Mark Claypool (l), president, Mentors At Work, and Mike Quinn (r), owner, 911 Collision Centers with this year's award winner, Doug Kollasch, journeyman tech from 911 Collision Centers.

Mike Quinn and Pat O'Neill, owners of 911 Collision Centers, submitted the nomination, in which they recognized the work ethic, dedication and pride Kollasch takes in his work. Kollasch is a team player and has the ability to stay on task.

Kollasch's apprentices describe him as hard working, dedicated and fair. Kollasch has the patience to teach the apprentices in a calm manner while showing appreciation and encouragement for their improvements. He is also able to provide constructive criticism without discouraging their performance. He leads by example and helps keep his apprentices on task. His focus is always on teaching the proper techniques and processes.

Kollasch joins Ron Ratzlaff from 911 Collision Centers who received the Mentor of the Year award in 2005. The review committee has no idea where the nominees are from. "911 Collision Centers is indeed fortunate to have not just one, but at least two outstanding employees who are not only good at what they do from a technical perspective, but also they have the ability to effectively train others on the job," said Mark Claypool, president and CEO of Mentors at Work

Troubling future

During the Industry Night of Achievement, Claypool and Quinn highlighted some troubling statistics that the collision repair industry should heed. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that there will likely be as many as 10 million more jobs than people to fill them by the year 2010. Over the period of six years, from 1999 to 2005, the collision repair industry lost 21,800 technicians, and only a fraction were replaced by new hires.

"It will be those shops who most effectively mentor new people into this field who will have the competitive edge over the next 5-10 years," said Clay-pool.

"The work Doug is doing to mentor new apprentices and show them the high quality standards of 911 Collision Centers is exceptionally valuable and I know management appreciates his efforts."

"Not only should one be able to train and equip tomorrow's technicians, but they must also believe in a company's culture and mission," Quinn said.

Through mentoring new talent, Kollasch is extending his own career by sharing his knowledge with new people and allowing his team to handle some of the demanding physical tasks that perhaps aren't quite as easy for him any more.

"That much knowledge and skill is a terrible asset to waste, but that is exactly what some shops do every day by not calling upon those experienced techs who also have the ability to teach," added Claypool.

"Once again, as we recognize mentoring in our industry, this is an example of dedication and the above and beyond the normal call of duty efforts that deserves everyone's recognition for the positive impact these initiatives will have on our industry's long-term ability to fix cars right and in a timely manner," Claypool went on to say.

"By presenting this "Mentor Of The Year" award to Doug, we are able to recognize him for the great job he is doing mentoring others and encourage shop owners and managers to consider building effective mentoring/apprenticeship programs within their own shops. This, in turn, will help our industry meet its critically important long- term skilled labor needs."

It is not too soon to start thinking about candidates for next year's award.