJC’s Automotive Technology Program, a career technical education program that prepares students for future employment with dealerships, smog stations, repair facilities and other businesses.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved the donation of the three under-utilized Ford Focus automobiles to the SRJC last August.

The donation will support SRJC in its mission to train, educate, and develop future, advanced entry-level candidates in the field of automotive technology. The SRJC program also seeks to address the systemic labor shortage within the auto industry. The donation also will help the County of Sonoma with its strategic climate action and resiliency goals by increasing the pool of qualified electric-vehicle auto technicians and supporting the use of electric vehicles.

“We are pleased to be supporting the SRJC’s Automotive Technology Program,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “This contribution will benefit the entire community and its diverse workforce. Plus, it’s one more step toward making Sonoma County carbon neutral by 2030.”

Sonoma County Fleet Operations manages and maintains the county’s 1,300 vehicles and is actively working toward fulfilling the climate action and resiliency goals in Sonoma County’s Strategic Plan. Fleet Operations is also hoping to assist in meeting a new state Executive Order N-79-20, which requires all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California to be zero-emissions by 2035. 

“This generous donation will enable the Santa Rosa Junior College Automotive Technologies Program to provide hands-on training in battery electric vehicles to a new generation of automotive repair technicians,” said SRJC Dean Benjamin Goldstein. “These vehicles will help us develop the workforce needed to accelerate the electrification of our passenger vehicle fleet and meet our climate change goals in Sonoma County. We are sincerely grateful to the County of Sonoma for the generosity and foresight demonstrated with this donation.” 

The SRJC Department of Industrial and Trade Technology offers the local community degrees and certificates in Automotive, Diesel, Machine Tool, and Welding. 

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