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Location: Riverside Technology Park

Subaru of America, Inc.

Frederick, MD www.subaru.com

As we hear on commercials, “love” is what makes a Subaru a Subaru. But it’s the behind-the-scenes training that allows Subaru dealerships to provide great technical service to customers.

Subaru of America, Inc. has 11 technical training facilities across the country where dealership technicians are trained on Subaru’s latest products and technologies. The location of each of these facilities is based on customer and dealer density, explained Ken Benson, field operations manager for technical training. One of Subaru’s technical training locations moved to Riverside Technology Park in Frederick, Maryland, at the end of 2013. “The growth of the company, the growth of our service business and our sales business necessitated us finding a location that could support growth and would be more centrally located for our dealer body,” Ken stated. The Frederick facility trains dealership technicians from as far away as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as the Washington, D.C., area, he said. Instructors as this location train about eight students per day, but that number will likely double later this year, according to Ken. “We’re not a service facility — we’re strictly a training facility,” Ken stated. “Our dealerships are the point of service for our customer. We’re simply a training organization so our dealers know the product and all of the service points of the product.” Ken said that Subaru recently launched new hybrid vehicles, so some recent training sessions focused on those products. Ken said he chose St. John Properties’ Riverside Technology Park location because it is an attractive business park with well-main- tained exteriors, and it is easily accessible for students. He also cited nearby hotels and restaurants as advantages to the location. Ken appreciates the landlord-tenant relationship with St. John Properties. “They’ve been excellent to work with, very accommo- dating, excellent communication. They seem to be very proactive,” he said. “They seem to want to do the right thing. They seem to take good care of their properties.”

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