Tom Palermo has been ASE-certified since the mid-1990s. Today, with 51 certifications to his name, he's part of ASE's President's Club, an ASE Board of Directors member, and the incoming 2027 ASE chairman. He's also a shop owner running Preferred Automotive Specialists, where he's deployed the ASE Renewal App across his team of seven technicians.

For Palermo, the app represents far more than a convenience play—it's become a cornerstone of how his shop handles training, team building, and culture. He discusses what the app changed about recertification, how it's transformed his approach to technician development, and what it reveals about ASE's commitment to the industry.

How did you learn about the ASE Renewal App, and why did you choose to try it?

Tom Palermo: When I first came on the board in 2018, they were pretty much done putting it together. It was just being released. When I heard more about it, it was a no-brainer. The app is great. We started using it pretty much right after that. We really love it.

How many technicians did you put on it when you first tried it out?

Palermo: When we first started with the app, I think it was about four or five, including myself.

Before the app, what did the ASE renewal process look like for your technicians?

Palermo: Basically, it was the same as some of the non-A series tests. If you don't have the app, every five years, you're going back to a testing center and retaking the recertification test, then you'd be good for another five years. With the app, you're continuing that certification. Every time you answer eight questions correctly throughout the course of the year, it gets extended for one year. So, you're constantly extending the certification without having to go through a testing center or doing a virtual recertification.

What pain points did the ASE Renewal App solve for you?

Palermo: There's the obvious benefit of not having to go to a testing center. Once you've taken a couple of tests at a testing center, it's not a big deal, but you still have to set some time aside. If you have a few certifications, you might take two or three at a time, which means an hour and a half, two hours maybe. But then you have to drive there, take the test, and then get back to whatever you're doing. The app is great from a convenience standpoint. Throughout the year, you're getting questions fed to you for each certification you have. You're working through them.

How have you used the app to improve your technicians?

Palermo: It sparks conversations with the technicians in the shop. If they answer a question in the app wrong, read the explanation, and still don't understand it, they can ask their colleagues and collaborate on why they didn't understand that particular content or question. It gives us a great way to understand where we need to focus our training efforts moving forward. If we have people constantly struggling in one particular area, I can maneuver the training in that direction and help solve problems for them. We work in a team environment, so we want everybody to work together to improve. The app is a great way to do that.

Is it intuitive and easy to use?

Palermo: Oh, yeah. Super simple. Especially now—they just went to app 2.0, which ASE did a fantastic job with. It's very intuitive to use; very user-friendly.

As a learning tool, are technicians bound to focus on just the certifications they're working on in the ASE Renewal App, or can they study other ASE certifications?

Palermo: The way the app works, whatever certifications you have, that's what content you're going to get. If you have A1 through A4, the questions you're going to get are related to A1 through A4. You can see the other possible certifications, but they're locked until you get that certification. This is primarily a recertification app. If you don't have the certification, you've got to get the initial one. Once you get the initial one, you're locked in and ready to go.

Today's vehicles are complex. Does the app's content reflect that complexity and keep up with the speed of technology?

Palermo: The app does a fantastic job of staying current. The content they're putting in there for those questions is up to date and has content that makes sense to things we're seeing out on the shop floor every day. It's challenging content—it's not easy—but that's what we want. We want to push ourselves to do better. If there's a space where we need help, we want to know that while we're sitting there on the app, not when we have the car in the bay.

In terms of eagerness of learning, does the ASE Renewal App help techs want to continue to learn and grow?

Palermo: Oh, yeah. That's the interesting part of the app. There are a few different ways that people approach it. Some are like, "OK, this stops me from having to go every five years, fine, I'll do it." But everybody I know who starts with the app and continues with it loves it. It becomes almost a game.

They did a great job with gamification, where you're waiting for the content. I've had people say, "I answered my questions. When do I get my next set of questions?" You have to wait. They're going to send them to you. Once they start using it, yeah, it's a great tool, and it keeps them engaged, which I think is important for the technician and for us as shop owners. I think it's really important that it keeps them in contact with ASE. I think it does a great job of keeping everybody collaborative and moving in the same direction.

From an ROI perspective, is the app good for your shop?

Palermo: Oh, yeah, for sure. I pay for my technicians to take their ASE tests and do all that. I pay for the app. I have absolutely no problem doing it. As a matter of fact, I enjoy watching their reaction when they recertify or when they get a question right that they thought maybe they weren't sure about. It's a great tool not just for recertification, but also for team building. The ROI is great because it keeps them certified. Sometimes it's tough for people, depending on where you live, to be able to get to a testing center for recertification. This is a great, easy way to make it fun and make it available for everybody, no matter where you are.

When one of your technicians completes their eight questions and certifies, is it a big deal?

Palermo: Big moment. Everybody gets really happy. The funny part is, I have yet to have a technician—and as I said, we've been using it since it came out, which I believe was around 2018, 2019—I have yet to find somebody who gets to the eighth question and just stops.

When the subscription rolls over—it's good for a year—you start from zero again. That's usually when they start getting antsy.

What does ASE's commitment to its renewal app say about its commitment to technician education and training?

Palermo: Their commitment is extremely high. Everybody at ASE is really dialed in on what we're doing as an industry, how to make things better for technicians, and how to help technicians learn and move forward in their careers. There's a lot of data out there showing that technicians who engage with ASE and certification do much better, both financially at their job and from a pride perspective.

When you're a master certified technician, that carries some weight. It shows your commitment to your craft, and it lets everybody else see how committed you are. They do a very good job with the subject matter experts and the testing department. All those guys do a great job of keeping that content up to date and giving us things to use that make sense for us that we see on the shop floor every day. Their commitment is extremely high, and it shows in the app.

For shop owners on the fence about the ASE Renewal App, what would you tell them?

Palermo: I would tell them you're crazy if you don't do it. It's an easy way to get your technicians recertified or extend certifications. It's easy to use. It's easy to sign up for. The cost is not that expensive. It's a win all around, not just from the content and certification side, but from the learning side and the team-building portion of it that you have in your shop. I saw the benefits from a certification perspective. I saw the benefits from the learning perspective. But when we started doing it, I was really impressed with how much it brought the team together. That collaboration is really what helps drive the shop forward.