Anybody who has had to have a vehicle worked on recently knows it is not necessarily a cheap endeavor to fix a modern car. With thousands of cars being repaired each year in Lawrence, the automotive repair industry is a multimillion dollar business venture in the city.

It is sometimes easy to forget about the importance of blue collar jobs like an auto mechanic, and the fine careers that such an industry can provide to area residents. Fortunately, some community leaders have not, and they’ve created a new partnership that is worthy of praise.

Six Lawrence auto dealers have struck a deal with the leaders of Peaslee Tech to fund a new degree program for automotive technology at the Lawrence-based vocational school.

The dealers — Laird Noller, Dale Willey, Briggs, Crown, Jack Ellena and Lawrence Kia — have each agreed to contribute $10,000 a year for five years to fund the program at Peaslee Tech. Graduates of the new program can leave with a certification that can land them a career in what is becoming the increasingly high-tech auto repair industry.

A good automotive technician can make more than $60,000 a year. Finding enough quality employees, though, has been difficult for area automobile dealers and other repair shops. Instead of simply wringing their hands about the issue, leaders have come up with a good public-private partnership.

Peaslee Tech, located in the former Honeywell Avionics building near 31st and Haskell, is a school that is supported by the city, the county, The Chamber, the Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence and Douglas County, and others. The money from the auto dealers will be used to fund many of the capital and equipment expenses needed to get the automotive technician program off the ground. A similar public-private model was used earlier this year when the leader of Lawrence’s P1 Group Inc. made a donation to fund a new classroom for Peaslee Tech’s heating, air conditioning and ventilation technician program.

Peaslee Tech is filling an important need in Douglas County. The school currently offers classes in carpentry, construction, HVAC, manufacturing and welding, among other subjects. The automotive technician program could begin next fall, once some final approvals from education officials are won. When Peaslee Tech opened its doors in the fall of 2015, it had about 100 students. Now it has more than 300 students.

The new automotive program almost certainly will grow that number, and Lawrence and Douglas County will be the beneficiary. The community is a better place when it has a diversity of education and career options for its residents.