By Michael Hart
 Rick Hogan |
Rick Hogan has spent his entire career in the automotive aftermarket industry, and has enjoyed every minute of it. As national sales manager for E3 Spark Plugs, he took the company from launch to a multi-million-dollar business in just seven years.
But then, in a freak accident in 2011, Hogan fell from the roof of his home in Orlando, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. With severe limitations on his ability to travel, Hogan, 59, has found it hard to keep his career on track.
The Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation (AACF) is assisting Hogan and his wife Cindy. The AACF was founded in 1959 to help automotive aftermarket industry members and families who, due to catastrophic illness or accident, have exhausted all other available financial resources.
“They’ve helped us with a lot of the rehab and treatments that insurance traditionally won’t pay for,” Hogan said.
And the SEMA Career Center is pitching in to help him get his career back on track. Over the next weeks and months, the Career Center will help Hogan create a job profile, update his résumé, optimize his LinkedIn profile, create a cover letter and help him find his next opportunity.
“This is about using the resources available through the SEMA Career Center to connect Rick to the right company, and a position for him to excel in,” said Zane Clark, SEMA’s senior director of education. “Rick has a wealth of knowledge and a vast industry network that could be a real benefit,” Clark added.
Hogan, who began working in the automotive industry during his high-school years, has devoted decades to industry sales and marketing, but he’s willing to be creative in the future about how he can best serve the business that means so much to him.
“I’ve spent my whole life in this industry, and I really don’t want to leave it,” he said. “I’ll do anything I can think of to stick with it.”
Visit the SEMA Career Center to find qualified employees like Rick Hogan.
For questions, contact Zane Clark.