Fortune readers have made their choice in our Businessperson of the Year competition, and after a month of rabid online voting, they've given the crown to Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford.

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With one week to go before California Collision Repairers present at least $20,000 worth of toys to the Marine families at Camp Pendleton, Toby is asking the collision community to dig a little deeper.

Says Toby:

• Hey Everyone:  We are taking the toys to the Marines of the 11th Batallion stationed at Camp Pendleton on December 20th, 2010 and you are all invited to go.  To date, your generosity has purchased $18,450.00 of toys (over a 100 new bikes).  I was hoping for $20,000.00 and still a week to go.    Thanks to the 72 shops (to date) who participated in the toy drive.  A special thanks to Craig Olivera (Kent Automotive), Dick Valentine (Van Tuyl Automotive Group), Steve Morris (Holmes Body Shops) and Tom Williamson (Marina Autobody).

If you want to participate, just reply by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

You guys were a great help.  Semper Fi

Herb Lieberman from LKQ SoCal and Keystone sent the following response and a check for $1500:

• Good evening Toby,
  Thanks for your note on The Toys for the Marines.  I just talked with Todd Hanson and Bob Simcox of
  LKQ SoCal and Keystone. We would like to make up the shortfall to insure you meet your goal for the Toys for the children of the Marines.
  We appreciate the hard work you have done and that of the Collision Repairers for this fine effort and to put you over the top is our pleasure. Being able to join our Collision repair friends in showing our support for the Families of our Service men and women is an honor.
  Please advise where the $1500.00 check should go and to who it should be made out to.
  Herb Lieberman
  LKQ Corporation

• The new 2011 Ford Explorer will offer more eco-friendly features including soy foam in seat cushions and seatbacks as well as at least a 25 percent increase in fuel economy over the current model
• Ford is expanding its use of bio-based soy foam through nearly all of its vehicle lineup this year as part of an ongoing effort to use more renewable and recyclable materials
• There are more than 2 million Ford Motor Company vehicles on the road today with bio foam content; Ford's use of bio foam has helped the company reduce its petroleum oil usage by more than 3 million pounds annually and carbon dioxide emissions by 11 million pounds

The 2011 Ford Explorer will feature soy foam in seat cushions and seatbacks.  The bio-based polyurethane foam will be one of the new, eco-friendly features in the Ford Explorer which goes in to production later this year.

"The new Explorer will deliver fuel economy at least 25 percent better than the current model as well as include sustainable materials like soy foam seat cushions and other eco-friendly features we will detail soon," said Amy Marentic, group marketing manager, Ford cars and CUVs. "Consumers will be pleasantly surprised they can get all these new features without having to sacrifice the capability, utility and safety they want for their families and adventures."

The addition of soy foam in the Explorer expands Ford Motor Company's commitment to using more sustainable materials in all its vehicles. By year's end, nearly 100 percent of Ford's North American vehicle lineup will feature the eco-friendly material.

Ford has more models with seats that use bio foam than any other automaker.  The 2011 Explorer will become the 23rd model to feature soy foam. To date, Ford Taurus, Mustang, F-150, Focus, Flex, Crown Victoria, Escape, Edge, Expedition and Econoline, as well as Mercury Mariner and Grand Marquis, Lincoln MKS, MKX, MKT and Navigator use the sustainable material. In addition to Explorer, the Fusion, Fiesta, F-250/F-350 Super Duty, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ will get soy foam by the end of 2010.

Soy foam has helped Ford reduce its annual petroleum oil usage by more than 3 million pounds, and is up to 24 percent more renewable than petroleum-based foam. The use of soy foam also has helped Ford reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 11 million pounds as the biomaterial provides a 67 percent reduction in volatile organic compounds emissions.  

"Soy foam is just the tip of the iceberg in the development of vehicle materials from natural resources," said Debbie Mielewski, Ford polymer technical leader. "We have to entertain the thought of bio-replacement in baby steps, looking at every aspect of a car that could be green. One day I hope to see the automotive world go totally compostable, removing the use of petroleum-based parts 100 percent."

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Smoke billowed through the air over Kennesaw, GA, the evening of April 13, when an auto body shop went up in flames. About six cars were totaled and several other cars were heavily damaged.

Cobb County fire crews responded to the auto body shop on South Main Street, near Sardis Street Tuesday evening. When crews arrived, they found the building fully-involved in flames.

About six cars were totaled and several others sustained heavy damage.

There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

ALLDATADIY.com updates for 2007 models

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ALLDATA, founded in 1986 and located in Elk Grove, CA provides OE manufacturers’ service and repair information, shop management software, and customer relations tools for the automotive repair and collision industries.

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