Erica Schroeder
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CAA San Diego Chapter Meeting Goes Nuts Over Efficiency
Paul Amato, who owns Amato's Auto Body in San Diego, will be the first one to tell you that he's totally nuts. When he spoke recently on shop efficiency at the San Diego chapter of the California Autobody Association monthly members meeting, Amato prefaced his presentation by saying, "I might offend some people, so be prepared."
Equipped with shop efficiency tips and a few gag props, Amato opened his presentation by handing out some nuts. "I'm really nuts--so here's some nuts," said Amato. He broke out a pink elephant nutcracker that he introduced at the beginning of the night as the anti-trust rules were read, calling it 'the elephant in the room.' He used the elephant to crack the nuts that represented topics like aftermarket parts and DRPs, but continued to reiterate, "we can't talk about it," CRACK, "but we can't talk about it."
National Auto Body Show and Shine San Diego
Check it out: HERE
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videogallery/69604959/News/Throttle-National-Auto-Body-Show-And-Shine-2012
ICC Collision Centers Opens El Mirage, AZ Location
ICC Collision Centers is proud to announce the grand opening of their new El Mirage, AZ, location. The shop hosted an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, June 5, 2010 to mark the grand opening of this new state of the art facility. The event, which was open to the public, ran from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at 12555 Northwest Grand Avenue El Mirage.
Attending were Mayor Michele Kern of El Mirage, Arizona; Sam Mirabile, Vice President of Operations; Sean Darcy, Vice President of Business Development; Ed Hovsepian, Los Angeles Regional Manager and local business officials.
The facility is strategically located in the greater Northwest Valley in order to expedite turnaround times and allow a full-service customer experience. In addition, ICC offers a 10 day free car rental, lifetime transferable registered warranty, 18 month free paint maintenance program, convenient rental car at locations provided by Hertz and towing is available.
“Our facility is laid out for lean processes. We have very quick turnarounds and that helps get our customers back on the road,” said Tracey Collins, Business Development Manager for ICC.
ICC Collision Centers is also doing their part to be conscious of their impacts on the environment in their shops; the California locations are using waterborne paints and most of the parts they use are recycled in all locations.
“Providing the highest level of service to our customers and vendors in the Northwest Valley is essential to our success, and we’re pleased to offer a dedicated location to better serve them,” states Matt Gorges, General Manager of ICC Collision Centers, Arizona, “We look forward to making a long-term contribution to the Northwest Valley economy.”
ICC Collision Centers Avondale location has been in Arizona for four years and has built a reputation as a top level service center. Established in 1986, ICC Collision Centers has 10 locations located in the heart of California and Arizona. Over the past 28 years, ICC Collision Centers has grown a reputation of being one of the premier auto collision centers in the business. For more information go to www.icccollision.com.
To see a PDF of this article PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Northwestern Louisiana Collision Repair Association Offers Estimating Courses
The Northwestern Louisiana Collision Repair Association (NWLCRA) held several estimating courses May 11, 12 and 13 at the Louisiana Technical School Collision in Shreveport, LA.
Mitchell International sponsored the courses which were taught by Dave Gauthier and provided basic as well as advanced techniques in the collision repair estimation field.
Two Best Practices beginners’ courses were taught for free as well as an Advanced Estimating course which carried a $25 fee.
Bill Burnside, NWLCRA past president and coordinator of this event, said, “It went fairly well, we had a good turnout.” He also said that the association would not object to holding the courses again in the future if interest was expressed from industry people in the area.
The Northwestern Louisiana Collision Repair Association helps to promote the automotive collision industry as a whole as well as educating the public and people in the industry about proper repairs.
The association also tackles industry issues and news during their meetings to inform members. The NWLCRA meets monthly to talk about news events and learn from industry speakers. More information can be found on their website at www.nwlcra.org.
Storms Across N. Texas and Oklahoma Leave Floods, Power Outages and Millions in Damages
Storms across Texas and Oklahoma wreaked havoc on the states with tornadoes and large hail; damages are still being calculated.
Fierce winds and heavy rain caused thousands of power outages across the Texas Metroplex area Friday May 14. While the May 10 tornadoes in Oklahoma produced insured losses in the tens of millions of dollars, the May 16 hail storms caused monumental damage to windshields and structures across the state.
“Tornadoes are kind of hit and miss,” said Jerry Johns, president of the Southwest Insurance Information Service in Austin, Texas. “With a hailstorm, it’s a very concentrated weather event that affects block after block after block.”
Phones at the weather service office in Fort Worth were “ringing off the hook” Friday afternoon with reports of storm damage, said Dan Shoemaker, meteorologist.
Shoemaker reported that roads had to be barricaded in the Wise County community of Chico and in Mineral Wells. Shingles were blown from a roof in Saginaw, he said.
The weather service posted a flash flood watch through Saturday morning because thunderstorms and possible runoff remained in the forecast.
