Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing Rowan Cummings has refinishing SKILLS!  Cummings, then a junior at Morris County School of Technology (MCST) in Denville, showcased his talents in automotive refinish technology when he took first place in the collision repair competition during the New Jersey SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference, held last spring. “I sent Rowan and a second-year student to the state level competition where Rowan took gold and my second-year student took the bronze,” shares MCST Instructor of Collision Repair and Refinishing Lou Rosso. “I am extremely proud of Rowan’s performance at the state level. I was not overly surprised at all – more like…

Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing Each year, AASP/NJ helps make a young person’s educational pursuits a little more reachable by providing assistance in the form of the Russ Robson Scholarship. During its 2024 Annual Meeting, held October 23 at the Gran Centurions (Clark), the association expanded its efforts to support the next generation of aspiring automotive professionals by awarding scholarships to two promising automotive workers employed by member shops in good standing!  Brayan Colomer (K&L Auto Body; Somerville) and Erick Garcia (Krehel Automotive Repair; Clifton) were the lucky recipients of the 2024 Russ Robson Scholarships, and both young men received plaques to commemorate the honor in addition to…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing When the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) reconvened for its most recent meeting on October 22, it quickly became apparent that it was unlikely any progress would be made – even less than usual, actually – due to the fact that Board member Bill Johnson (Pleasant Street Auto; South Hadley/Belchertown) was unable to attend. In fact, Board member Peter Smith (MAPFRE) specifically indicated that, in Johnson’s absence, he had no plans to review anything new as it pertained to the Board’s ongoing review of proposed amendments to Regulation 212 CMR 2.00 et seq. He indicated that he would merely…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing The Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) reconvened late September with a full agenda to discuss, but as has become customary at these meetings, little actually moved forward as the Board consistently decided to delay making an actual decision on even the most trivial details. As the ADALB resumed its review of proposed amendments to Regulation 212 CMR 2.00 et seq., Board member Peter Smith (MAPFRE) launched into discussion on 212 CMR 2.02, which largely relates to appraisal forms and the application and examination processes. His suggested updates to the verbiage were made to account for the application and renewal…

Published in Hammer & Dolly – Thomas Greco Publishing Benjamin Kimbark has SKILLS!  Kimbark, a 2024 graduate from the Frederick County Career and Tech Center (FCPS CTC) in Frederick, MD, showcased his talents as a collision repair technician when he took first place in the collision repair competition during the Maryland SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference, held last April. FCPS CTC Collision Instructor Philip Allen acknowledges, “One of my students won the collision repair competition at States in 2023, so I did apply a little fun pressure to Ben to make it two years in a row for us.”  Kimbark has always been interested in the automotive world. “Cars, trucks,…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing Seated under the Division of Insurance (DOI), the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) shares the DOI’s supposed mission of protecting consumer interests and is specifically charged with “adopt[ing] rules and regulations governing licenses under this section in order to promote the public welfare and safety.”  At least that’s what the DOI’s website and Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 26 Section 8G (MGL c. 26 § 8G) assert, but at each gathering to review complaints and regulatory amendments, the blatant bias of the Board’s insurance representatives – as well as Chairman Michael Donovan – serves as a reminder that they are…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing Although the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) entered its May meeting with a full agenda of items to discuss, votes to table topic after topic quickly cleared their plate. The Board reviewed a request to approve a course of instruction for motor vehicle damage appraisals, which was submitted by AASP/MA Executive Director Lucky Papageorg and designed to prepare students to successfully complete the Part-I and Part-II portions of the examination for motor vehicle damage appraiser licensure. The proposed course was approved by the ADALB in January 2017 for Springfield Technical Community College and was most recently used as the…

Published in Texas Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing Perspicacious. Selfless. Resilient. Compassionate. Vivacious. Superhero. These are just a few of the adjectives used to describe the honorees at ABAT’s Inaugural Night of Honor for Collision Industry Women, held last month at Cook’s Garage in Lubbock.  “There’s something special about the women in the collision repair business,” said ABAT Executive Director Jill Tuggle. “It’s almost like we are our own breed – so wildly unique yet still similar! Since industry events often attract fewer women, ABAT wanted to get the ladies together to network as we attempt to build a community among the women in our industry, locally and nationally.” Over…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing The way that the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) reviews complaints at their bimonthly meetings often seems akin to a game of “duck, duck, goose” in the sense that the discussion tends to run in circles, nothing ever actually progresses and one is often left feeling like they’ve been bonked on the head.  The ADALB reviewed 11 complaints during its most recent meeting, held March 12, resulting in six dismissals, four requests for additional information and one contested complaint which will not move forward. Most of the votes were actually unanimous with Chairman Michael Donovan breaking one tie in…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing In 2016, a revised version of 212 CMR 2.0 was sent up the chain for approval after being reviewed by the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) that was seated at the time. No response was received from the Department of Insurance (DOI) for years, but after three Board members were replaced in early 2019, an allegedly misplaced letter made its way to the surface, raising issues with the amendments and justifying the need for the regulations to undergo review by the new Board. Following delays caused by the pandemic, the ADALB hashed out the minutiae and argued through semantics…

Published in Hammer & Dolly – Thomas Greco Publishing When a vehicle owner encounters challenges in the claims process, their collision repair facility often works with them to file complaints with their local department of insurance, but they often “become frustrated with that process because they’re expecting a different outcome than these departments are scoped with and that they intend to address through their processes,” suggested Aaron Schulenburg, executive director of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ (SCRS) during the organization’s recent Open Board Meeting in Palm Springs, CA. In an effort to alleviate some of these frustrations, SCRS has made an effort to open the door to more communication…

Published in Hammer & Dolly – Thomas Greco Publishing Typically, the focus of collision repair professionals’ is to fix what’s damaged, restoring vehicles to their pre-accident condition. But during the most recent Collision Industry Conference (CIC), held in Palm Springs, CA in conjunction with other industry meetings, industry professionals took things a step further as committees repositioned themselves to tackle common topics from new angles. And although the full day of back-to-back presentations surely got attendees thinking, it’s mind-blowing to realize that CIC merely scratched the surface in these discussions which are certain to continue playing a role in the industry for years to come. What’s the cost of a…

Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing As shops seek to fill their facilities with qualified talent, the lament about the technician shortage has been heard from coast to coast for years, but rarely does anyone talk about a related problem that contributes to the lack of qualified talent available for body shops to hire: the teacher shortage! While it seems that there are fewer teachers filling classrooms each year in general, vo-tech schools seem to suffer the most from the dwindling profession. In fact, the lack of skilled trades teachers has led to several programs shutting down once their instructors retired simply because there was no one…

Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing It may be scary to think about an economic downturn, but as discussed in last month’s New Jersey Automotive (at grecopublishing.com/new-jersey-automotive-august-2023), auto body shops often encounter these uncertainties in a different way than other industries, and experts even suggest this industry may be “recession-resistant!” One of the factors that supports this thinking is the average American’s continued reliance on their personal transportation. At the same time, consumers are less apt to take on more debt by making large purchases like new cars. Inflation and increasing interest rates have collaboratively created a situation where buying a new car is incredibly prohibitive: by the end of…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing Not much happened during the July 12 meeting of the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB). The Board was scheduled for a hearing to review the potential revocation of Justin Forkuo’s (290 Auto Body; Worcester) appraiser license, but since Forkuo’s attorney was unable to attend the meeting, the hearing has been postponed until the next ADALB meeting.  Moving on to “other business,” Board member Peter Smith (MAPFRE) broached the topic of out-of-state appraiser licensing, explaining that there’s an issue with the system used; the system will not allow an automated renewal for appraisers who do not have a residence in…

Published in Texas Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing A Rusk County District Court jury recently gave State Farm a quarter million reasons to be a better neighbor to its policyholders when 12 Texans found the insurance giant had knowingly or intentionally engaged in unfair and deceptive acts or practices in Joseph Wayne Collins v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, awarding the plaintiff $248,517.59! Collins’ journey to this decision began over three years ago when he took his 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck to Burl’s Collision Center (Henderson) to repair hail damage. Although the vehicle owner wanted the truck repaired, State Farm declared it a total loss and initially offered $13,450…

Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing Thoughts of inflation, recession and rising interest rates often fill small business owners with fear, but for collision repair shops, there may be less cause for concern since this industry is better equipped than most to stand strong against economic downturns. Of course, no business is truly recession-proof, but some may resist market uncertainty better than others. Industry leaders share their thoughts on how shops can weather the economic storms and continue to thrive. “When interest rates rise and there are fears of a recession, I recognize how easy it is to become overwhelmed with fears, but I’m not afraid,” insists…

Published in New England Automotive Report – Thomas Greco Publishing Since late 2022 when the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) unveiled the results of its highly anticipated study, collision repairers have been anxiously awaiting the responses of the three major information providers (IPs), all of which promised to conduct their own research and provide updates. (If you’ve been living under a rock, get caught up on the basics of the blend study here.) As reported in New England Automotive Report in March, CCC “committed that based on the recent database inquiries regarding MOTOR’s guidelines for blending adjacent panels, and in accordance with MOTOR’s standard operating procedures, MOTOR will conduct observational studies of…

Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing Under-indemnification: Any collision repair professional can affirm that this issue runs rampant among insurers who pressure shops to accept lower rates or even reduce the quality of repairs. But shop owners have grown increasingly fed up with carriers’ attempts to bully them into submission – and the most savvy often turn to National AutoBody Research’s (NABR) Labor Rate Hero for data and support to get paid what they deserve. Greg Melartin (Matt’s Body Shop and Tire Service; Spring Valley, MN) found this to be a very effective route earlier this year when Progressive Insurance underpaid a claim by $416.57, rejecting the…

Published in New Jersey Automotive – Thomas Greco Publishing If your shop is not currently worried about spending $2 million on an electric boiler, make sure to thank AASP/NJ! Since Governor Phil Murphy unveiled New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan (EMP) in 2020, few clear answers have been provided to clarify how much each component of the initiative might cost families and businesses. One of the first planned provisions, introduced in December 2021, called for the replacement of all fossil-fueled (gas or oil) heating systems to be replaced with electric boilers after January 1, 2025, and the first 8,000 facilities to be impacted included those with an existing New Jersey Department of Environmental…