sw 0914 issue web

Louisiana Attorney General BuddyCaldwell has filed a lawsuit againstState Farm Insurance alleging the na-tionwide insurer has engaged in a pat-tern of unfair and fraudulent businesspractices aimed at controlling theauto repair industry and forcing un-safe repairs on vehicles without theknowledge or consent of Louisianaconsumers.

Attorney General Caldwell said,“State Farm has created a culture ofunsafe business practices in which con-sumer vehicle repairs are performedwith cost-savings as the primary goalrather than safety and reliability.”

The suit, filed in Louisiana’s 19thJudicial District Court, alleges StateFarm violated Louisiana’s Unfair TradePractices Act and Monopolies Law by

using scare tactics to steer Louisianaconsumers to State Farm’s preferred re-pair shops and forcing shops to performvehicle repairs cheaply and quickly,rather than in accordance with con-sumer safety and vehicle manufacturerperformance standards.

The lawsuit alleges that StateFarm steers consumers to direct repair

by John Yoswick

A glimpse at future vehicle technol-ogy and what it may mean for colli-

sion repairers and insurers filled muchof the agenda at I-CAR’s annual con-ference in Detroit in late July, but the

organization saved perhaps its mostsignificant news for a presentation atNACE the following day.

There, Jason Bartanen unveiledthe new “Repairability Techni-cal Support Portal,” I-CAR’seffort to put repair proceduresand vehicle information asclose to technician’s as thenearest computer, tablet orsmartphone screen.

“We really want to put thisinformation into technician’shands,” said Bartanen, directorof industry technical relationsfor I-CAR. “They may notwalk up to the front of the

shop to ask a technical question. But ifthey have the answer in their pocket,

by Ed Attanasio

NACE is known for new product re-leases, fast breaking technology andfancy classic cars, but it’s also a placeto get the latest news in the collisionindustry. Scott Biggs, the charismaticCEO, President and Founder of As-sured Performance Network in Irvine,CA, delivered the goods when hespoke to a full room at this year’sNACE show. The message Biggs con-veyed concerned the present and

growing importance of man-ufacturer certifications andthe associated referral pro-grams that will soon becomeprevalent in the collision in-dustry. His speech was bothtimely and relevant to anybody shop, whether it’s asmall independent all the wayto a large MSO.

The times are a-chang-ing and you don’t need to beBob Dylan to see it, accord-

ing to Biggs. “You need to know thatthis isn’t your grandfather’s or evenyour father’s certification program.The biggest difference is that now theautomakers are rewarding the shopsthat invest in compliance with cus-tomer referrals.

OEM’s have already begun torefer their vehicle owners to these for-ward-thinking shops for their collisionrepair needs, and this will only in-crease over the coming months. The

playing field has changed and busi-ness as usual is over. The biggest au-tomakers with mass-produced andmass-market brands are using a veryaggressive referral approach and thatwill place the certified shops at awhole different level.”

That Ford is leading the pack withthis body shop certification program isa clear indication of where things areheaded, Biggs explained. “Ford hasmade a new truck (the best selling ve-hicle in the country for 30 years) thatcannot be fixed in the old-fashionedway—period. Following suit are otherOEM’s. If you want to repair any ofthese vehicles, and there will be mil-lions of them soon, you’re going tohave to do it the right way—which re-quires new tools, equipment, trainingand facilities. Shops who do not em-brace these changes put themselvesand their customers in a very tenuousand unsafe position. So, certificationreally isn’t even elective in this

Assured Performance Network Makes the Case and Details Growing OEM Insistence onBeing Part of Repair and Certification in the Future, NACE Attendees Clearly Impressed

I-CAR Wants to Get OEM Info to Techs and toEducate Consumers about Tech Training

See LA AG Files Suit, Page 4

See Assured Performance, 2

Louisiana AG Buddy Caldwell Files Suit AgainstState Farm Alleging Unsafe Business Practices

See I-CAR Wants, Page 38

Ronald Doerr, new Senior V.P. of Strategic Initiatives (l) andScott Biggs point out the features of the new Chrysler app.

Jason Bartanen presents the Repairability TechnicalSupport Portal on the NACE Show Floor

NACE Coverage Onlineat autobodynews.comTechnology & Telematics ExpoHole in One Winner at CREFExpo Overview and SessionsNABC and Recycled RidesMedia Debriefing After ShowShow Photos on our Facebook

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Absolute Mitsubishi-Hyundai . . . . . 33BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 37CCC Information Services . . . . . . . 21Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13Classic BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Dent Tools Direct USA . . . . . . . . . . 14Dominion Sure Seal, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . 4Don Carlton Auto Group. . . . . . . . . 30Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 8Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 2Ford Wholesale Parts DealersTX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Fowler Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Freedom Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram. 17Gillman Acura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36GlasWeld Systems, Inc. . . . . . . . . . 10GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 45Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-DodgeLewisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 20Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 43Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 35

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Mac Haik Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45Mercedes-Benz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 41MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 27North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 38PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . 29Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 18Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 32SEMA Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Sherwin-Williams AutomotiveFinishes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. . 7TG Products, Inc. - The Rail Saver . 10Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 43Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Volkswagen Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 44Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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Contents

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

REGIONAL

Austin Body Shop Said to Have Taken

Woman’s Handicap Van For Months. . . . 4

Caliber Opens New Collision Repair Center

In Houston Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Collision King Honored By Farmers Insurance

As Body Shop of the Year in Texas,

Sherwin-Williams Congratulates. . . . . . . 6

Convicted Killer of Houston-area Cop and

Body Shop Owner Sentenced to Death . . 19

Dallas DA Allegedly Mishandled Car Crash

With Settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Former Texas Prosecutor Asks State to

Pardon in Fatal GM Crash, Accident

Already Listed by GM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Handheld Cellphone Ban Considered

in Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Industry Trends Seminars Scheduled

in Texas August 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Louisiana AG Buddy Caldwell Files Suit

Against State Farm Alleging Unsafe

Business Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Louisiana State Police Offer Option to

Purchase Crash Photos Online . . . . . . . . 6

Man Guilty of Wire Fraud Related to

Insurance Claims in Nederland, Texas . . 9

Milstead Automotive & Collision partners

with Enterprise Rent-A-Car on-site . . . . 29

National Autobody Parts Warehouse in

TX Receives Outstanding Ratings

During ISO Certification Review . . . . . . 46

New Law Against Junked Vehicles Being

Enforced in Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Service King Awards Four Scholarships,

Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Service King Sponsors Dallas Collision

Repair Career Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Sisk - ABAT Holds Second Meeting . . . . . 22

Sisk - HABA Holds Meeting, Co-Hosts

Business-Building Events. . . . . . . . . . . 34

Spring, TX’s Milstead Automotive Offers

Car Care Clinic, Sept. 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Texas Lawyer Sues GM on Behalf of

658 Plaintiffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Texas Plastics Maker Hit with $174K

OSHA Fine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Texas Troopers Check Close to 2000

Vehicles During Roadcheck Campaign. . 12

Third Party Adminstrator from CA

Expands Into Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

COLUMNISTS

Attanasio - How Can I Squeeze More

Out of My SEMA Experience?. . . . . . . . 18

Attanasio - Is Your Reception Area Making

a Good First Impression? . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Attanasio - MCRS Lobbyist Represents

Collision Repairers in Big Sky Country . 40

Luehr - Better Blueprinting, Part 1:

Why is Blueprinting Important? . . . . . . 16

Sisk - Repair Documentation Series,

Part 2: Assignment of Proceeds and

Writ of Replevin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

NATIONAL

92-year-old Owen Crist Auto Body

closed July 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ABRA Auto Body & Glass Continues

Tennessee Expansion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Assured Performance Network Makes

the Case and Details Growing OEM

Insistence on Being Part of Repair

and Certification in the Future, NACE

Attendees Clearly Impressed . . . . . . . . . 1

Attanasio - ICRA Lobbyist Defends Rights

of Iowa Body Shop Owners . . . . . . . . . 26

Attanasio - Master Painter JoAnn Bortles

Gets Dose of Reality on Motor City

Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

I-CAR Wants to Get OEM Info to Techs

and to Educate Consumers about

Tech Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

NABC Members Collaborate at Fundraising

Event for Collision Repair Education

Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PartsTrader Hits 1,000,000th Order

Milestone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Sisk - ASA-AZ Serves a Big State

with Diverse Interests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Sisk - ASA-NW Members Enjoy

Summer Retreat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Sisk - IADA Holds 46th Annual Conference,

Hopes to Attract New Members . . . . . . 42

Sisk - Wheels to Prosper’s Annual

Giveaway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

How Does Industry Pay Compare?

Boulder, CO

Lexington, KY

Roslindale, MA

Wexford, PA


A Hutto woman and her disabled son aredesperate for a solution nearly eightmonths after their van was sent to a NorthAustin body shop to be fixed, accordingto a story produced by KVUE-TV.

Their van was damaged in a caraccident back in January when SarahGaskins lost control on the icy roads.After filing a claim with her insurance,she took the van to D-Town Auto BodyShop in North Austin.

Since then, however, she has beenunable to pick up her van because theowner of D-Town Body Shop, DarrenWydermyer, has yet to completely fix it.

Every time Gaskins calls theshop, she says Darren tells her it willbe ready “next week.”

“It’s never ready next week.That’s been going on for over fivemonths,” Gaskins told KVUE-TV.

Her son Jacob has normal func-tion, but he was born with cerebralpalsy after an accident during delivery.They rely on the van to take him any-where he needs to go, including doc-tor’s appointments.

“Where it’s really complicated iswith Jacob’s doctor’s appointments. I’llschedule an appointment, and Darrenwill say it’ll be ready next week so I’llsay okay and reschedule the appoint-ment for next week,” she explained.

KVUE asked Darren if it nor-mally takes six to eight months to dothis type of body work.

His response? “No, this is a raresituation.”

Darren explains that there wasextensive damage so the repairs aretaking longer than usual.

He also claims there has beensome confusion over the insurance,but Gaskins says he has already beenpaid for work he has not completed.

Gaskins said Darren was handedthe check in February and cashed itimmediately.

After phone calls each week andstill no van, Gaskins son’s trust, anAustin law firm, issued a letter author-izing a tow truck driver to go to theshop and pick up the van to take to adifferent auto body shop.

Charlie Lincoln, a representativeof Austin Mobility where Gaskins pur-chased the van, volunteered to helpand visit the shop himself.

Lincoln says Darren ignored him,and then asked him to leave.

“He said it was none of my busi-ness why the van had taken so long,and I had no business on his property,”Lincoln said.

Lincoln said a tow truck drivertried on three separate occasions to

pick up the van and each time he wasunsuccessful.

KVUE asked Darren why hewouldn’t release Gaskin’s van to thetow truck driver. He says he will notrelease it until the work is done and heis paid additional money for work hesays he did, on top of the insurancemoney he has already received.

REPORTER: “You’re saying theinsurance company owes you morethan the $15,000?”

DARREN: “Yes, there [are] a fewmore items they need to pay for. That’ssomething you usually tally up at theend.”

REPORTER: “So you weren’tgoing to let them take the van until youhad tallied the extra work on top of the$15,000?”

DARREN: “You do all that at theend. Of course I’d want to get all themoney I’m owed before I release thevan.”

Sarah says the insurance will paythe additional money and has in factoffered to pay more in the past but shesays Darren had refused the moneyand didn’t mention the additional workrequired until now.

She is hoping the work will fi-nally be finished soon so her son’s lifecan go back to normal and she won’t

have to spend more money fromJacob’s trust on a lawyer.

“To pay an attorney, it’s going tobe more money that’s going to comeout of his trust and the insurance hasalready paid them. He should not haveto suffer anymore. It’s not fair to him,because it’s coming out of his moneythat has to last his whole lifetime.”

Darren told KVUE he expects allthe work to be completed within thenext two to three days.

Darren also called Gaskins andtold her it would be ready by next week.

Austin Body Shop Said to Have Taken Woman’s Handicap Van For Months

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providers that have signed agreementswith the insurance company. As part ofthe terms of the agreement, those repairshops must comply with the standardsfor repair laid out by State Farm. Theinsurance company, not the repair shop,dictates how long the repair shouldtake, what types of repairs are madeand the quality of replacement parts. Inmany cases, the repairs are completedwith sub-standard parts without theconsent of the policy holder.

“In some cases, we’ve found thatthese parts are nothing more than usedjunk yard parts. In others, we’vefound them to be foreign knock-offparts of questionable quality,” saidCaldwell. “Auto repair is not an in-

dustry where you can cut corners tosave a little money,” he said. “It couldbe a matter of life and death.”

Caldwell says the suit aims tochange the culture of unsafe businesspractices led by State Farm in the autoinsurance and repair industry. StateFarm currently holds the largest shareof auto insurance policies in Louisiana.In 2012, State Farm wrote one third ofall auto insurance policies in the statetotaling over $1 billion in premiums.

“Each month Louisiana con-sumers give their hard earned moneyto State Farm under the assumptionthat the insurer will take care of themif an accident occurs. This simply isn’thappening. Quite frankly, State Farmhas been there for State Farm, not theLouisiana consumer,” Caldwell stated.

A PDF copy of the lawsuit can befound at www.autobodynews.com.

Continued from Cover

LA AG Files Suit

92-year-old Owen Crist Auto Body closed July 31Owen Crist Auto Body Service inDes Moines closed its doors on July31, ending a 92-year-old business,according to reports in the DesMoines Register. Closing the busi-ness is bittersweet for owner LarryCrist, who auctioned off the contents

of the business Aug. 9. “This is greatfor Des Moines and great for thenorthern part of the city,” said Crist,82. Crist planned to sell six or eightvehicles, air compressors, frameracks and auto body and towingequipment.


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Collision King Honored By Farmers Insurance As BodyShop of the Year in Texas, Sherwin-Williams CongratulatesIn the collision repair industry, qualitywork and dedicated service are thekeys to a satisfied customer. FarmersInsurance annually recognizes topshops for service excellence with theBody Shop of the Year award. Sher-win-Williams would like to congratu-late Collision King Auto Body RepairCenter in Lubbock, Texas for beingthe state recipient of this award for theyear 2013.

This latest award will be oneamong numerous other accolades forCollision King including being named“Best Auto Body Repair Center inLubbock” for nine straight years and“Best Body Repair Center” in KCBDChannel 11’s “Best of the West” cam-paign since 2010.

“We feel a great sense of pride,”said owner Steven Tisdale, “and itshumbling to be recognized this way.We are in a smaller market comparedto areas like Dallas, Houston andAustin. We often fly under the radargetting overlooked by the larger mar-kets in Texas. But we have a greatteam, we utilize team work and em-power our people to make good de-cisions and think on their feet.”

Established in 1998 by Tisdale,Collision King’s management staff

brings more than 100 years of com-bined experience to their work, uti-lizing the latest technology, includingSherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-ishes’ primer and topcoat systems toensure precision work.

“Sherwin-Williams productshave been great for our shop,” saidTisdale. “But more important thanthe products is the ongoing supportwe get from them. In addition, ourlocal jobber, West Texas Auto Colors,is top notch and the manager, An-thony Palomo, has helped us imple-ment lean process and goes the extramile any time we need him.”

“At Sherwin-Williams, we trulyvalue our long term relationship withCollision King and are committed tocontinue to support them in their pur-suit of excellence,” adds Glenn Lane,Director of Sales-Southwest, forSherwin-Williams Automotive Fin-ishes.

For more information on Colli-sion King visit the company websitewww.collisionking.com or call 806-794-5990.

For more information on Sher-win-Williams Automotive Finishesvisit www.sherwin-automotive.comor call 1-800-798-5872.

Milstead Automotive & Collision isinviting women to attend its last in-stallment of its Lipsticks & Dipstickscar care series, Thurs., Sept. 11 from5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. where car andimage experts will explain how driv-ers can improve their image and theirride. Milstead Automotive & Collisionis located at 29707 W. Hawthorne inSpring, TX.

Amy Milstead, president of Mil-stead Automotive & Collision, createdthe Lipsticks & Dipsticks clinics toreach out to women of all ages to getfamiliar with their cars; from chang-ing a tire, checking the charge of a bat-tery or replacing an oil filter. “It’simportant that women know whattheir options are in terms of car careand maintenance. There are so manythings that women can do to improvetheir vehicle without replacing it;whether they are mechanical or aes-thetic changes.” Milstead Automotive& Collision can provide everything re-lated to automotive needs – scheduledmaintenance to collision repair to de-tailing is all in one location, she added.

While Milstead and her automo-tive team talk about improving theimage of your vehicle inside and out,Monette Smith, CEO and publisher ofreviewit, Flair and Vida Social Maga-

zine, will speak about improving yourprofessional image.

Smith, an accomplished motiva-tional speaker and women’s businessleader has headlined seminars, lunch-eons and discussions to help area busi-nesses define their strengths to besuccessful and profitable.

According to Smith, “No matterwhat your job may be, it is importantto always look and feel your best. Ifyou aren’t confident in your own skin,it is going to show. You only get onechance to make a first impression, soyou have to make it count.”

Milstead also created MilsteadAutomotive’s Last Call service aimedat preventing drunk driving and hasspearheaded Milstead’s Video Ambas-sador Campaign against texting anddriving. “I am very excited to havethese opportunities to host clinicswhere we can impart some automotiveknowledge for people in our commu-nity, especially women,” Milsteadadded.

The Lipsticks & Dipsticks eventis free and open to the public. Light re-freshments will be served. Reserva-tions are not required, but encouraged.All guests who RSVP will be enteredinto a drawing for a free oil change. Ifyou would like to attend, please RSVP

by calling Elizabeth Williams at 281-367-3535.

In conjunction with this event,Milstead Automotive & Collision isrunning a Facebook contest to honorwomen in the military. Milstead is so-liciting stories of incredible militarywomen who are deserving of a totalmakeover provided by Blo The Wood-lands. For more information or tomake a nomination, visit Milstead Au-tomotive’s Facebook page at:www.facebook.com/millsteadautomo-tive.

Milstead Automotive Group is afamily-owned and operated full-ser-vice automotive repair facility servingMontgomery and Harris Counties. Thecompany was founded in 1971 by DickMilstead where he offered customershonest, quality auto repair from his twocar garage. Since that time, Milsteadhas grown into a 29-bay facility andoffers automotive, transmission, colli-sion, towing, RV and fleet services.

For more information on Milstead Au-tomotive & Collision’s services, visitmilsteadautomotive.com.

Spring, TX’s Milstead Automotive Offers Car Care Clinic, Sept. 11

Louisiana State Police say the op-tion of ordering crash photographsthrough its website is now availableto the public.

The agency says such photos areavailable online at www.lsp.org. Onceon the website, visitors should click onthe LSP statewide crash reports andphotos link for photographs and/or re-ports.

To order, the driver’s or pedes-trian’s first and last name, parish ofthe crash, and date of the crash mustbe provided. Fatality photographswill not be available online.

Officials hope the new system,announced Thursday, will increase ac-cessibility to crash photographs andstreamline the purchasing process.Photographs can also be purchased bymail or phone through the LSP PhotoLab at 225-925-3518.

The cost for each photograph is $10.

Louisiana State Police OfferOption to Purchase CrashPhotos Online

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NABC Members Collaborate at Fundraising Event forCollision Repair Education FoundationMembers of the National Auto BodyCouncil (NABC) are joining forceswith industry colleagues to promotethe professionalism and integrity of thecollision industry to the next genera-tion of experts and leaders at the “Cars,Careers & Celebrities Expo.” Theevent, Saturday, August 16, in Arling-ton, Texas, is expected to be one of thelargest fundraisers for the CollisionRepair Education Foundation (CREF).

A highlight of the day’-longevent will be presentation of NABC’ssignature Recycled RidesTM pro-gram by the Van Tuyl Group whichrefurbished vehicles provided by En-terprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz and All-state. The Recycled Rides vehicleswill be donated to three deservingfamilies in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

“Recycled Rides epitomizes thespirit of collaboration as repairers, in-surers, rental car companies, partssuppliers, manufacturers and othersin our industry work together to giveback to local communities,” saidRick Tuuri, Chair of NABC’s Recy-cled Rides program, and a boardmember of both NABC and CREF.“Showcasing Recycled Rides to ournext generation of industry profes-sionals exemplifies the standards and

values that are prevalent in our in-dustry today.”

Sponsors for the CREF fundrais-ing event practically mirror the Dia-mond membership roster of theNABC, further testament to the com-mitment by today’s industry leadersto collaborate and join forces.

NABC members supporting theevent include: 3M, 800 Radiator, Au-daExplore/Hollander, ABRA AutoBody & Glass, Axalta Coating Sys-tems, Caliber Collision, DentZone/PDR Links, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Gerber Collision & Glass,Hertz, PPG Automotive Refinish,Service King Collision Repair Cen-ters and Van Tuyl Group.

“The efforts of the Collision Re-pair Education Foundation are criti-cal to the future of our industry. Welook forward to more opportunitiessuch as this upcoming event to par-ticipate and partner with our col-leagues at CREF to reinforce ourmission to promote professionalismand integrity in our industry,” saidNick Notte, NABC Board President.

For updated information about“Cars, Careers and Celebrities,” visitwww.CollisionEducationFounda-tion.org/Dallas-Event.

Former Texas Prosecutor Asks State to Pardon in FatalGM Crash, Accident Already Listed by GMA former Texas prosecutor has askedthe state to pardon a woman whopleaded guilty in a 2004 car crash thatkilled her fiance, saying she now be-lieves the accident was caused by afaulty General Motors ignition switch.

Candice Anderson was driving a2004 Saturn Ion in November 2004when the car suddenly veered off aroad and ran into a tree in Van ZandtCounty, southeast of Dallas. Her fi-ance, Gene Mikale Erickson, who was25, was killed. Anderson, then 21, wasseverely hurt.

Because there were no skid marks,authorities believed Anderson was atfault and charged her with negligenthomicide. Anderson pleaded guilty andwas sentenced to five years of proba-tion and 260 hours of community serv-ice.

GM has said the faulty switches –which have resulted in 17.1 million ve-hicles being recalled – have caused 13deaths. GM spokesman Jim Cain saidWednesday the automaker is not “con-firming the identity of any of the accidentvictims out of respect for their privacy.”

But Anderson’s attorney, RobertHilliard, said the National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration in Mayconfirmed for Erickson’s mother that

the crash was caused by a bad switch.In an email to Rhonda Erickson,

Kevin Vincent, chief counsel for the Na-tional Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-tration, wrote that although his agency“does not have direct information fromGM about individual identities, we un-derstand that GM counts Mr. Erickson’sdeath in its list of thirteen deaths.”

In a letter written this week tothe Texas Board of Pardons andParoles, Leslie Poynter Dixon, a for-mer Van Zandt County district attor-ney, said she would have dismissedthe case against Anderson if she hadknown about the crash’s true cause.

“It is my opinion that no actionor omission of Ms. Anderson was thecause of the accident that led to hercriminal charges. Had I known at thetime that GM knew of these issuesand has since admitted to such, I donot believe the grand jury would haveindicted her,” Dixon wrote.

Dixon, now in private practice,did not immediately return a phonecall on Wednesday.

“I feel it is important that, at thispoint, we come together to do whateverwe can to alleviate any further damageand pain that this horrific tragedy causedher,” she said in the letter.


Dallas DA Allegedly Mishandled Car Crash With SettlementDallas County District Attorney CraigWatkins’ office used money from anasset-forfeiture fund to pay about$50,000 to the driver of a car thatWatkins hit while driving a county-owned vehicle, according to a televi-sion station’s report.

The settlement was disclosedAug. 14 by WFAA-TV, which also re-ported that Watkins’ office did not fol-low county policy on handling repairsfor the accident last year. Watkins’ of-fice denied it did anything wrong.

Watkins spokeswoman DebbieDenmon said the settlement was han-dled legally and using money collectedthrough investigations rather than fromtaxpayers. She said Watkins was on hisway to a speech and glancing at his re-

marks at the time of the wreck.“There was no secret here. This

was out in the open,” Denmon toldThe Associated Press on Friday. “Andthere was no duty here to go to thecounty commissioners, again, becauseno county funds were used.”

Watkins was driving a county-ownedFord Edge SUV on the Dallas North Toll-way in February 2013, when he ran intothe back of another vehicle. A police reportcited Watkins for “reading information” onhis phone at the time of the crash.

Rather than turning the SUV intocounty employees responsible for repairs,the television station reported, Watkins’SUV was towed to a body shop, where itremained for five months until it wastaken to a private mechanic in Dallas.

The head of Watkins’ civil divi-sion, Teresa Guerra Snelson, acknowl-edged that she didn’t know at the timeabout county policy on vehicle crashes,but that she notified a county officialabout the wreck. Denmon said Snelsonturned over a police report, but not aspecific form for accidents.

“It’s an accident. Accidents hap-pen, and it was handled appropriatelyand in the normal course of businessand within the authority that the DAand I have,” Snelson told WFAA.

Robert Reckendorf, owner of theParts Express body shop that repairedthe vehicle, said the SUV’s frame hadbeen bent and the transmission dam-aged. He estimated the cost of thework at more than $11,000.

“That should have been one that youdon’t want to fix,” he said. “Any insurancecompany would have told them that.”

The DA’s office eventually settledwith the driver for $47,500, and hiscompany for an additional $4,500. Themoney came from asset forfeiture fundscontrolled by the district attorney’s of-fice. Use of those funds by prosecutors’offices has come under scrutiny due towhat detractors call a lack of oversight.

Watkins, a Democrat, has won ac-claim for his office’s work to free wrong-fully convicted inmates. But he has beenenmeshed in local controversy over ear-lier reports of an FBI investigation andcomplaints that he has mishandled hisofficial duties. He is running for re-elec-tion this fall.

A Nederland, TX, man has pleaded guiltyto wire fraud according to a news releasefrom U.S. Attorney John M. Bales.

Antonio Govea Figueroa, 42, en-tered the guilty plea Wednesday beforeU.S. Magistrate Judge Keith F. Giblin.

According to information pre-sented in court, from June 2008 to No-vember 2013, Figueroa, the owner andoperator of Tony’s Kustom & Colli-

sion in Port Arthur, Texas, electroni-cally submitted claims to Farmers In-surance for collision work. Farmersbecame suspicious of the invoicessubmitted by Figueroa. The inspec-tion of 44 claims revealed Figueroaclaimed repairs that were not actuallydone and claimed to use new partswhen salvaged or inferior parts wereactually used without the consent or

knowledge of the insured.According to 12News file stories,

Tony’s Kustom & Collision wasraided by agents with Homeland Se-curity and the Department of PublicSafety on December 4, 2013. At thetime of the raid officials could onlysay it was in connection to a two-month long investigation.

Figueroa faces up to 20 years in

federal prison and restitution of$118,013.34 at sentencing.

A sentencing date has not been set.This case is being investigated by

Department of Homeland Security –Homeland Security Investigations, TexasDepartment of Public Safety, and Farm-ers Insurance Significant InvestigationsUnit and prosecuted by Assistant U.S.Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice.

Man Guilty of Wire Fraud Related to Insurance Claims in Nederland, Texas


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PartsTrader Hits 1,000,000th Order MilestonePartsTrader announced that it has suc-cessfully processed its 1,000,000thcollision repair parts job since itlaunched its online marketplace inFebruary 2012.

On August 7, Bowman’s AutoService Inc. of Flatwoods, Ky. openeda repair order on a 2011 Ford F-150and used PartsTrader to source andorder the required parts, marking the1,000,000th repair job that has beensupported by the PartsTrader systemin the last 30 months.

“I’ve been working with Part-sTrader for over a year now,” saidDoyle DeLawder, Bowman’s PartsManager. “This system makes it eas-ier to send out quotes and receive re-sponses. It really cuts down on myworkflow.”

Since the initial product launch,the PartsTrader team has workedthrough many product updates andenhancements, all driven by userfeedback such as from Bowman’sAuto Service, Inc.

“Our 80 plus US-based associ-ates have worked very hard for thelast few years to get us to this point,and we’re pleased that an ever grow-ing number of repairers across thecountry are turning to us for theirparts sourcing needs,” said Dale

Sailer, PartsTrader’s Vice Presidentof Business Development.

There are currently more than7,500 collision repair businesses and8,500 suppliers active on the Part-sTrader system, using the online mar-ketplace to process more than $1billion in parts orders annually.

“We’re thrilled to be the one-millionth parts job!” said DeLawder.

Sailer contacted Bowman’s tonotify them of the milestone andpurchased lunch for all of the shop’semployees to commemorate the oc-casion.

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ABRA Auto Body & Glass Continues Tennessee ExpansionJust four months after entering intoKnoxville, Tennessee, ABRA AutoBody & Glass, a leading nationaldamaged vehicle repair company, an-nounced it had expanded once againwith the purchase of Tennessee Col-lision Repair. The new center is lo-cated in Alcoa, Tennessee, about 20minutes south of Knoxville. Terms ofthe deal were not disclosed.

ABRA is one of the collision in-dustry’s largest multi shop repair oper-ators. The company uses an operationalexcellence philosophy that significantlyimproves its operating metrics; distin-guishing it from competitors. Today’sacquisition increases ABRA’s repaircenter portfolio to 239 in 19 states.

Duane Rouse, ABRA’s Presi-dent and Chief Executive Officersaid, “Tennessee Collision Repair hasdeep roots in the Alcoa community.We are excited to announce our ex-pansion in Tennessee which rein-forces our growth strategy. We arefocused on markets with favorabledemographics and economic growth.We look forward to strengthening ourability to meet the collision repair de-mands of customers and insurancepartners across the country.”

David and Brenda Maples, own-ers of Tennessee Collision Repair

welcomes today’s Transaction andacknowledges the tremendous bene-fit to the community. “We areproud to have serviced our customersfor nearly three decades. This is atremendous opportunity for our em-ployees and a great cultural fit for thecity of Alcoa.”

Building on its increasing suc-cess, ABRA plans to continue ex-panding in the months and yearsahead as part of its aggressive na-tional growth strategy. It is activelyseeking new opportunities to acquirerepair centers and integrate them intoits industry-leading operating sys-tem. Interested parties in major mar-kets should contact Scott Gerling,Vice President of Corporate Devel-opment ([email protected] or763.585.6210).

For franchise opportunities insmall and midsize markets contactMark Wahlin, Vice President of Fran-chise Development/Relations ([email protected] or 763-585-6315).

ABRA is committed to conduct-ing business based on responsiblebusiness practices including imple-mentation of environmentally sus-tainable initiatives, health and safety,and a commitment to the communi-ties in which it serves.

case—it’s essential to be on the play-ing field in the future.”

Assured Performance has posi-tioned itself right in the middle of thisobvious game change. They are a legalco-op, a non-profit consumer advocacyorganization and management com-pany. Combined, they operate as athird-party administrator for body shopcertifications and marketing programsfor Ford, Nissan, Chrysler, Enterprise,GM and others. They also provide con-sumer awareness to thousands ofmedia outlets and manage various ven-dor rebate programs. Uniquely, As-sured Performance has the distinctionof administering more than $13.5 mil-lion dollars of supplier rebate rewardsto their members since 2004 whichhelps shops reinvest in their business.

“We’re helping all of the shops tokeep pace with a rapidly changing mar-ketplace. We welcome those that wantto be a part of the future; our best esti-mate is that, to-date, only about 1 in 10shops have already begun this jour-ney,” Biggs said. “Our industry needsto urgently embrace this challenge to

meet the repair needs of today‘s vehi-cles.

The company has already en-rolled nearly 1,600 shops in theirjoint-effort OE Certification programand is well on their way to their ob-jective of 2,000 shops by year-end2014 and 3,000 by year-end 2015.Ford, Nissan, Chrysler and others nowhave similar coverage by leveragingthe Assured Performance platform.Regardless of where a consumer livesor travels, they will have a CertifiedCollision Repair Provider choice, ac-cording to Biggs.

To handle the anticipated furthergrowth of its third-party certificationprogram, Assured Performance hasadded several industry veterans to itsteam. A significant recent additionfor Assured Performance is RonaldDoerr, the company’s new SeniorV.P. of Strategic Initiatives. Through30-plus years working for GM on theOEM parts side, he brings a broad in-dustry perspective and is respectedacross multiple market segments.

“I’ve known Scott Biggs and wit-nessed the evolution of his companyover many years,” Clark said. “Scotthas asked me to help the company in


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Austin, Texas, officials have pro-posed banning nearly all handheldcellphone use while driving.

The Austin Public Safety Com-mission approved a recommendationMonday night to stiffen the city’s NoDriving or Texting ordinance. Thecommissioners recommended to thecity council that it become illegal totalk, text or use a cellphone behindthe wheel of a vehicle. That changeincludes vehicles stopped at lights orin traffic.

Drivers would still be able tocall 911 or talk while parked in a lotor on the shoulder.

It’s already illegal to text anddrive in the Texas capital, but policesay the law is hard to enforce.

The council held a hearing onAug. 7 regarding the changes.

Handheld Cellphone BanConsidered in Austin

Texas troopers have sidelined nearly1,900 vehicles as part of the three-day nationwide safety effort calledRoadcheck 2014.

The Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety on Wednesday reporteddoing more than 8,700 commercialmotor vehicle inspections during theJune 3-5 safety push.

About 21 percent of the 18-wheelers, buses and other commer-cial vehicles inspected were takenout of service for safety violations,pending repairs. Issues with brakesand defective lighting were amongthe common problems.

DPS required 263 drivers tostop operating their vehicles for vi-olations related to incorrect loggingof on-duty time and not having theproper licenses.

Overall troopers issued 2,715citations and nearly 25,000 warn-ings.

The Roadcheck program issponsored by the Commercial Vehi-cle Safety Alliance.

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Texas Plastics Maker Hit with $174K OSHA FinePlastic Systems LLC in El Paso, Texas,was cited by the U.S. Department ofLabor’s Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration for 21 safety and healthviolations, including six repeat, for fail-ing to develop adequate lockout/tagoutprocedures to control the unexpectedstartup of the company’s plastic injec-tion molding machines. Proposed penal-ties total $174,240.

The inspection was conductedin February 2014 after a safety refer-ral was made during a health inspec-tion initiated under the CombustibleDust National Emphasis Program.

The six repeat violations, with apenalty of $112,860, were cited forfailing to address specific lockout/tagout techniques for the servicingand maintenance of machinery andconduct annual inspections of thesetechniques and procedures. The em-ployer failed to ensure workers hadoperable portable fire extinguishersand were trained to use them. Im-

proper maintenance resulted in elec-trical hazards, including conductorswith damaged insulation.

A repeat violation is issued whenan employer previously has beencited for the same or a similar viola-tion of a standard, regulation, rule ororder at any other facility in federalenforcement states within the last fiveyears. Plastic Systems was cited pre-viously in a 2011 inspection at the ElPaso facility.

The remaining 15 violations, in-cluding 11 serious with a penalty of$61,380, were cited for failure to en-sure workers knew the type and mag-nitude of energy that needed lockoutcontrol; provide machine guarding oninjection molding machines; maintainelectrical components and equipmentin a manner that complies with safetyrequirements; properly record injuriesand illnesses; adequately distributeportable fire extinguishers; and re-place damaged circuit breaker boxes.

Calif.-based Athens Administrators,a full-service, third-party claims ad-ministration services provider since1976, is expanding into Texas and ap-pointing Vance A. Root as executivevice president, in charge of drivingexpansion and operational efforts inthe Southern United States Region.

Athens’ move to the Texas mar-ket maintains its national growth strat-egy.

Root has over 25 years of expe-rience in the claims and commercialbrokerage arena and has developedclaims programs for some of thelargest accounts in the U.S.

In his role as executive vicepresident, Root will lead the com-pany’s new business developmentand expansion initiatives into Texasand surrounding states, as well asprovide management and oversightof Athens Administrators’ liabilityclaims unit.

Third Party Adminstrator fromCA Expands Into Texas

Caliber Collision Centers has an-nounced the opening of a new lo-cation in the greater Houston area.

Caliber’s new Tomball loca-tion, with over 15,000 square feetof space, opened for business onAug. 18. It employs the latest in-novations in collision repairs with19 service bays, two heated paintbooths and more than 30 parkingspaces for Caliber’s customers andpartners.

“Today’s Tomball opening al-lows us to restore even more Hous-ton-area customers to the rhythmof their lives, as we deliver on ourcommitment to expand customerchoice while providing industry-leading metrics in every market weserve,” said Caliber CEO SteveGrimshaw.

Added Mark Sanders, Cal-iber’s president and chief operatingofficer, “Our new Tomball centerbrings Caliber Collision’s total num-ber of Texas locations to 63 and 182across the Caliber network as wecontinue to grow into the collisionrepair provider of choice in the eightstates we now serve.”

Caliber Opens New CollisionRepair Center In Houston Area

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Texas Lawyer Sues GM on Behalf of 658 PlaintiffsA Texas lawyer has filed a lawsuitagainst General Motors on behalf of658 people who were injured or killedin crashes allegedly caused by faultyignition switches.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S.District Court in Manhattan in NewYork City names 29 people who werekilled in crashes and 629 who werehurt. All the crashes occurred afterGM emerged from bankruptcy protec-tion in July of 2009. That makes themexempt from GM’s efforts to shield it-self from claims due to crashes thatoccurred before the bankruptcy, attor-ney Robert Hilliard said in a state-ment.

Hilliard also said he will ask judgesfor permission to file another 248 cases

from before the bankruptcy, including21 deaths.

“It’s certainly not a legal giventhat GM will be successful in its at-tempts to use this ‘get-out-of-jail-free’bankruptcy card,” said Hilliard, ofCorpus Christi, Texas.

The lawsuit alleges that GMknew about the defective switches thatcan cause engines to stall since as earlyas 2001, yet it didn’t recall any carsuntil this year. The switches can cut offthe engine, knocking out power steer-ing and brakes and disabling the airbags, which wouldn’t protect people ina crash. The lawsuit seeks in excess of$75,000 in damages for each plaintiff.

The filing comes just days beforecompensation expert Kenneth Feinberg

is to start taking injury and death claimson behalf of GM. Feinberg, who han-dled claims for the BP Gulf Oil Spilland the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,has said GM has placed no limit on thetotal amount of money he can spend tocompensate victims. Feinberg is to starttaking claims on Friday and will acceptapplications through the end of theyear. Those who settle with Feinbergmust give up their right to sue.

GM recalled 2.6 million smallcars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt fordefective switches starting in Febru-ary, touching off a recall crisis at thecompany that has ballooned to 29 mil-lion recalled vehicles. Of those, 17.3million are to fix defective ignitionswitches. But only owners of the orig-

inal 2.6 million small cars are eligiblefor compensation through Feinberg.

GM says the small-car switches havecaused at least 54 crashes and 13 deaths.

Hilliard’s lawsuit includes crashesinvolving the original 2.6 million carsas well other cars with faulty switches.He called the exclusion of some igni-tion switches from the compensationfund “GM madness at its best.”

GM spokesman Jim Cain wouldn’tcomment on Hilliard’s lawsuit, but saidthe company wants to do the right thingfor people harmed by ignition switch is-sues with the Cobalt and other recalledsmall cars. “That’s why we engagedKenneth Feinberg to independently de-sign and administer a compensation pro-gram,” Cain’s statement said.

The National Autobody Council to-gether with the Collision Repair Edu-cation Foundation will host the annualNorth Texas summer industry event en-titled “Roadmap: Collision Industryand Careers Expo” Saturday at Vander-griff Toyota in Arlington.

The one-day event is scheduledfrom 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and is open toboth the general public and members

of the collision repair industry.Industry leaders seek to use the

event as a platform to educate and in-form future collision repair profes-sionals on the opportunities availablein the ever-growing field. Activities in-clude an industry trade show, celebrityappearances, a Recycled Ride vehiclepresentation, silent auction and raffletable, product demonstrations and in-

dustry awareness opportunities forlocal high school and college collisionrepair students.

All funds collected at the eventwill benefit the Collision Repair Ed-ucation Foundation, which seeks topromote, qualify and properly trainemployees entering the collision re-pair industry.

Service King is a proud Diamond-

Level sponsor of the event and one ofthe fastest growing collision repair cen-ters in the country, operating 28 loca-tions in the Dallas area and 78 acrossthe state of Texas.

More information on the Colli-sion Repair Education Foundation andSaturday’s career expo can be foundby visiting: http://collisioneducationfoundation.org/dallas-event/

Service King Sponsors Dallas Collision Repair Career Expo

New Law Against Junked Vehicles Being Enforced in LafayetteLafayette, LA, police are once again en-forcing a law against rusting and bro-ken-down vehicles. The move comesseven years after a lawsuit put the anti-blight effort on hold and forced a re-working of the city’s junked vehicleordinance.

Police Chief Jim Craft tells TheAdvocate officers have investigated 82complaints of junked vehicles since re-viving enforcement about three monthsago.

Of that number, Craft says en-forcement action has begun for 25 of thevehicles, which could be towed at theowners’ expense if not removed volun-tarily.

He said 28 cases are still open,and 29 ended with owners removingthe vehicles themselves after beingtold they were in violation of local law.

“Many of the owners contacted(by police) are cooperating and aretrying to make arrangements to movethe vehicle,” Craft said.

The Lafayette City-Parish Coun-cil passed a new junked vehicle ordi-nance in November, but Craft said ithas taken several months for his de-partment to work out a standardizedenforcement process, to determinewho in the department will be incharge and to print the stickers usedto tag junked vehicles for removal.

City-Parish Councilman Ken-neth Boudreaux, who pushed to get aretooled law back on the books, saidhe is eager to go “full throttle” on en-forcement.

“We have put it back in effect,and because of the layover, there werea number of violations out there,”Boudreaux said.

Enforcement had been on holdsince 2007, when a man filed a law-suit challenging the constitutionalityof the city’s seizure of vehicles on hisproperty.

City-parish government paid$70,000 to settle the lawsuit in 2012,and the legal staff then began craftinga new version of the law to addressthe legal questions raised in the case.

The law calls for police officersto notify property owners of a viola-tion and give them a chance to removethe vehicle or fix it.

If nothing is done, city-parish gov-ernment can tow the vehicle and bill theowner.

For a violation under the revisedlaw, a vehicle must be inoperable, be atthe same site for more than 30 days andshow signs of disrepair, such as missingparts, body damage, broken glass or rust.

The new law also removes an ex-emption in the old law for vehicles keptin a garage, shed or other enclosure.

In the collision repair business, theonly time the shop makes money iswhen the technician is actually work-ing on the car. So for a shop to opti-mize profitability, systems must be putin-place to ensure that wasteful delaysare eliminated. Some of the morecommon delays are.

■ Techs wandering around look-ing for parts, fasteners, or information

■ Missing, damaged, or incorrectreplacement parts

■ Waiting for approval and partson supplemental (missed) damageA great way to reduce or eliminatesuch delays is through the process ofdamage analysis or “blueprinting.”Blueprinting is one of the most im-portant processes a shop can imple-ment to reduce or eliminate delays andcan have a dramatic effect on impor-tant KPIs such as cycle time, customersatisfaction and profitability.

The Goal of this ArticleBlueprinting is not a new concept byany means, but many shops still fail ateither successfully implementing it, orif they have implemented it they arenot getting the results they expected.My goal is to guide the reader throughsome reasons why shops fail at Blue-printing and then in part two givesome proven simple techniques thatare being used by shops that do havesuccessful Blueprinting programs.

Why Shops Commonly Fail atBlueprintingWe Make it Too Difficult for the RealWorld

When lean concepts includingBlueprinting were first introduced toour industry, the initiatives were oftenled by well-intended paint companiesthat had over-complicated curriculum.Lean was the “new kid on the block”and came with all the bells and whis-tles; in many cases, too many bells andwhistles. When concepts such as theseare taught to us by people from themanufacturing industry from a 30,000foot level, many of the basics wereover-looked or misconstrued. So as theyears progressed, most people stoppeddoing Blueprinting, a lucky few figuredout better and simpler ways of per-forming it. Those that were successful

found ways of using lean thinking andapplying it to Blueprinting in a “realworld” manner, a manner that wouldwork on the shop floor and not from aphilosophical 30,000 foot high vantage.

Lack of Visual Mistake ProofingSystemsAs someone that has been teachingBlueprinting for many years, I hear ex-cuses all the time why damage wasmissed during Blueprinting. The onethat kills me is “We are only human.”Tell that to a surgeon or a Blue Angelspilot some time. The point is, that yes,we are human, so in order to be suc-cessful at Blueprinting, we have to putsystems in place that make mistakesVISIBLE so that we can catch thembefore it’s too late. This is an old trickintroduced by Japanese manufacturers.This mistake proofing is a techniquecalled “Poka Yoke.” So if you want tohave a successful Blueprinting pro-gram, mistake-proof it by using someof the “Poka Yoke” techniques in thisarticle.

No Written Repeatable ProcessThe lucky few that were able toachieve Blueprinting success at somelevel often doomed the process fromfuture success by not carefully docu-menting the Blueprint system theyworked so hard on into a Standard Op-erating Procedure. Because of this lackof standardization, the program wassusceptible to failures caused by newemployees, lapses of memory, or manyother reasons. If a process has simplewritten instruction, and people are welltrained, the likelihood that the vitalsteps needed to produce a consistentlyaccurate Blueprint is increased im-mensely.

Technicians are hired to RepairVehicles, Not Write SupplementsTo this day, most shops continue toask their body technicians to performa teardown and then write a supple-ment. This IS NOT Blueprinting!Please keep in mind that the only timea shop is making any money is whenthe technician’s hands are touchingthe car. So if we ask them to performsupplement writing for us, not onlyare we inviting problems with esti-

mate accuracy, we are also not mak-ing money! Technicians are a very in-tegral part in the Blueprinting process,and can offer a lot of insight into gooddamage analysis, but their involve-ment should be limited to collabora-tion during the disassembly plan, anddamage analysis, then disassemblingthe vehicle and placing the damagedor R&I parts in their designated areas.

A Common MisconceptionHaving a dedicated Blueprint Analystor Department always causes bottle-neck delays

The reason that many say that theydon’t like having a dedicated BlueprintDepartment or Analyst is because itoften causes a bottleneck and delays.All the repair jobs have to go throughone resource, so by definition the Blue-print guy is a bottleneck, but here’swhat some people don’t understand.Every system is going to have a bottle-neck that dictates the shops throughput

ability and that is okay, the problem isthat shops continue to bring all theirwork in on Monday. If smarter sched-uling was practiced, the bottleneck willmanage to produce the needed amountof work. This misunderstanding of pro-duction management is another mainreason people abandon their Blueprint-ing attempts. In the real world, evenwhen using good scheduling habits,bottlenecks do become a problem attimes. When Blueprinting starts gettingbehind schedule, it is extremely impor-tant to stick to the program with disci-pline and not abandon it. Insteadadditional resources or extended hoursmay occasionally need to be dedicated.

In next month’s continuation ofBetter Blueprinting by David Luehr,we will discuss how to setup a properBlueprinting area regardless of the sizeof your shop, and then we will discusssome great techniques that will allowyou to get consistent and positive re-sults with your Blueprinting efforts.

with David LuehrLean Operations

David Luehr is the owner of Elite Body Shop Solutions, LLC, a collision business consultingfirm based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 30 year veteran of the collision repair industry.David is an expert in Body Shop Operations and specializes in Lean, and Theory ofConstraints methods. Email him at [email protected]

Better Blueprinting, Part 1: Why is Blueprinting Important?


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Trade shows are huge right now andthat’s why SEMA is more popular thanever. If you’ve ever attended one ofthese events, you know they’re fre-netic, fun, packed full of things to doand your time is usually limited. So,that’s why we’re offering some invalu-able tips about how to take full advan-tage of any trade show, but specificallythe upcoming SEMA show, in LasVegas November 3-7.

When the economy took a hit in2008, many body shops started dial-ing down their participation in indus-try conferences, but now that theeconomy seems to be a little healthier,this is a smart time to re-engage. Themain question for any business ownerconsidering SEMA is this –will themoney and staff that I will invest intoa show like SEMA really pay off inthe long run?

After discussing the “SEMA Ex-perience” with collision professionalsfrom all over the country for at least

the past decade and attending many asan automotive journalist, I’ve heard awide range of responses about the

show, both positive and negative. Be-cause the setting is Las Vegas, manyof these anecdotes are not suitable forthis article, but you can imagine. Talesof quickie marriages, body shop own-

ers getting wiped out at the tables andother foolishness were probably half-true when originally told and un-

doubtedly pure fiction bynow.

On the serious side, I’veheard things like “Toocrowded and we spent toomuch time trying to find theright booths;” “The classeswere either packed or notsuited for us;” or “Now we’reback to work and we need totake a vacation just to recu-perate from SEMA!” But inthe end all of them said thesame thing about the show—“It was useful and we didhave a good time!”

Since SEMA is an indus-try-only show, you’re obviously notgoing to get any customers fromSEMA and that’s not the goal. Themain reasons you attend conferencessuch as SEMA are to connect with

current and prospective vendors andto learn about new technologies orproducts that will influence your fu-ture.

The first step is to make a listcontaining your goals with realisticobjectives, while determining thecosts involved. For example, you maywant to visit a dozen equipment com-panies, paint companies and othersuppliers. If you’re going to be at theshow for three days, you will obvi-ously need to visit at least four everyday, pacing yourself and hydratingcontinually.

To decide if SEMA is right foryou and your business, ask yourselfthese questions:■ Is SEMA going to offer you themost cost-effective way of sourcingproducts, services and information inthe collision industry?■ Is SEMA the best forum for you tokeep up- to-date on the collision in-dustry’s newest technologies, state-

How Can I Squeeze More Out of My SEMA Experience?

with Ed AttanasioNational Associations

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Peter Macillvray, VP of Communications and Events forSEMA and his staff work hard to make the show a win-win for both attendees and exhibitors

of-the-art products, innovations andnew developments in your market?Are you going to encounter a highlytargeted audience of your fellow in-dustry professionals?■ If your answer is yes to more thanone of these questions, SEMA is prob-ably a slam dunk for you, your man-ager and even other members of yourcrew as well.

Peter Macillvray, VP of Commu-nications and Events for SEMA, of-fered some helpful tips about how tosqueeze the most out of your SEMAexperience. “We’re extremely vestedin making sure that all of our attendeesand exhibitors will leave here with ayear’s worth of new business ideas.We’re committed to doing everythingwe can to bring value to your time

here at SEMA. We want you to makemore money by using what you’velearned at SEMA, so that’s we’ve cre-ated a whole range of things to makeit happen.”

Everyone’s goal at any trade showis different, so the first thing you needto do is define what success means foryou at SEMA. Before you jump in,make a list and plan your show. “Wecall it ‘shaping’ the show and it’s sovaluable,” Macillvray said. “Too manypeople jump on a plane and don’t reg-ister until they get here and then startwandering through the aisles withoutany real plan. Time is so precious andby aimlessly walking around you’relosing opportunities.

Being prepared at any trade showor industry event is imperative, so

map it out and don’t leave anything tochance.”

To get more out of your SEMA,take a few classes and learn things youcan take back to your business. “Wehave top companies that have part-nered with us on these classes,” Macil-lvray said. “We’ve got some of theworld’s top experts on things like mar-keting, technology and management.Everything taught at SEMA is createdwith two words in mind—useful andrelevant.”

If you’re looking for cutting-edgeproducts and equipment that can helpyour shop and make your life a littleeasier, SEMA is the place to be. “Thisshow is always about unveiling newtechnology and we’re proud to leadthe way,” Macillvray said. “Our New

Product Showcase is always a huge at-traction and a great place to get anoverview of what’s new. Many prod-ucts that have won awards at pastSEMA shows are now used by bodyshops all over the world and the firsttime anyone saw them was here atSEMA.”

SEMA has two ways to help youas you navigate through the show—bycalling on their popular Pocket Guide,available almost anywhere at SEMA,as well as by using their 2014 SEMAapp, available for free at any AppleStore or online, sponsored by Show-case.

“We have been fine-tuning ourapp over the years by listening to ourcustomers and we believe it’s state-of-the-art,” Macillvray said. “It con-tains some planning tools that canreally help you to get more out of theshow while also allowing you to stayin the loop about the show year-round. Lots of people walk aroundwith the app open on their iPads andiPhones and refer to it during the en-tire show. We want to offer every toolwe have available to us to help you,and that’s why we’re heavily in-volved in social media. You can likeus on Facebook, connect with us onLinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Wehave the largest social media follow-ing of any automotive show in theworld.”


A jury returned a death sentence fora man convicted of capital murderin the deaths of a Houston-area po-lice officer and an auto body shopowner on July 24.

The Harris County jury delib-erated about 12 hours over twodays before reaching its sentencefor 23-year-old Harlem Lewis III.

The jury found Lewis guiltyof capital murder in the killingstwo years ago of Bellaire policeOfficer Jimmie Norman and autobody shop owner Terry Taylor.

Twelve jurors—nine men andthree women—agreed that Lewisshould pay with his own life forshooting and killing Cpl. JimmieNorman, 53, and Maaco shopowner Terry Taylor, 66, at the endof a police chase on Christmas Eve.Taylor knew Norman and came outto try to assist him. As the officerwas trying to pull Lewis from hiscar, Lewis shot him. He then aimedthe gun at Taylor, killing him also.

Convicted Killer of Houston-area Cop and Body ShopOwner Sentenced to Death

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Repair documentation plays an im-portant role in your collision repairbusiness, but many shop owners arenot very familiar with what they needto protect their interests, so I’ve turnedto an industry-leading attorney to pro-vide crucial information on what youneed to know about documentation inthe collision repair industry. Lastmonth, Erica Eversman, Chief Coun-sel for Vehicle Information Services,Inc. and founder of the AutomotiveEducation and Policy Institute, a non-profit organization geared toward ed-ucating consumers, explained howcollision repair facilities can use theAuthorization to Repair and RepairContract to receive proper compensa-tion from insurers in legal battles.While those two documents are ex-tremely important, they may not bethe only documents you need to suc-cessfully pursue a shortpay case in acourtroom. Here, Eversman explainsthe relevance of an Assignment ofProceeds and Writ of Replevin inthese situations.

The purpose of the Assignment ofProceeds is to create a bridge betweenthe insurance company and the colli-sion repair shop, and this is especiallyimportant when you have a consumerwho is unwilling or unable to pursueproper compensation via a shortpaylawsuit on the shop’s behalf. Thoughthe insurance company owes their cus-tomer the duty of indemnity and thecustomer thus expects their insurer topay the shop that repairs their vehicle,many consumers simply do not knowor care enough to pursue litigation ininstances of shortpays. By asking yourcustomers to sign an Assignment ofProceeds, your shop creates a neces-sary bridge to the insurance company,giving you the right to step into theconsumer’s shoes (for purposes of col-lecting the full repair costs), force theissue and get paid.

The “devil is in the details”, soyour first step is going to be hiring anattorney with experience in the colli-sion repair industry who can assistyou with properly wording the docu-ment. Eversman cautions, “you don’thave the right to sue on the con-

sumer’s behalf for everything, such asdiminished value; because you’re onlybeing assigned the rights to proceeds,you can only sue the insurance com-pany to collect proceeds for the repair.You need to understand what this in-dustry is about, clarify exactly what’sgoing on, and specify which rights arebeing assigned to you.”

Though a Power of Attorney(POA) would also serve this purpose,customers are less likely to agree tosign this type of document. The prob-lem with the POA is that, while itgives a repairer more power, it is alsomore complicated, leaving the repairfacility with the burden of making alldecisions for the customers, so Evers-man discourages the use of the POA.While every insurer has an anti-as-signment clause written into theirpolicies, most states permit the use ofpost-loss agreements, making the As-signment of Proceeds a viable option.It also makes sense for the shop to as-sume responsibility for prosecutingthe insurance company, if necessary,since it requires less action on the partof the consumer.

Once you get to the point of pur-suing litigation in order to receiveproper compensation, you must re-member that the burden of proof fallson you, the plaintiff. In court, youshould try to avoid allowing the in-surance company to present their esti-mate as evidence because part of yourbattle entails proving that their esti-mate is meaningless – as the collisionrepair professional, YOU are the onewith the right to determine how thevehicle should be repaired, while theinsurer is merely obligated to pay forthe repair, not to control the process(unless the insurance company haselected to repair).

In order for an Assignment ofProceeds to be legitimate, it is imper-ative that the consumer understandwhat they are signing, so it is also agood idea to ask your customers tosign a separate document confirmingtheir comprehension of the Assign-ment of Proceeds. When constructingyour Assignment of Proceeds, beginby defining what it is and how it willbe used. The purpose of the documentis to allow “a transfer of property or

other rights from one person (the as-signor) to another person (the as-signee) which confers a complete andpresent right in the subject matter tothe assignor… Essentially, this meansthat the assignee stands in the shoes ofthe assignor,” Eversman explains.

Because the assignment serves asa contract between the assignor and theassignee, it is thus subject to contractlaw and interpretation. An importantitem that must be included in Assign-ments of Proceeds is a definition of theassignable rights which will identifycauses of action issuing from a wrongthat causes injury to property or fromtort by which property is diminished ordamaged; both of these are generallyassignable. It is also vital to informyour customers that they can assigntheir right to recover damages to theirproperty without conveying the title tothat property.

For an Assignment of Proceeds tobe valid, it must contain clear evidence

of the intent to transfer rights in addi-tion to a description of the subject mat-ter in question. The assignment must beclear and unequivocal and be noticed tothe obligor. While there are no formalrequirements regarding the verbiageused in this document, the languagemust clearly indicate the owner’s inten-tion to transfer the claim.

Valuable consideration is essen-tial to support the assignment, andwhile the word “consideration” does-n’t necessarily have to appear on thedocument, Eversman recommends itas evidence of the exchange requiredto make an Assignment of Proceedsvalid. Essentially, this allows you totake possession of the vehicle withoutreceiving payment if the document issigned, but you are also agreeing notto sue the consumer for money owedas part of the assignment.

In your supporting documents,you should also include an Assign-


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Repair Documentation Series, Part 2: Assignment of Proceeds and Writ of Replevin

with Erica EversmanThe Legal View

Erica Eversman is an attorney, frequent speaker and author on automotive legal topics.She has been quoted in such publications as The Wall Street Journal Online, USA Today,Kiplingers Personal Finance, Cars.com, Yahoo! News and other trade magazines.

See Documentation Series, Page 44


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On Tuesday, July 29, the Auto BodyAssociation of Texas (ABAT) held itssecond official meeting in Tyler, TXat Hi Way Auto Parts, a local recycledparts vendor who also provided re-freshments for attendees. The two-hour meeting attracted 58 attendeesfrom shops throughout Eastern Texas,

as well as several shops from the Dal-las/Fort Worth area who recentlylearned about ABAT, in addition tovarious paint companies and vendors.Burl Richards, President of ABAT,

was pleased with the turnout because“this is a huge thing to have happen asthe DFW area is obviously large, andwe are working together with theseshops to help unite the collision repairindustry here in Texas.”

The meeting began with thePledge of Allegiance followed by a

benediction and review ofAnti-Trust guidelines. Next,Richards introduced localState Representative TravisClardy who is serving asABAT’s attorney, and Clardydiscussed the details associ-ated with his role as a StateRepresentative. He also de-scribed the process of intro-ducing legislation, an avenuethat the association may

choose to get involved with in the fu-ture.

Richards then introduced CraigBarker, owner of Hi Way. Hi Way isa member of the Premium Recycled

Parts trade association (PRP), andBarker discussed his previous role asthe President of PRP. He also drewparallels between PRP and ABAT, in-

dicating ways that the two associa-tions can collaborate to effect positive,meaningful changes in the collisionrepair industry.

ABAT members then broachedthe topic of possibly having CSI con-duct an independent survey regardingcertain short pay items and necessary

practices in restoring vehicles to theirpre-loss condition. Richards says,“this is a survey that CSI has neverdone, but we have been working with

them in an effort to get it ac-complished, and CSI believesthis will be a great survey thatcan possibly be repeated inothers areas across the U.S.”

Since the meeting,Richards has been contactedby one of the Dallas shopsthat attended, and he and afew other ABAT membersare planning a trip to Col-leyville to discuss the possi-bility of that shop becoming

a Charter Member of ABAT.ABAT plans to hold their next

meeting during the second half of Sep-tember. For more information aboutABAT or their upcoming plans, [email protected].

ABAT Holds Second Meeting

with Chasidy Rae SiskSouthwest Associations

Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware,who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family ofNASCAR fans. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Attendees listen attentively to guest speakers

Attendees enjoyed refreshments courtesy of Hi WayAuto Parts

www.a



by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Saturday, July 26, Wheels to Pros-per shops across the country gaveaway 15 vehicles to deserving peoplein their communities. Dino DiGiulio,owner of Body Best Collision Centerin Sonoma, CA, and founder ofWheels to Prosper, notes that it is“mind-blowing to be able to changepeople’s lives in this type of way” andwonders “how big it could be if we gotall the shops in the country involved?”

This year, Body Best awardedtheir car giveaway vehicle, a 2004 Sat-urn L300, to Irene Morgan. DiGiulio’sson, Chance, helped Body Best’s tech-nician with the body repairs as his sen-ior project, which his father proudlyreports received a grade of “A”.

In 2010, DiGiulio took a publicrelations class at Management Success,and he admits “I didn’t realize how im-portant it was until I took the class.”When the topic of car giveaways cameup, DiGiulio thought it seemed like apractical way of giving back to thecommunity. His friend, Jody Gatchellwho owns A & J Collision Repair inConway, AR was involved with a sim-

ilar concept through Recycled Rides,and when DiGiulio saw an emotionalvideo about a giveaway recipient, heknew he had to do it.

After acquiring information aboutthe program from Gatchell, includinghow to organize a car giveaway,DiGiulio began planning Body Best’sfirst Car Giveaway with the initial in-tention of donating two to three vehi-cles yearly. Rather than choosing aperson in need, DiGiulio put together acommittee to choose a winner, enlist-

ing the aid of a diverse panel of publicofficials and community leads to selecta deserving individual. Early on,DiGiulio decided to choose winnerswho deserved a vehicle, rather thansimply donating to someone in need,because “need is always there,” he ex-plains. “We wanted to help people whohelp others. Everyone has to do theirpart, and this is my way of volunteer-ing. By helping this person, he or shecan help so many others.”

Gatchell suggested Wheels toProsper as the name for DiGiulio’sgiveaway, and Management Successadvised DiGiulio to secure the nameand website, helping him build thesite. The idea behind Wheels to Pros-per was to establish a program tohelp shops begin the process of spon-soring car giveaways, and when hepitched the idea for a national give-away to 30 shops in hopes of gettingmore interest in the program, 11shops signed up that same day. “Welaid out some parameters and estab-lished a process, including marketing– there’s a lot of marketing you cando for free because people want tohelp,” DiGiulio states.

In the four years since its incep-tion, Wheels to Prosper has increasedto include 34 shops donating around25 cars annually, but the program isgrowing consistently; DiGiulio hopes,by next year, 100 shops will partici-pate in Wheels to Prosper’s annualgiveaway because “Jody and I cannotdo as much alone as we can when weinvolved the entire industry. Wheels toProsper is all about telling shops howeasy it really is.”

Though Wheels to Prosper is ex-panding to include non-ManagementSuccess shops, shops interested in par-ticipating in the program need to ac-quire approval from DiGiulio and theprogram’s administrator, Jim Ander-son, because they want to elicit in-volvement from shops committed togiving away at least one car each year.Anderson, owner of Anderson Auto-motive in Marion, IA, did a giveawaycalled “Wheels of Change” severalyears before DiGiulio began his pro-gram, but Anderson joined Wheels toProsper’s board as their administratorbecause he wanted to be part of some-thing bigger.


Wheels to Prosper’s Annual Giveaway

Chance DiGiulio poses with winner IreneMorgan in front of the car he helped repair forhis senior project

See Annual Giveaway, Page 46


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R. Scott Weiser, 58, is the lobbyist forthe Iowa Collision Repair Association(ICRA) and works closely with the or-ganization’s Executive Director JanetChaney to act on behalf of its mem-bers throughout the state.

Weiser established Capitol Strate-gies Group, Inc, (CSG) in 1998 andseven years ago he began workingwith the ICRA. He has been a regis-tered lobbyist with 33 years andCSG is a full-service lobbying, con-sulting, and advocacy company pro-viding services at the statehouse inDes Moines, Iowa and in Washing-ton, D.C.

Q: Some lobbyists are attorneys, butothers are full-time lobbyists and notlawyers. Which are you and describethe difference?A: I am not an attorney. Some lobby-ists are lawyers and some aren’t. At-torneys are usually seeking negotiatedoutcomes, but when you’re an advo-cate like I am, you don’t always getnegotiated outcomes. There are win-ners and losers, so it’s an interestingdynamic. Sometimes we’re for some-thing or opposed to it and that’s allthere is to it. There’s no room for ne-gotiation when it comes to many ofthese situations, especially in the col-lision industry. So, that’s how a lob-byist can differ from an attorney.

Q: What do you do specifically for theICRA?A: I represent a wide range of busi-ness groups here in town. I took on theICRA as a client several years ago be-cause I like these people and I’vestayed with them because I reallyenjoy working with them. They’rehard-working honest folks and topbusiness people and not afraid to fight,so I enjoy working on their behalf atthe State House.

The ICRA has recently had somesuccesses and that’s really importantto any association in terms of buildingmembership and visibility and track-ing other winners. We had a tax issuehere about three years ago now. Ourbody shop guys were one of the lastbusinesses in Iowa that were stillbeing taxed on the products they useon their repairs. In other words, tape

and putty and fillers and other ancil-lary products that they need in orderto complete the work for their clients

was being taxed.They were payingsix per cent on thatand we were ableto secure an ex-emption for themfor the past threeyears. That was anice rallying pointfor our membersand I think ourgroup is strongernow than it hasbeen in years be-cause of that vic-tory. We got that

handled and it’s definitely a shot in thearm for the collision industry in Iowa,because now the body shops can takethe six per cent and put it in theirpockets.

Q: Is it difficult for the body shopowners in Iowa to be heard by theirlegislators?A: No, not really because the ICRA,has an excellent reputation for gain-ing access over at the State House.We built a three-pronged approach tohow to solve problems here in Iowaand it works. We have our legislativework which involves committee workand testifying and those sorts ofthings. We also are working on theregulatory side to engage our Insur-ance Commissioner and our AttorneyGeneral as it relates to things likePartsTrader and other things thatbegin to be issues for them as well asthe industry.

Q: What are some of the hotter issuesright now for you and the ICRA?A: During this past session, we in-troduced some legislation after care-fully looking at some other states tosee what they’re doing and howthey’ve had successes. So we lookedat a couple of issues, one of which in-volves the use of aftermarket and re-cycled parts in repairs and the otherconcern is with short pay. It was ourfirst shot out of the box addressingthe short pay issue and it wasn’t asfruitful as we imagined. We have a

very large insurance presence here inDes Moines. We’re second only toHartford, Connecticut for insurancecompany headquarters, so we’re veryinsurance-friendly here. Almost all ofthe insurance companies are righthere and of course they show up atthe State House whenever you intro-duce a piece of legislation and theytend to have data–lots of data.

On top of that, we currently haveone of the lowest auto rates in the na-tion here in Iowa, so we began to tes-tify. The problem is that when ourmembers are asked to testify onsomething such as short pay, for ex-ample (involving what we believe in-cludes things such as safety issuesand other issues) we don’t have anydata on our side. We’re giving themindividual stories from our membersand they’re valuable, but here in Iowait’s difficult to pass bills without thedata. Our members are pretty sophis-ticated over here and they work it

pretty hard. So, right now we’re re-grouping and during this past year,we’ve been working pretty hard tocapture and quantify short pay issuesthat are going on right now in the col-lision industry in Iowa. We’re goingto have some good, solid, well-sup-ported and documented cases of shortpay and will be able to go toe to toewith the insurance companies. We’regoing to professionalize our approachmore, so by owning the data thatwe’re assembling it’s really going bea key thing for us here.

Q: What are the main issues sur-rounding short pay?A: Well, first off–the consumer isbeing short changed here—the cus-tomer is not being made whole. Thereare safety concerns when certain partsof the vehicle are not paid for or usedappropriately. In many cases, our ownelbow grease is being short paid, but


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ICRA Lobbyist Defends Rights of Iowa Body Shop Owners

with Ed AttanasioMidwest Associations


R. Scott Weiseris the lobbyist forthe Iowa CollisionRepair Association(ICRA) and the

president of CapitolStrategies Group,Inc. in Des Moines,

Iowa

See ICRA Lobbyist, Page 29


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During the weekend of June 19through 22, ASA-Northwest held theirSemi-Annual Summer Retreat andManagement Conference at the RedLion Hanford House in Richland, WA.The four-day event featured educa-tional seminars, industry roundtablediscussions, networking opportunitiesand general fun for all present. JeffLovell, President and Executive Di-rector of ASA-NW, noted that theevent went very well with around 80participants, though this year’s retreatwas smaller than in the past were at-tendance was closer to 100 individu-als, a fact he attributes to manygraduation ceremonies taking placethat weekend.

On Thursday, attendees had theoption of enjoying a free day or play-ing golf with their peers, and thosewho chose to golf seemed to im-mensely enjoy the day in the sunshine.Later in the day, a group of ASA-NWmembers traveled to the Bombing

Range Sports Complex in West Rich-land for their “Hogs & Dogs” eventwhere over 2000 motorcycles were ondisplay.

On Friday, the group gathered fortheir Board of Directors meetingwhere conversations ensued about theassociation in general and their finan-cial plans, followed by a Mechanicaland Collision Roundtable which al-lowed members to discuss common is-

sues in the industry as well as theirbiggest challenges. Lovell shares,“most agreed that finding good techni-cians is one of the biggest challenges

currently facing the automo-tive industry today. Our mem-bers shared information onhow they advertise for em-ployees and where techni-cians come from. Anothertopic was the challenge ofrunning a family-owned busi-ness; how do you fire yourson? Being the boss can betough on families!”

During the roundtable dis-cussions, the Ascettes playeda game of croquet in the court-

yard, and in the evening, the CoolDesert Nights event allowed attendeesto enjoy two hours of classic cars cruis-ing past the hotel. From 9-11PM, theevening concluded, as did all othersduring the trip, with ASA-NW’s Hos-pitality Suite, allowing members to in-

dulge in hors d’oeuvres and adult bev-erages while socializing with theirpeers in a relaxed setting which pro-vided “an excellent networking oppor-tunity,” according to Lovell.

On Saturday morning, RickWhite of One Eighty Business Solu-tions presented a seminar, approvedby the Automotive Management Insti-tute (AMI), entitled “Communicatingfor Success.” Lovell states, “the sem-inar was great, and everyone lovedRick… He praised ASA-Northwest asone of the most fun associations hegets to work with!”

When the group gathered forlunch, Joel Baxter, Past Board Chair-man, presented plaques to Brian andZoya Johnson as well as ASA Hon-orary Member Ron Willand. CurrentChairman Todd Black also presentedthe “Hunt Endowment” to Travis andRenee Mosley of My Auto Pro.

That afternoon, ASA-NW mem-bers gathered for a productive General

ASA-NW Members Enjoy Summer Retreat

with Chasidy Rae SiskNorthwest Associations


Rick White of One Eighty Business Solutions presentsCommunicating for Success

sometimes it’s other things and so Ithink we’re hoping by the end of De-cember we’re going to have a prettygood documentation to use.

Q: What does the future of the ICRAhold for you and your members?A: Our body shop members havedone a great job politically here inIowa, but it all comes down to thefact that we have to help ourselvesultimately. That’s where we findourselves right now. Our ExecutiveDirector Janet Chaney is doing anexcellent job and that’s important,because these body shop ownerscan’t do it alone. We’ve got somegood things happening right nowwith the ICRA and with Janet on-board, they’re definitely headed inthe right direction. I am paid to bean advocate for this organizationand it’s a pleasure because they taketheir own time, energy and moneyto try and make a difference and byachieving things for them is veryfulfilling personally and profes-sionally.


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Business Session, while the Ascettesheld an equally fruitful business meet-ing. Saturday evening’s main eventwas a barbeque in the hotel courtyardwhere attendees partook of ribs andchicken while playing lawn games

such as croquet and ladder ball. Dur-ing the barbeque, the Ascettes auc-tioned off a “Pamper Yourself” basketdonated by the Ascettes, a two-personfishing trip donated by Scott andRachael Tveten, and a Butter Pecancake donated by Casey Hall; the cakewas so popular that a second one wasalso auctioned off, to be supplied at alater date.

At the Hospitality Suite later Sat-urday evening, the Ascettes held theirraffle prize drawings with prizes do-

nated by Jude and Lindsy Larson ofCompTrek Consulting, Brian and JenSmith of Gig Harbor Automotive,Beven Weeks of ICM, Mark and SaraSimons of Rolf’s Import Auto Service,Bryant and Melissa Kelley of Valley

Automotive Electric, JanelBlack of Unlimited Services,and Janae Schindler of Rod’sJapanese Auto Care. Betweenthe live auction and the raffle,the Ascettes raised over$2300 towards their scholar-ship fund.

ASA-NW is grateful to themembers who took time fromtheir busy schedules to makethe event such a success.Lovell believes everyone had

a great time networking and dis-cussing the issues, and he looks for-ward to the next retreat this winter.

ASA Northwest7403 Lakewood Drive W, Suite 7Lakewood, WA 98499253-473-6970www.asanorthwest.com

ASA-NW members enjoyed a weekend filled withsocializing and discussions

Continued from Page 26

ICRA Lobbyist



Milstead Automotive & Collisionhas become a one-stop shop forclients in need of car repairs. Inaddition to collision, automotive,transmission, towing and fleetservices, Milstead now providescustomers with access to quickand easy car rentals from NorthAmerica’s largest car rental brand,Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

In this unique partnership,Enterprise Rent-A-Car has set up aneighborhood site at Milstead Au-tomotive, 29707 W. Hawthorne,Spring. “Setting up car rentalswhere our clients live and work isjust one more way for us to helpour customers,” said Amy Mil-stead, president of Milstead Auto-motive.

Both Milstead Automotive &Collision and Enterprise Rent-A-Car are family owned and operatedcompanies known for their excep-tional customer service. However,Milstead noted that today, you can’tjust be customer-friendly. Now, youneed to offer true convenience.

Milstead Automotive &Collision partners withEnterprise Rent-A-Caron-site

getting all of the pieces together as wemove forward in the certification as-pect of the business. As a former mem-ber of the OEM Roundtable, I’ve seenfirst-hand how these programs havegrown and changed. Multiple carmak-ers building multiple vehicle modelsthat require multiple shop repair capa-bilities have created a confusing andunmanageable environment for mostshops.

“Cars have become so much morecomplex that certification is going to bemore and more integral to the day-to-day operations of a body shop, regard-less of where they are or what theirbusiness model is,” Doerr explained.“Assured Performance has interpretedand simplified the many moving parts,leveraging their commonalities insteadof the exceptions. Assured Perfor-mance’s program has struck a chordwith the OE’s and the industry becausethey all see a definite need. Shops canget the certification they need and in re-turn, the OE’s are stepping up withthings like referral programs.”

To ensure that the company hasfirst-hand shop knowledge and expe-rience, Assured Performance has fiveformer shop owners and MSO man-agers onboard. Aaron Clark is one

such former bodyshop owner. He isnow Assured Per-formance’s V.P. ofCertification andNetwork Develop-ment. Clark soldhis seven shops atthe end of 2012,anticipating retire-ment, but startedworking for As-

sured Performance a few months later.He‘s happy and excited to be with agrowing company during an idealtime in the collision industry’s history,he said.

“The certification arm of this com-pany is gaining more and more momen-tum every day because getting onboardwith this program has quickly gonefrom an option to a necessity for bodyshops.” Clark said, “I was prepared tostep away from the business after sell-ing my shops, but when this opportunitywas presented, I could not resist. Wehave a chance to reinvent this industry ina positive way and work to create some-thing that never existed before.”

At NACE, Ford representativesdiscussed the details of repairing the2015 F150 and their National Body Shop Network program and Clarkelaborated on it. “As the maker of thenumber one selling vehicle represent-ing nearly 700,000 sales per year, itwas no wonder that all of their presen-tations had standing room only overthree days,” Clark said. “The high-point of the presentation was howshops would be rewarded with officialFord certification—recognition formaking the investment to become re-tooled, re-trained and re-equipped.Further, shops that can make the gradewill ultimately receive referrals fromnot only Ford, but Nissan, Chryslerand others through their aggressiveOEM consumer-facing awareness and

marketing efforts.”Chrysler, Nis-

san, and Ford arethe first ones to an-nounce a referralprogram and oth-ers will be unveil-ing their programsright after the firstof the year. Clarksees the referral as-pect of these certi-

fications as a real shot in the arm forthe collision industry as a whole.“These are 100% OE-driven customerreferral programs that didn’t exist be-fore, so it’s huge,” he said. “There is noquestion here—you will have to fixthese new vehicles differently andtherefore shops are going to have to in-vest in the training, tools and equip-ment. If you’re going to have to do allthose things regardless, why wouldn’tyou want to be recognized for it and re-ceive referrals for doing it?”

The standard certification-recog-nition requirements used by Ford,Chrysler, Nissan, etc. are those devel-oped by Assured Performance in coop-eration with many OEM’s. AssuredPerformance supports the open compe-tition approach to procure the tools andequipment required. This key aspect isillustrated well in Ford’s aluminum re-pair requirements for the new F150. Tobe Ford certified-recognized through2015, the shop must become “alu-minum capable” including having sep-arate aluminum repair tools, a separatearea (curtains or walls) for aluminumwork, and specific repair training andwelding certification provided by I-CAR. While Ford has these require-ments, the shop can buy from severalgood choices where competition exists.

Assured Performance’s approachto body shop certification is unique inother ways as well. Instead of a sur-prise “pass-fail” test, Assured Perform-ance uses a business developmentprocess. Even before the shop enrollsfor the first time, they are able to eval-uate their readiness by following theonline capabilities assessment referredto as the “Pre-flight Checklist.” Shopsinterested in becoming certified areable to complete the “Capabilities As-sessment” to review the requirements,see their deficiencies, and generate abusiness development plan, helpingthem get from where they are now towhere they need to be, according toDoerr.

The turnkey system designed byAssured Performance even developsa shop—specific calendar, budgetand equipment matrix with vendorslisted to help the shop streamline theentire process. Even I-CAR workingin conjunction with Assured Per-formance has developed a programcalled “Road to Gold” to address theevolving needs in the area of train-ing. Equipment and tool vendorshave also joined the effort, providingexpedited online ordering and pric-ing to simplify and streamline the

process of retooling for the shopswilling to make the journey.

“Every aspect of this program isadministered by Assured Performance,starting with the enrollment process,the shop capability assessments, theirbusiness development plans, the annualon-site physical audit-inspections, nec-essary online support systems, proof ofcompliance documentation, and evenshop marketing,” Ron Doerr said. “As-sured Performance’s joint-effort ap-proach eliminates redundancy inequipment and duplication of the fees

and the overall costfor a body shop tobecome certified.The cost savingsfor each shop is inthe thousands ofdollars, annually –a huge windfall byany calculation.And, in aggregate,the OEM’s are

probably saving millions in non-coreexpenses - they can focus on buildinggreat cars and trucks and promoting thecertified repair network while AssuredPerformance quarterbacks the im-provements in repair business capabil-ities - truly a best path forward for all.”


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by Ed Attanasio

Renowned automotive and motorcy-cle painter JoAnn Bortles was elim-inated at the conclusion of episode#3 on Motor City Masters (Tuesdaynights, 10 p.m. PST on truTV) a re-

ality series that pits 10 mega-tal-ented designers from different partsof the automotive industry againsteach other week after week in theambitious task of creating conceptcars based around a different theme.One by one, designers who fumbletheir role during each weekly buildwill be sent home by the judges untilone lone Motor City Master will re-main. The winner gets $100,000, anew 2014 Camaro Z28 and becomesa Chevy ambassador for the car-maker.

Bortles is a 33-year veteranpainter, the owner of Crazy HorseCustom Paint in Waxhaw NC and an

author of seven books about automo-tive painting and airbrushing tech-niques. Known as a leader in customhot rod and motorcycle paint, CrazyHorse Painting has been producingshow winning and road worthy paintjobs for 33 years. Known as the“Queen of Flame”, Bortles has wonnumerous awards for her work in-cluding some of the top custom paint-ing awards in the country. In 1998,2005, and 2012 her work won BestMotorcycle Paint of the Year and in2006 she won PPG’s Top Five MostOutstanding Paint Award.

Bortle’s paint work has been fea-tured in Street Rodder, Hot RodMilestones, Hot Rod, and other auto-motive publications. Her paintworkhas appeared in nearly every bikemagazine and on the covers of manymagazines, including American Iron,Easyriders, VTwin, Biker, In theWind, Auto Graphics. Her customchopper was featured on the cover ofEasyriders in Sept 2004, making herthe first woman to have her own per-sonal bike appearing on the cover.

ABN interviewed Bortles themorning after the world discovered

that JoAnn had been eliminated dur-ing episode #3 of Motor City Masters.She sounded a little down, but appre-ciative of the fact that she was askedto be on the reality series.

“Yes, it was frustrating, but a lotof good things have come from it,”

Bortles said. “My approach to mywork is by always focusing on the fu-ture, so I’m not going to dwell onwhat happened on Motor City Mas-ters.

I’ve been getting a steady streamof new followers on Facebook andpeople have been really great. One ofthe main themes of the show stressedmy leadership skills and my positiveapproach to everything I do. I thoughtI made some solid decisions about thedesign elements, especially on thetruck we designed in episode #3. Assoon as we were doing trucks, Iwanted to do suicide doors; I wantedto give our team’s truck a step sidelook, so we did the suicide doors im-mediately and everyone took my con-cepts and ran with them. After that, itwas all about keeping my team goingto make sure they had what theyneeded so that we could build a nicevehicle. But in the end, you’re de-pending on three other people youdon’t know and you can’t do it all byyourself.”

What was her overall impressionof Motor City Masters in general? “Ilove reality television personally and I

Master Painter JoAnn Bortles Gets Dose of Reality on Motor City Masters

JoAnn Bortles is an award-winning custompainter, airbrush artist, car builder, journalist,and book author with over 30 years ofexperience in the automotive industry


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always watch Project Runway andBest Ink,” she said. “This show is dif-ferent in that you break into teams.The team dynamic is a tough one, be-cause you have a lot of very differentpeople from different backgroundsand you have to put them together andhope they’ll work well together in astressful situation. So, it was 100times tougher than I thought I would.It got pretty intense out there in the de-sign studio and some people walkedout and there was a lot of arguing. Ontop of it, we had to do much of thephysical work ourselves, even though

we had build techs to help us. It wasexhausting and we were pushing our-

selves to the limit, both mentally andphysically. We had very little sleepduring each build, so we were alwaysa little on edge and cranky. I pushedthe people in my team as much as Icould, but one guy walked out of thepaint booth after making one littlesuggestion, so it was the battle of egospretty much. If I had fought more, Ithink I would have had a mutiny.When I paint a car or a motorcycle atmy shop, it’s pretty much me and mypeople, so I’m not used to the type ofdrama I encountered on Motor CityMasters.”

It was a short run, but agreat one for Bortles on theseries, she explained. “Thiswas the opportunity of a life-time, so when they asked meto be on the show, I jumpedon it. My attitude is always gofor it. I don’t see how it can’thelp my business, becausenow I’ve been seen by awhole new audience. It’s a re-sume builder and that’s im-portant, because all of itworks together to support andstrengthen the brand—my

brand. Literally thousands of peopleapplied to be on Motor City Masters

and they chose me, so it means a lot.”Bortles was energized by the ex-

perience on the reality series and isnow looking for more exciting proj-ects. “I look back at all the work I’vedone and I think—wow I did this?”she said. “It’s a great feeling. I feel thesame way about Motor City Masters.Camilo Pardo, a car designer on theshow, said something and I totallyagree with it—‘Shut up and let yourwork speak for itself’ and that’s whatI do. I let my body of work speak foritself and if people can see that I amable to share their vision, then that’sthe right customer for me. I try to stayhumble because once I start thinkingthat I’m all that, I might miss the next

great thing in my career. Youalways have to keep your feeton the ground so that you canbe prepared for what’s com-ing around the corner.”

You can meet JoAnn Bor-tles at SEMA this year at Hy-pertherm’s booth and alsosome of her work will be ondisplay at the PPG booth.This is her 10th anniversaryof attending SEMA shows,she said. “SEMA is all aboutthe networking and I have

made some amazing contacts thereover the years, so I am anxious tomake new friendships while re-con-necting with old friends at SEMA thisyear.”

Bortles made her case about the truck her team designedon episode #3, without success, as she was voted off atthe conclusion of this episode of Motor City Masters

Judge Jenn Jennings (left) discussed her team with Bortlesduring episode #3 of Motor City Masters

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The Houston Auto Body Association(HABA) had a busy day on Tuesday,August 5, when they held their monthlymeeting on the same day they co-hostedtwo business-building events alongsideAAMS, 3M, Mitchell, Hertz, BASF,CARSTAR and KAPE. The eventswere designed to provide collision re-pairers in the Houston area with an op-portunity to learn about critical issuesand trends impacting their businessesfrom leading industry professionals.Leo Kozadinos, President of HABA,called the events “a game changer in thecollision repair industry.”

The morning session was heldfrom 8-10AM at the Homewoods Suitein Spring, TX, and from 6:30-8:30PM,the evening session took place at theHyatt Regency Houston. Both sessionsfollowed the same agenda and includeda meal for attendees. All of the organi-zations co-hosting the events gaveshort presentations on various mattersof interest to the collision repair pro-fessionals in attendance. HABA brieflydiscussed their association, its goalsand progress thus far.

CARSTAR presented a “CollisionIndustry Overview,” discussing the cur-rent state of the industry, and their pres-entation ran hand-in-hand with KAPE’s“Insurance Industry Trends.” Topics ofconversation focused on the increase inmulti-shop operations, the fact that 80-90% of the collision repair industry re-mains insurer-paid, and how manyinsurance companies are becoming in-novative in their attempts to reduce re-pair costs. Current trends indicate thatmany insurers may soon enact in-net-work and out-of-network deductibles,though the legality and feasibility ofthis model will vary by state.

Also, many insurers are reducingthe number of shops to which they

refer customers as they’ve found it tobe more efficient to work with fewerproviders. A major factor in their deci-sion about which shops will receive re-ferrals will be linked to cycle timebecause, as Kozadinos states, “in-creased cycle time translates into moremoney for insurance companies due torental car costs, so the more efficient ashop is, the happier the insurer willbe.”

The group also touched on for-gettable revenue and the possibility ofestablishing a call center to ensure theaccuracy of estimates. In regards tothe continuing consolidation of the in-surance industry, speakers noted thatthe industry is stagnant with no or-ganic growth so consolidation willcontinue, resulting in reductions toshop networks which means fewershops will be doing more work.

BASF informed attendees that“Repair Planning” should be profes-sionally and proactively done in eachshop by developing a game plan up-front for each repair. Ensuring an ac-curate estimate at the beginning of therepair process will improve touchtime, an area with which many shopsin the country struggle.

In “Mobile Estimating Technol-ogy,” Mitchell profiled the new tech-nology that they plan to release in theimminent future. By compiling the es-timate more automatically, their newtechnology should produce an easier,more accurate estimate which, in turn,will improve TATs for collision repairfacilities.

3M’s “The Impact of Technologyfor Future Vehicles” focused on thedriving changes in technology with re-spect to fuel efficiency and safety,highlighting some new products cur-rently in development. They also dis-

cussed preparation for the aluminum2015 Ford F-150 and how, with the in-creasing prevalence of high-strengthsteels being used in vehicles, it’s im-perative to utilize the correct equip-ment.

In “OSHA/EPA Compliance Train-ing for Collision Repair,” AAMS re-minded attendees that an inspection isalways possible so it’s imperative to en-sure each shop offers a clean, safe workenvironment. Painters must be trainedand certified, and to be compliant, shopsmust maintain safety sheets and com-plete OSHA/EPA training annually.Kozadinos says, “there’s a lot that needsto be done, and though shops are busyrepairing vehicles, they need to staycompliance. Luckily, there are servicesout there that can assist.”

Hertz presented “Car Rental Tech-nology” to inform attendees that theywill be releasing a new program soonthat will allow for 24/7 rentals, mean-ing collision repair shops will have

rental cars available on their propertyat all hours of the day for their cus-tomers’ convenience.

Approximately 60 individualswere in attendance, and Kozadinos waspleased with the two business-buildingevents, stating they were “well done,fun and educational. The events wentvery well.”

In between the two events, from5-6:30PM at the Hyatt Regency Hous-ton, HABA held their monthly mem-ber meeting where they discussed thenecessity of maintaining momentum,among other association goals includ-ing education. “Education is the mainreason to be involved with HABA,”Kozadinos states. “Too many shopsare not up to speed on what the indus-try is doing, but by keeping up with theassociation, they can stay informedand educated.”

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I was recently at a body shop that doesamazing work, garners incredible cus-tomer reviews and skillfully fixesnearly 200 cars monthly. All of theshop’s techs are dressed in clean uni-forms and you could eat off the shopfloor. But, then I took a look at their

reception area and it’s an OMG mo-ment. Ugly yellow walls covered withgreasy handprints; one little table thatlooks like it was pulled out of the Ti-

tanic; magazines from 2010; a coffeemachine covered in what looks likemud and an old, beat-up sign on thewall that the guys from AmericanPickers wouldn’t even want.

My first reaction was shock. Whydoes this shop work so hard to provide

amazing customer service,maintaining a professionalimage with a highly-trainedstaff and then they badly fum-ble the appearance of their re-ception area (or some call it a“waiting room”), the onlypart of their shop that cus-tomers will definitely see?

Think about it. Collisionrepair is one of the only in-dustries in the world whereyour average customer is un-happy before they even inter-

act with you. They’re looking forreasons to take you off their list, insome cases, so why give them anyammunition? A body shop’s reception

area should be comfortable, clean andinviting, but so many of them justdon’t make the grade. So, we foundthree examples of body shops that un-derstand the importance of a waitingroom that fits the aforementionedqualities. They see the value in mak-ing a good first impression, becauselike the old deodorant commercialused to say, “You may never get a sec-ond chance.”

Towne Auto Restoration & Col-lision Specialists in Randolph, NJhired Aurora Kitchens and Interiors ofSomerville, NJ to completely re-dotheir reception area in 2011. It won adesign award in the National Associa-tion of Remodeling’s annual contest in2012, according to Kelley Evens, theowner and chief designer at AuroraKitchens and Interiors.

“The owner of Towne Autowanted to provide his customers witha different experience than is usuallyfound in auto body shops,” Evens

said. “A comfortable, upscale waitingarea for customers was top priority.Other amenities on the owner’s wishlist included a television viewing area,a working area with free Wi-Fi forcustomers, a gourmet coffee/tea cen-ter, an inviting reception desk, an areafor insurance adjusters to speak withclients privately, multiple employeework stations and beautiful rest-rooms.”

Figuring out how to keep the wait-ing room clean in an auto body shopenvironment was one of the biggestchallenges. “Collision techniciansoften track oil and grease from the shopinto the waiting area when they arespeaking with customers,” Evens said.“The key was a durable yet attractiveconcrete floor with a multi-sized tilepattern, some texture and a color vari-ation from gold to terra cotta. Cleaningis a breeze with just water and a mop.To make the seating area more inviting,a multi-colored jewel-toned rug was


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Is Your Reception Area Making a Good First Impression?

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Social Media for Shops


VictorEric Design in Vancouver, British Columbia designedthis high-end reception area for B&D Autobody & Glass,also in Vancouver

used to anchor the space. A brownleather sofa and gold leather chairswere grouped for seating.

Their colors complement theconcrete floor and area rug.”

While many auto body shops havea single unisex restroom, which is oftendark and dingy, the owners at Towne

Auto insisted on separate restrooms,each modern, clean and well-lit. “Weachieved this through the use of mirrorsand artwork, with warm paint colors to

keep the restrooms from feeling coldand sterile,” Evens said. “The combi-nation of bold colors, wall art and ac-cent pieces created exactly the effectthat the owner was trying to achieve.”

Another award-winning receptionarea designed by a leading interior de-sign firm was created by VictorEric

Design, a Canadian design firm lo-cated in Vancouver, British Columbia.“B&D Autobody & Glass, (also inVancouver) came to us looking to up-

grade their space,” according to thecompany’s blog.

“B&D Auto body is the preferredauto body shop of the VancouverMINI Cooper Club – they are factory-trained for repairing MINI’s and areused exclusively by MINI Yaletownfor body work. That being said theywanted to update their look to suittheir new clientele. We wanted to de-sign a waiting area for our client thatoffered style and comfort, and one thatconveyed organization and efficiency.We took a blank concrete canvas andchose to create a cool vibe with boldcolors of grey, black and white. Wecustom fabricated a table topped withglass with a base of stacked tires,added colorful automotive themed art-work and threw in accents of chromeand silver. This is not your ordinaryauto body shop. Customers don’t evenmind waiting.”

Our third example of a well-re-ceived reception area that is both cooland comfortable was designed for Up-town Auto Body in Oakland, CA byAce Architects, also located in Oakland.Ace’s Co-Owner Lucia Howard lovedworking on the design and dealing withthe shop’s owners Lisandro Allende andGiovanna Tanzillo was a creative and

enriching experience, she said.“Giovanni’s idea behind this proj-

ect was to create a space where peoplecould forget that they were in a bodyshop,” Howard explained. “Both own-ers collect art, so they wanted art toplay a role. We were also interested inusing car images in the overall look,because Lisandro is a big car guy andloves racing cars. We wanted to injecta ton of their personality into the re-ception area and I believe that’s whatwe achieved. We also wanted it to beopen, so that when customers enter,they can also see part of the offices, sothat they don’t get that stifling feeling.We didn’t want the customers to feellike they were being stored off in someroom waiting for their car. When yousit in this reception area, there is somuch happening throughout the roomthat you don’t’ even have a chance tobe bored.”

So, maybe it’s time to take alonger look at your reception area.When was the last time you did any-thing to it? It’s all about what the pub-lic sees and perceives, so if you do A+work, but your reception area is get-ting low grades from the people whomatter the most, a makeover mightjust be money well-spent.


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maybe they are more likely to take alook to see what they can find on thewebsite.”

After more than a year in develop-ment, the website is available throughthe “Technical Knowledge” section ofI-CAR’s website – www.i-car.com – ordirectly at http://rts.i-car.com. It featuresix primary features:

1. The “OEM Information” sectionincludes a page for each automaker,listing what types of collision repairprocedures and information each makesavailable and how to access it. But Bar-tanen said the section offers not justlinks to the automaker’s repair infor-mation websites (though there are shortvideos explaining the navigation ofeach automaker site) but often some ofthe actual procedures, bulletins and in-formation technicians or estimatorsmay need. In the Acura section of theportal, for example, Bartanen opened abulletin showing that sectioning cannotbe done on the B-pillar reinforcementon the 2014 Acura MDX.

2. Another section, searchable byyear-make-model, offers a guide toautomaker information on which partsrequire inspection or replacement fol-lowing an airbag deployment.

3. The “partial part replacement”section, also searchable by year-make-model, lists what sectioning proceduresare available from the automakers. Theprocedures themselves still generallyneed to be downloaded from the OEMwebsite, Bartanen said, but this guide atleast allows users to know whether whatthey are looking for exists at those sites.

4. A “collision news” section ofthe portal is replacing I-CAR’s long-standing “Advantage” newsletter, andwill include three or four new articlesa week; this is where, for example, I-CAR announced in July that in partdue to I-CAR’s encouragement, KiaMotors recently released comprehen-sive collision repair manuals in theUnited States for the first time. Barta-nen said shops and technicians can re-ceive “push notifications” about newsposted to the portal by following the“@tech_briefs” Twitter feed (no pushnotifications are available via email atthis time).

5. I-CAR has posted it “UniformProcedures for Collision Repair”(UPCR) at the new portal. First devel-oped in the late 1990s but more re-cently updated, the UPCR outlines

industry-accepted repair procedures forsuch things as adhesive bonding, cor-rosion protection and wheel alignment.

6. The “Ask I-CAR” section is justthat, a way for a portal user to email orcall I-CAR with a technical question forwhich they haven’t been able to find ananswer. In a live demonstration of thisfeature, Bartanen called I-CAR’s toll-free number and said he was looking forsectioning procedures for the B-pillar

on a Dodge Dart;within minutes, theI-CAR representa-tive checked theDodge OEM infor-mation website andfound that giventhe type of steelused for that B-pil-

lar, Dodge offers no sectioning proce-dures. She also emailed Bartanen thatinformation, and posted it to the portalin a searchable (by year-make-model)database of other such questions I-CARhas researched.

Bartanen said more informationwill continue to be added to the portal;many automakers, he said, are anxiousto use the portal to put technical infor-mation and procedures into collisionrepairers’ hands, often at no charge.

Current I-CAR StatisticsI-CAR also used its annual conferenceto update the nearly 400 people in at-tendance on the organization’s othercurrent and future activities.

I-CAR CEO John Van Alstynereported that 56,000 student from morethan 8,600 businesses received I-CARtraining last year. That training now in-cludes 77 live classroom courses, al-most an equal number of online course,and 14 virtual classes that are taken on-line but with an I-CAR instructor teach-ing the course live.

He said about 3,000 businesseshave achieved I-CAR Gold Class sta-tus, and about 2,300 more have beencategorized as “Road to Gold,” busi-nesses that are working toward achiev-ing Gold Class status.

I-CAR reaching out to consumersThose businesses, and others with I-CAR-trained technicians, may be gladto hear that I-CAR is launching a con-sumer awareness campaign to helpdrivers understand the value of havingtheir vehicles repaired by trainedshops and technicians.

“During my first three years withthis industry, I have been told manytimes that the consumer just doesn’t

care about collision repair until themoment their car is hit,” Van Alstynesaid, acknowledging that he too hadpreviously not thought much about thetopic before joining I-CAR in late2010. “But no one ever told me Ishould think much about repairs, so Iwas ignorant.”

With that in mind, he said, I-CAR first benchmarked the level ofawareness among consumers aboutcollision repair, finding it very low.As part of this benchmarking, he said,“We gave them some informationabout things they should be aware of,and their interest perked significantly.They cared and wanted more infor-mation.”

“We need to educate and empowerconsumers to help them make informedcollision repair decisions,” Van Alstynesaid.

Speaking at a press conference fol-lowing the day-long conference, AnnGonzalez, senior director of marketingfor I-CAR, said the organization is nowworking with a Detroit-based agency ona “larger-scale national and regional cre-ative campaign,” to reach consumers.That will include public service an-nouncements and social media advertis-ing, she said. Those campaigns, which

focus on “safe repairs” and “trainedtechnicians” are currently being testedin some markets.

Elise Quadrozzi, I-CAR’s direc-tor of development for the insurancesegment, said as more insurers includeGold Class or other training require-ments as part of their direct repair pro-gram (DRP) agreements, they areinterested in reaching consumers witha similar message about the value ofthat training.

“So I think you will see someinitiatives coming to fruition prettyquickly where they will start to in-clude that in their messaging. not justas part of the DRP structure, but ac-tually as part of the messaging out totheir consumers,” Quadrozzi said.

By getting this information di-rectly to vehicle-owners, Van Alstynesaid, “the consumer is going to help ourindustry do more of the right things.”


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Drew Geiger, 44, is the chief lobbyistfor Communication and ManagementServices in Helena, MT. He’s been alobbyist for more than two decadesand began working for the MontanaCollision Repair Specialists (MCRS)seven years ago, representing the or-ganization in the Capitol and acting asa watch dog as he steadfastly keeps aneye on proposed bills for its member-ship.

Geiger’s connection to the colli-sion industry goes all the way back tohis high school years, he explained.“The body shop guys in high schoolkept my $500 car on the road, so I’vebeen indebted to this industry eversince then.”

Geiger respects the collision re-pairers he works with at the MCRS, heexplained. “The board at MCRS is avery mature group consisting of verysuccessful body shop owners. You couldtake this board and give them anotherbusiness and within six months, they’d

be running it successfully. They’re sharpbusiness people who started out work-ing on cars, but then they took it to thenext level by understanding how to runa successful business. It’s been a goodrelationship, because they seem to like

my counsel andwe’ve been able toachieve some goodthings over theyears. We’ve gottensome bills passedthat have helpedthe collision indus-try significantly inMontana and so it’sworked very well.”

Geiger has beenstressing from dayone that body shopsare good employersand important con-tributors to theeconomy in Mon-tana. “Back when I

started with MCRS, I did some researchand found out that body shops in Mon-tana pay 30% above the state averagein wages and give the majority of theiremployees health care,” Geiger said“So, we’ve really tried to communicateto the legislature and the public aboutthe industry in general. A proposed billmight be opposed by the insurance in-dustry or have proponents, but we wantto show that we have a broad public in-terest when we walk into the state Capi-tol to start talking about legislation, andwe’ve been successful at doing that.

“We also stress the level of pro-fessionalism in this industry,” hesaid. “When a customer’s car is inthe shop, the insurance company ob-viously plays a role, but ultimately,the body shop professionals are theones that are saying, not only are wegoing to get you your car lookingfine, but it’s going to be performingthe same way it did when it wastowed in here. There’s a huge public

safety component here as well, andwe stress that. The point is that bodyshops are main street businesses andmy clients are fixing their neighbors’cars. We have more deer than peoplehere in Montana and almost all ofour legislators have been in a deer-related accident, so our body shopshave helped them more than once, insome cases.

We stress all of this, because wewant to illustrate that we’re a usefulindustry that helps the public andthat’s what legislators respond to.”There have been some big wins for theMCRS and Geiger since he began in2007, he said. “The most significantbill we’ve encountered during theseven years I’ve been in this positionwas HB 265, sponsored by Represen-tative Gordon Vance, which prohibitsthe insurer from disregarding costitems identified by an estimating sys-tem. In some states, this same bill is500 pages long, but here in Montana


MCRS Lobbyist Represents Collision Repairers in Big Sky Country

with Ed AttanasioNorthwest Associations Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in

San Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Drew Geiger is thechief lobbyist for

Communication andManagement Serv-ices in Helena, MT.He’s been a lobbyistfor more than twodecades and beganworking for theMontana CollisionRepair Specialists(MCRS) sevenyears ago

it’s basically one sentence: ‘An in-surer may not unilaterally disregard arepair operation or cost identified byan estimating system that the insurerand the auto body repair businesshave agreed to utilize.’ It doesn’t geteasier than that, does it? We had somemajor push back from the insuranceside on this bill.

In the end, it’s a David vs. Go-liath situation here. You have a largerindustry being told by a smaller in-dustry that we need to sit down andnegotiate and you can’t tell us whatto do, essentially. It took a couplesessions, but the legislature ulti-mately said that it shouldn’t be aproblem for us to sit down with theinsurance companies and work itout. It impacts the body shop, but ifyou’re a customer and it’s your carbeing repaired, you want your carback in that same condition. But, ifprocedures are denied by the insur-ance company, how can you be surewhat’s being done and what isn’tbeing done? So it’s absolutely a con-sumer protection issue and that’swhy it passed in 2011.”

Geiger is also concerned withsteering practices in Montana, he said.“Steering is absolutely a problem here

in Montana and an ongoing issue. Ifthe insurance companies could take itoff the books, they would do it ab-solutely. So, we have to be vigilantwhen it comes to steering. Our Insur-ance Commissioner Monica Lindeenis absolutely open to working with usand she’s had an open door policysince day one.

She’s pro-consumer and hasbeen good for the collision industryin Montana. She knows many of ourboard members by name and we holdregular informal meetings in her of-fice all the time. My office is twoblocks away and I see her at the gro-cery store, which is definitely an ad-vantage of working in a smaller statelike Montana.”

One of Geiger’s jobs is goingthrough each and every bill with a finetooth comb. “Our legislature meetsevery other year for four months andthere are roughly 2,000 bills that getthrown out there,” he said. “So, I haveto read through all of them, to makesure they don’t contain anything thatcan negatively impact the collision in-dustry in Montana. My MCRS mem-bers don’t have time to read 2,000bills every year and that’s one of themain things that we provide.

Knowing how to act while work-ing with the legislators in Montana isimportant, Geiger said. “With 2,000bills in play, you want to have a pres-ence but you don’t want to be pushy.You want to maintain a fine balancebetween being around and being en-gaged, but you also want to be respect-ful of the fact that these legislators haveto study, decide and vote on 2,000 bills.You have to learn the process and theprotocol if you want to get things done.You don’t want to go in there and makedemands and stomp your feet. Youhave to be professional and pragmaticwith your presentation if you evenwant to be considered.

The people I work with at MCRSget it and understand that and I thinkthat’s why we’ve had so much suc-cess.”


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Service King Collision RepairCenters awarded four collision stu-dents with scholarships and toolgrants through the Collision RepairEducation Foundation, the com-pany announced last week.

Service King gave a $1,000scholarship and a $1,500 tool grantto the following students:■ Christopher Hernandez from Uni-versal Technical Institute in Houston■ James George from Lincoln Col-lege of Technology in Nashville,Tenn.■ Joseph Mendoza from Texas StateTechnical College in Waco, Tex.■ Evan Utterback from UniversalTechnical Institute in Houston

“We are extremely proud ofthese four students and the work theirschools are doing to prepare candi-dates for a future career in collisionrepair,” Danny Wilkins, ServiceKing’s associate vice president ofstaffing said. “Service King CollisionRepair Centers encourages and pro-motes training at all levels and worksclosely with partner institutionsthrough advisory councils, commit-tees and scholarship programs. We arecommitted to help foster the develop-ment of tomorrow’s workforce.”

Service King Awards FourScholarships, Grants

Although the Independent Automo-tive Damage Appraisers Association(IADA) was forced to move the lo-cation of their 46th Annual VehicleRepair Conference to the Lord Bal-timore Hotel, located at 20 WestStreet, Baltimore MD 21201 at thelast moment, the conference wassuccessfully held on June 18-20,2014 as “an educational tool for ourmembers and the industry,” JohnWilliams, Executive Vice Presidentof IABA explains. “For guest speak-ers, we have experts in various fieldsrelating to current methods of repairas well as what to expect from man-ufacturers in the future. Our expec-tations for this event are to promoteour association and members as pro-fessionals committed to exceedingindustry expectations as well as pro-viding our members an educationaland social venue to network withclients.”

According to Williams, “atten-dees were very pleased with both thelocation and the agenda. Our event al-ways focuses on education and train-ing as well as being a social event formembers and guests, and it is impor-tant because it provides members withan opportunity to train and remain aviable force in the industry. This year,our conference exceeded expectations.We try to build on what we learned inthe past to make our next event evenmore dynamic.”

Registration for the conferencebegan on Wednesday, June 18, at 1PMand continued until 6PM when IADAheld their Welcome Reception fol-lowed by exhibitor showcases whichconcluded at 9PM. After breakfast onThursday morning, IADA PresidentLeo Maki’s Welcoming Address servedas the opening to the event.

IADA planned an exciting agendafilled with informative seminars led bynine industry leaders. Around 8:30AM,the educational seminars began withWayne R. Schaumburg’s “An Illus-trated History of Baltimore,” followedby “Best Claims Practices” which waspresented by Harvey Lightstone, VicePresident of the Directory of Claimsand Risk for Management Claims Pro-fessionals Liability Insurance Com-pany. Before lunch, Jim Aulby, Vice

President of Claims Protective for Sag-amore Insurance, discussed “HeavyEquipment Estimating.”

The seminars resumed at12:45PM with the Highway Loss DataInstitute’s Senior Vice President KimL. Hazelbaker’s “New Technology ofElectronics in Vehicles.” Thursday’slectures concluded at 4PM with “In-vestigating Fuel System Contamina-tion” as presented by Jeff Lange,President of Lange Technical ServicesLTD. Attendees then enjoyed a two-hour break which gave them a chanceto visit exhibitors before attending thePresident’s Reception and dinner ban-quet.

On Friday morning, Dan Oscar-son, Vice President of Global Mar-keting Insurance Auto Auctions,explored “Marketing Salvage in aGlobal Economy.” He was followedby CIECA Executive Director FredIantorno’s “Getting It Done for the In-dustry.” The final presentation, “Af-termarket Truck Parts,” was led byDonald B. Cameron, President andFounder of Dawson Truck Parts.After their closing remarks, IADA’sconference culminated with theirmembership meeting.

“Our 46th conference went well,even after facing the challenge of relo-cating to the Lord Baltimore Hotel atthe last moment due to unexpected is-sues with the hotel we had contractedwith. Our conference has always fo-cused on education and training; thisyear was no exception!” Williams re-calls, “our conference started with anexcellent presentation by a local histo-rian speaking about the history of Bal-timore, and attendees were amazed tolearn how Baltimore’s history helpedshape many industrial and cultural ad-vances we enjoy to this day. Attendeeswere given a glimpse of future vehicletechnology as well as a look at the pastto learn how far vehicle technologyhas progress and what to expect in thefuture.”

In regards to the valuable infor-mation provided at the conference,Williams also notes that “a presenta-tion on Global Salvage was of greatinterest to learn how salvage vehiclesare being purchased in the US, thenshipped in cargo containers with avail-

able parts to repair included with eachvehicle. Vehicles that would not be putback on the road are repaired in manythird world countries due to cheaplabor and a shortage of vehicles. Ve-hicles we take for granted are a luxuryin many countries since few have op-tions such as air or other power op-tions.”

IADA was first founded in 1947as the Independent Appraisal Plan(IAP) with a mission “to offer an un-biased automotive specialist appraiserto assess vehicle damage and establisha fair cost of repair,” Williams recalls.That same year, IAP was approved bythe Association of Casualty and SuretyCompanies and the National Associa-tion of Mutual Companies. In 1964,the IAP reorganized and was reborn asthe IADA, a national not-for-profittrade association.

Currently, IADA has 98 membersin 43 states who employ more than600 appraisers in over 400 service lo-

cations. Over the past 15 years, mem-bership in IADA has increased around15%. Williams details their member-ship process: “in order to apply formembership, applicants are requiredto have five years’ experience in theindustry and owned and operated anappraisal firm for the past two years.We conduct a background investiga-tion on all applicants, followed by asite inspection requiring the applicantto prepare a professional damage ap-praisal. Our Board of Directors thenvote on the applicant.”

Though obtaining membershipto IADA seems somewhat involved,the cost-savings benefits offered tomembers makes it well worth the ef-fort. For starters, E&O/GL insuranceis provided under a blanket policyand is included in membership dueswith no additional charge. Membersreceive discounts on estimating soft-ware from all three providers plusdiscounts on CarFax, NADA Online


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and Old Cars Price Guide reports.IADA members are also listed on theassociation’s website as well as intheir annual service directory, around7000 copies of which are distributedthroughout the industry. In additionto the national marketing supplied,members have the opportunity to at-tend IADA’s national conferencewhich provides them with useful ed-ucational seminars as well as thechance to network with other IADAmembers.

Still, IADA strives to continuallyadd new member benefits in their ef-forts to attract new members. Theyalso continue to promote educationaland training seminars at regional andnational events. The associationworks toward securing new businessfor their members by “upholding theintegrity of the association and beingconsistent with our honesty policy toenhance our position with the public,insurance industry and automotive re-pair businesses,” Williams explains.“Our current goal is to recruit newmembers who have an interest in join-ing a professional organization dedi-cated to serving the industry withtruly ‘Trained Professionals.’ Ourmembers take pride in delivering pro-

fessional, unbiased damage ap-praisals. Our goal is to treat the con-sumer the way we would expect to betreated if we had a claim.”

Regarding challenges currentlyfacing the industry, Williams notes,“DRP programs have impacted ourvolume of business to a great degree.While DRPs may be a good conceptfor smaller losses, I feel some carri-ers’ attempts to completely controlthe repair process, no matter howlarge or small the loss, is a mistake.Having owned and operated an ap-praisal firm for 24 years, I enjoyed agreat working relationship with repairfacilities. Preparing an accurate ap-praisal and securing an agreed pricewith a reputable shop is quickly be-coming a lost art. The industry is los-ing qualified appraisers at a rapidpace. Many of our members had sec-ond, third and fourth generation fam-ily taking over their businesses, butwe are no longer seeing as much ofthat.”

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Toyota of Fort WorthFORT WORTH

817-560-3649817-916-1557 FaxMon. - Fri. 7am - 7pm;

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Van HyundaiCARROLLTON

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Absolute HyundaiMESQUITE

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Industry Trends Seminars Scheduled in Texas August 5Collision repair facility owners hadan opportunity to learn about criticalbusiness issues and trends impactingtheir businesses at two industryevents in Texas. Part of a series ofseminars that have been held aroundthe country, the two events were heldTuesday, August 5. The two eventsincluded:

Breakfast and Program8 a.m. to 10 a.m.Homewood Suites by Hilton Hous-ton-The Woodlands29813 I-45 North, Frontage Rd.Spring, TX 77381

Dinner and Program6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Hyatt Regency Houston1200 Louisiana St.Houston, TX 77002

The speakers included:♦ Association Overview by HoustonAuto Body Association

♦ Mobile Estimating Technology byMitchell♦ Car Rental Technology by Hertz♦ Repair Planning by BASF♦ The Impact of Technology for Fu-ture Vehicles by 3M♦ OSHA/EPA Compliance Trainingfor Collision Repair by AAMS♦ Insurance Industry Trends byCARSTAR♦ Collision Industry Overview by KAPE

“When you’re an independentbody shop owner, it’s hard to take thetime to step away from your business tolook at longer-range changes and de-velopments in the industry,” said MarkAlgie, Business Development Managerfor 3M Automotive Aftermarket. “ThisCollision Industry program provided agreat way to understand how the chang-ing marketplace will impact your busi-ness, and plan now for those changes!”

Body shop owners in the Hous-ton area can email Mike Davids [email protected] or call 913-948-5010 to reserve next time.

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As the sixth largest state in the nation,Arizona is home to over 6.5 million cit-izens and over 6.8 million registered

vehicles. Withsuch a large pop-ulation and suchbusy roadways, itis no surprise thatthere is an over-whelming num-ber of collisionand mechanical

repair facilities scattered throughoutthe state, and all those independentbusinesses need a collective voice.That’s where the Automotive ServiceAssociation of Arizona (ASA-AZ)comes in!

Incorporated in 1976, ASA-AZwas founded on the concept of estab-lishing collaborative efforts amongstautomotive service professionals fromall across AZ. As a state affiliate, theassociation shares the same mission asASA-National which is “advancing

professionalism and excellence in theautomotive repair industry througheducation, representation and memberservices.”

With 169 members in the 113,909square mile area, ASA-AZ consists ofseven chapters: Prescott, Mo-have, Tucson, Phoenix, VerdeValley, Yuma and the GrandCanyon Chapter “which incor-porated all businesses that arenot in close proximity to anyof the other chapters,” explainsLuz Rubio, Executive Directorof ASA-AZ. “Each chapterprovides local chapter meet-ings and outreach to its mem-bers. Some chapters meet monthly, andothers not as often. These meetingsallow our members to exchange ideas,discuss challenges and identify solu-tions, thus elevating the professionalismof the industry.

Rubio assumed the role of ASA-AZ’s Executive Director in 2002 while

the association was in the process ofmerging with the Arizona AutomotiveTrade Organizations, an associationcomprised of service station dealers,convenience stores and repair facilities.When the Arizona Collision Crafts-

man’s Association experienced somemembership fallout in 2004 and foundthat they were unable to sustain theiroperations through their volunteerforce, they also merged with the for-merly all mechanical ASA-AZ, leadingto the creation of the association’s col-lision division.

As a registered lobbyist, Rubiomonitors legislation that may have animpact on the automotive industry.When action is required on a legisla-tive bill that may have a negative ef-fect, members of ASA-AZ receivealerts requiring that they contact theirlegislators to share their views, andthe association works with other smallbusiness organizations to strengthentheir position. In 2012, ASA-AZ suc-cessfully defeated a bill that wouldhave forced body shops to absorb thecost associated with vehicle storage inmany situations.

Though ASA-AZ is not currentlyworking on any legislation, Rubio plansto continue monitoring introduced leg-islation in January when the new ses-sion begins. She notes “ASA supportslegislation that protects the consumer’srights in the full repair process of theirvehicle, both mechanical and collisionrelated.” ASA-AZ monitors nationallegislation as well, and Rubio shares


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ASA-AZ provides educational opportunities for members

ment for Money Due which mustidentify the customer, the repair facil-ity, the vehicle and the loss. As longas this is without defects, it should beenforceable without being notarized(dependent upon state laws).

The Writ of Replevin is a docu-ment that the insurance company typ-ically uses to retrieve a total lossvehicle, filing it to say a shop is un-lawfully withholding a vehicle whenthey do not want to pay for the repair.Because this document is only valid ifthe insurance company can prove theshop is wrongfully withholding thevehicle, it is imperative that you areprepared to defend yourself against aWrit of Replevin by including a clausein the Repair Contract that states theconsumer cannot transfer the title ofthe vehicle without ensuring the repairbill is paid in full. With the vehicleowner’s signature affixed to this ver-biage, the insurance company has noright to the vehicle until they havepaid for the repair, making their Writof Replevin effectively useless.

So, with the Authorization to Re-pair, Repair Contract, Assignment ofProceeds and defense against the Writ ofReplevin, you are well on your way toprotecting your business interests, butyou’ll also need a Parts Notice and Au-thorization as well as an IndemnificationLetter (we’ll cover these next month inthe third and final installment of this se-ries). You can still get started right awayby contacting a local attorney to startdrafting these important documentswhich will allow you to recover propercompensation on every repair thatcomes through your shop doors.


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their stance on several current matters:“Though the Right to Repair no longerseems to be in the forefront for me-chanical repairers, we continue to workwith NASTF to ensure that informationfor repairing vehicles is available.[Concerning PartsTrader and other in-surer-mandated parts procurement sys-tems], ASA-AZ believes that theinsurance companies should stay in thebusiness of insurance and leave all as-pects of the repair process to collisionrepair professionals.”

In addition to providing legisla-tive representation, ASA-AZ mem-bers receive discounts from variousindustry vendors, and the associationalso provides members with opportu-nities to interact with their peers inboth educational and purely social sit-uations. Some of the association’s cur-rent goals include providing ongoingactivities for their membership to net-work and encourage all chapters toconduct monthly activities. Rubiosays, “what would an association bewithout any fun? Our annual conven-tion – Sunrise – offers everything: ed-ucation, resources and lots of fun.Next year’s event is already on thecalendar for June 19-21 at the WildHorse Pass Hotel and Casino. We are

looking to bring in a great line-up ofspeakers; there will be lots of learning,but also time for fun!”

At the State Office, Rubio col-laborates with ASA-AZ’s Board ofDirectors to coordinate the technical,collision and management trainingthat the association offers to their

membership. She says, “we identifytopics that our members need and hostout-of-state speakers that will bringthem the information that they need toimprove their business, including top-ics such as ‘Survival Skills for theService Advisor’ for our mechanicalshops and ‘Profitability to PreserveSurvivability’ for our collision mem-bers.”

In addition to reviewing and up-grading their website, one of ASA-AZ’s current projects entails formingAutomotive Roundtables for their var-ious chapters. Rubio states, “these areforums that allow business owners withsingle operations to discuss the day-to-day challenges and identify solutions.”

Unfortunately, recent in-creases in the number ofmulti-shop operations in themechanical industry and con-solidators buying out collisionrepair shops has reduced thenumber of independent auto-motive businesses in AZ, cre-ating a challenge for ASA-AZto maintain operations. An-other concern Rubio has no-ticed on both sides of theindustry is “the lack of quali-fied young technicians. The

current workforce is getting older, andthere are not enough upcoming techni-cians in the field to replace those whowill be retiring. We have not yet ad-dressed this issue, but we have begun todiscuss it as an association.”

As an affiliate of the national as-sociation, ASA-AZ offers both ASA-National and state only benefits totheir members, including partnering

with various vendors, or associatemembers, to provide the utmost cus-tomer service to members. “We en-courage our associate members toattend the local chapter meetings andbuild relationships with the localshop owners, managers and techni-cians,” Rubio says. “It’s a business ofrelationships, and the sales will comewhen the need arises. We have astrong support network of vendors inthis industry that offer great productsand services, and we want to makesure that they too are educated andunderstand the industry.”

Through training, representationand member benefits, ASA-AZ con-tinually seeks ways to improve theircommunication and outreach to mem-ber shops, but Rubio encourages “non-member shops to join us and learnwhat ASA is about. We are a networkof like-minded independent ownerswho are looking for ways to provideoutstanding customer service to themotoring public.”

ASA-AZPO Box 81517Phoenix, AZ 85069602-544-2600www.asaaz.org


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Rubio poses with ASA-AZ Board of Directors

Participating shops pay a one-timefee for inclusion on Wheels to Pros-per’s website, but this provides a placeto promote their business as it gener-ates traffic back to the shop’s website;DiGiulio estimates receiving around100 visits to his shop’s website annu-

ally through the link from Wheels toProsper. He states, “it demonstratesthat you actually care about the com-munity. It’s a little about business butnot really – it’s mainly about howmany people are impacted by the do-nation.”

Wheels to Prosper does not holdany type of contest to determine their

winners. Instead, they solicit storiesfrom community members about aperson who deserves to win the cargiveaway, and a panel of judges re-views the stories to select a winner.“The difference between Wheels toProsper and other giveaways is thatit’s about who is deserving,” DiGiulioexplains. “There’s always a need, butwe want to help someone who is help-ing the community, so our winners arealways majorly involved with volun-teering efforts.”

In May 2011, DiGiulio held hisfirst giveaway, awarding a car to afive-person family run by a localwoman who is very active in hercommunity. “She always thinks ofeveryone before herself. Even thoughshe didn’t have the means to buy acar, she was still actively volunteer-ing in the community, so we re-warded her efforts by giving her a carwhich allows her to help others evenmore.”

Gatchell held his giveaway inJuly 2011, and DiGiulio held a secondgiveaway that same year. Afterwards,they decided to choose a consistentdate for the annual giveaway, electingthe last Saturday in July at 12PMCST. Ultimately, the goal is for all

Wheels to Prosper shops to hold theirannual giveaway on the same dayeach year.

While the participating shops ac-quire the giveaway vehicles throughvarious means, Wheels to Prosper re-quires the donated vehicle to be ingood shape with less than 100,000miles on it in hopes of servicing thewinner for at least five years withoutany troubles. DiGiulio’s first give-away was a salvage loaner with lowmileage, and for his second giveaway,he purchased a vandalized car that justneeded a new paint job. No matterhow the vehicles are acquired, theWheels to Prosper shop makes anycollision and mechanical repairs nec-essary before donating the vehicle totheir deserving new owner.

Thus far, nearly 50 cars havebeen given away through Wheels toProsper with a few more giveawaysscheduled to take place in October. Afilm company is currently in negotia-tions to develop a 12-part miniserieson a shop sponsoring a giveaway, andDiGiulio is optimistic about the pub-licity that such a program would pro-vide for Wheels to Prosper.

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Annual Giveaway

Dino DiGiulio hands over the keys for BodyBest’s 2014 Car Giveaway through Wheels toProsper

National Autobody Parts Ware-house, Inc. in Grand Prairie, Texasrecently underwent a successful in-dependent audit of the ISO 9001standard for warehouse and distri-bution of automotive replacementparts. Results of the customer satis-faction index survey, ranked thecompany as outstanding in the areasof: overall performance, quality, de-livery performance, responsiveness,cost and communication.

“We are achieving our missionof providing the best service alongwith the highest quality parts and ac-cessories at the most competitiveprices by having an independent re-view and setting ourselves to ahigher standard. This ensures greatersuccess for all of our customers.”said Mike Dolabi, president.

“We understand the impor-tance of cycle time and want ourcustomers to have the best possi-ble parts with expedited deliveryservice. To offer the best quality,we hand select our manufacturersand offer NSF and CAPA certifiedparts priced competitively to non-certified parts.” Dolabi continued.

National Autobody PartsWarehouse in TX ReceivesOutstanding Ratings DuringISO Certification Review

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