Featured Alumni

Dan Wittek

Saint Paul College Auto Body Repair Program

Dan Wittek is an unabashed motorhead. He always has been. And he always will be. Growing up, he spent as much time as he could helping a friend and his dad work on street rods and old cars in the family's garage. When they weren't fixing something, Wittek and his buddies went to auto shows and events. Eventually he began to tinker with his own cars. His first project was a 1983 Datsun 280ZX, which he finished while he was a student in the Auto Body Repair program at Saint Paul College. "I've been a car guy since I was old enough to know what a car was," he says with a laugh. "I basically love anything with an engine."

Wittek enrolled in the College's two–year Auto Body Repair program in 1994. At the time, he knew he wanted to work in the auto repair industry, but he didn't know what kinds of jobs were open in the field. But he soon got the hang of things, immersing himself in the program and working part–time at Haas Auto Body in St. Paul. His instructor, Doug DeRosier, who still teaches at the College, remembers him as one of his best students. "This is a difficult trade, and Dan was outstanding —especially at painting," DeRosier says. "That's why he could get out and handle difficult jobs right away."

"The Perfect Job"

After graduating from the College, Wittek went to work for Standard Color, a paint distributor, and eventually moved into a job with the company in technical sales. His job experiences ultimately led him to his current employer, St. Paul–based 3M.

As a technical service engineer at 3M, which Wittek says is "the perfect job" for him, he can use the skills he's learned both at the College and on the job. Sometimes he acts as a middleman between developers of such auto repair products as masking tapes and adhesives and the distributors who sell them. He also travels to help body shops and auto auction houses across the country develop standard operating procedures for using different kinds of products. "There aren't a lot of mom–and–pop repair shops left," Wittek explains. "The big, multiple–shop operations want to be sure that if a car has a dent in it, every one of their locations is repairing it in the same way."

Wittek admits that his job might not sound glamorous to someone outside the auto industry. But as he also adds, it's a big part of what auto repair is all about — and that it takes a thorough knowledge of the basics to do it right. "People who've done this for years still need to be constantly honing their skills."

That updating, he adds, is part of what makes the field rewarding, and even something of an art form. "Unlike other industries, when you work with cars you get to take something that's a mess and make it beautiful again," he says.

It's also a trade that never goes out of style — if you have the right background. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities are excellent for people with formal training in automotive body repair and refinishing. In fact, the BLS notes that experienced body repairers are rarely laid off during general economic slowdowns. Why? The industry is somewhat insulated from fluctuating economic conditions — major body damage always needs to be repaired before a vehicle can be driven safely.

Still, as DeRosier notes, the trade isn't without challenges. "I give student the tools they need and teach them techniques, but they need the interest to work hard and get everything out of class. I tell students that they get out of this program exactly what they put in. If they work hard, there are good jobs out there for them when they graduate."

Wittek gives DeRosier and Saint Paul College credit for helping to confirm his belief that working with cars was the right career choice for him. "Doug was fantastic," Wittek recalls. "We weren't just doing collision repair. I remember one time we had an old car with a hard top and we got to turn it into a convertible. You could tell he had a genuine love for what he was doing and he shared it with his students."

This article written by MeLeah Maynard.