Look back to auto industry news in 1991 and it becomes clear just how much has changed in 15 years. In 1991, consumers were grousing as gasoline hit $1.40 a gallon. GM was rolling out the Geo Metro convertible and only the first of its plastic-paneled Saturn vehicles. Air bags, CD players, and anti-locking brake systems were found in only a minority of cars. And virtually all European and Japanese import vehicles were built only overseas. 

Look back to 15 years ago in the collision industry and it becomes clear how much the I-CAR Education Foundation has accomplished.

Back in 1991, there were no nationally coordinated scholarship programs to attract students to the industry. There was no nationally-recognized curriculum for use in teaching entry-level collision repair skills. There was no organization giving collision repair instructors a way to interact and learn from one another. And there was no organized and widely-accepted way for schools, collision repair businesses and students to all mutually-benefit from working together.

"Over a span of 15 years, I am proud to say that the I-CAR Education Foundation is making its mark on the collision industry," remarked Clark Plucinski, executive vice president of True2Form in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and I-CAR Education Foundation Board Chairman. "There is more work for us ahead but looking back we have many reasons to be proud."

Fifteen years after it was created to address the shortage of qualified collision repair technicians, the I-CAR Education Foundation reflects back on its history, highlighting its many accomplishments, honoring those who helped make it happen, and looking ahead to the work still left to be done.

"We may take some of these things for granted now, but it's important to remember that in 1991, just 15 years ago, none of that existed," said Chuck Sulkala, the owner of Acme Paint & Body in Boston, Massachusetts, who was one of the four first trustees for the I-CAR Education Foundation after its formation and Trustee Emeritus. "It's only by looking back that you realize how far we've come and how much we've accomplished."

The early years

Jeff Silver says the creation of the I-CAR Education Foundation was based in part on what he was reading about other industries. Back in the late 1980s, Silver, now owner of a CARSTAR collision repair facility franchise in Mundelein, Illinois, but at the time executive vice president of I-CAR, said a national organization of association leaders was reporting efforts in various industries to address what they foresaw as forthcoming "people shortages."

"I looked at the demographics and trends and numbers these other groups were seeing, and thought, if it's going to affect all these other industries, I bet it's going to affect ours as well," Silver said.

After conducting more research, informal brainstorming sessions with I-CAR board members, and focus group meetings within the industry to discuss the potential shortage of quality entry-level technicians, the not-for-profit I-CAR Education Foundation was established in early 1991.