DENVER, Colo. – The Gates Corp. announced that its national training manager for the automotive aftermarket division, Robert "Bobby" Bassett, received the Mort Schwartz Excellence in Education Award Tuesday at the 2014 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium held in Chicago, Ill.
 
The Mort Schwartz Excellence in Education Award is given annually to the person, educational institution or company that best advances the concepts and programs for education or continuing education in the North American automotive aftermarket. The award was named in honor of Mort Schwartz, founder of the annual Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS), which uses proceeds from each year’s events to fund a scholarship program for students pursuing education and careers in the automotive aftermarket. Nominations for this award are accepted and evaluated by the Auto Care Association Education Committee.
 
Bassett is being recognized for his recent accomplishments in the training arena – including the Gates Tools for Schools Program, an industry-wide initiative to provide support for automotive instructors; the Gates Performance Center, an e-learning site that provides video and other training support for Gates employees, customers, technicians and students; and his work for introducing “Inside AAPEX,” a program to encourage instructors to attend AAPEX.
 
“It is a huge honor to receive this award,” said Bassett, “Hopefully this award will provide industry insight as to the needs of the educators along with their students. After all, they will be the ones repairing cars in the future and we want to make sure they have the latest information at their fingertips.”