160 Driving Academy Launches New Location with Ivy Tech South Bend

EVANSTON, Ill. , June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 160 Driving Academy launched their newest truck driving school in partnership with Ivy Tech Community College, located in South Bend, Indiana. The Grand Opening Event took place on June 15^th, 2022, at the Ivy Tech Campus located at 220 Dean Johnson Blvd.

Notable attendees included CEO of 160 Driving Academies Steve Gold, Community Outreach Director Shay Davis of South Bend Mayor Mueller's Office, Ivy Tech Executive Director Matthew Presley, South Bend Chamber of Commerce Director of Member Relations, Mark McGill, and several leadership members from the respective organizations.

Commemorating the event, Steve Gold remarked, "This is very exciting for 160 Driving Academy as there are not enough truck drivers in the United States. We currently have forty students on the enrollment waitlist for the South Bend location. The wages for the starting truck driver are up thirty percent from where it was three to four years ago before the pandemic. So, trucking is an excellent place to start making money."

Matt Presley, Executive Director of Career Coaching and Employer Connections for Ivy Tech South Bend/Elkhart Campus, said, "The need for professional truck drivers in our region is substantial. This partnership helps to meet that demand with high-quality, safety focused training that prepares new drivers with the skills and licensure necessary to launch a career."

The event was replete with an on-site semi-truck to explore, notable remarks followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony, photo ops with Stu the Cub of the South Bend Cubs, and light bites and refreshments.

Overview of 160 Driving Academy CDL Training Programs in South Bend:

• Starting salaries for 160 Driving Academy graduates (on average) start at $65,000/annual, with tremendous growth potential
• Commercial Truck Driving is one of today's fastest growing career paths. Estimates predict 300,000 new jobs for CDL Holders.
• Technologically Driven: Our unique and data-driven programs focus deeply on driver safety and personalized analytics to provide our students with individual feedback and top of the line instruction via our proprietary App.
• Lifelong Career Support: We offer continuous job placement opportunities through our subsidiary company, Truckers Network.

160 Driving Academy is the nation's largest commercial driving school.  As the fastest growing vocational school in the country, in 2022 alone, the Company will train over 35,000 students on how to safely operate a semi-truck across its 130-school system.  160 Driving Academy is licensed and operates in 43 states and each school is certified and licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Entry Level Driver Training Program.  The 160 Driving Academy is integrated with over 400 Workforce offices nationwide to create jobs for unemployed and underemployed workers. 

The 160 Driving Academy supplies the largest employers in the nation with an unparalleled level of recruiting, high-quality training, safety effectiveness, and driver analytics.  Many of these employers have trusted the Company to provide the majority of their driving workforce.   

160 Driving Academy's sister companies, the 160 Truckers Network, and the 160 Driver Score provide the most advanced job placement and compliance scoring capabilities in the industry. 

SOURCE 160 Driving Academy