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Midwestern News
- 1963 Corvette Split Window Stolen During Michigan Car Show
- Warrensburg Collision Adds Locations And Rebrands
- Ford Announces Manufacturing Investment, Jobs Creation in Kentucky
- Crash Champions Acquires Nationwide Auto Body in Illinois
- General Motors Converts Ohio ICE Drivetrain Facility to EV Motor Production
Midwestern News
Local news stories affecting the auto body industry in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
ABRA Buys Five Shops From MSO in Indiana
ABRA Auto Body & Glass announced the acquisition of all five Hubler Express Collision repair centers in Indianapolis, Indiana and the surrounding area. The new ABRA centers are located in the Indiana cities of Greenwood, Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, and Plainfield.
Paul’s Quality Collision Wins Small Business of Year
Paul’s Quality Collision in Monroe Charter Township, MI, was recently awarded “Small Business of the Year” by the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce. Owners are Paul and Tammi Van Aken.
The award acknowledges businesses that epitomize entrepreneurship and community service.
The business was founded in 1982 and initially called Paul’s Body Shop and located on W. 7th Street. The shop moved to its present location on S. Telegraph Rd. in 1991. It operated as a franchise called Paul’s CARSTAR Collision from 1992-2006 until the shop left the CARSTAR organization and began operating as Paul’s Quality Collision.
The business prides itself on teamwork and emphasis on quality work and customer service.
Tami serves as office manager and one of their children, Ryan, serves as production manager. The business employs 12 people.
The company's community involvement includes sponsoring area recreation teams and discourages testing and driving by sponsoring programs in schools and distributing t-shirts that say, ‘Plz dnt txt n drive.’
Indianapolis Repair Center Hosts Pet Food Drive
Church Brothers Collision Repair in Indianapolis, IN, held their annual pet food drive to benefit the dogs and cats sheltered by Indianapolis Animal Care & Control. The pet food drive collected over 3,400 pounds of food and topped last year’s results by more than 1,000 pounds.
Former Detroit City Councilwoman Works at Auto Body Shop While Serving Federal Prison Term
Former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers is working at an auto body shop while serving the remainder of her federal prison sentence for corruption.
The wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers now works for Metrotech Collision in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, according to owner Sam Hussein.
Team PRP Expands in Ohio with Westwood
Team PRP’s nationwide network of independent automobile recyclers expanded with its newest member, Westwood Auto Parts, located in Toledo, OH.
The addition of Westwood brings the partnership total of Team PRP to 133 members.
Brothers Gary and Zale Reinstein founded and opened Westwood Auto Parts in 1977. With the intention of developing a used auto parts facility that offered readily available parts in stock, operating more like a new parts store, the brothers purchased a 150,000-square-foot abandoned foundry building on 19 acres of property and later expanded to 21 acres.
Indiana Convention & Exhibition Takes Control of the Future: “What are You Doing to Prepare?”
“Taking Control of Your Future” was the motto of the 2013 Bi-Annual Convention and Technology Exhibition sponsored by the Indiana Auto Body Association in Indianapolis, February 22–23. This two-day convention was a solid mix of collision repair technology, education and industry issues.
The freezing rain that hit Indianapolis the night before didn’t slow down this show one bit, although Mike Anderson, who was scheduled to open the show Friday morning, got trapped in Toronto by the storm. IABA Executive Director and manager of the Convention, Tony Passwater, took over and gave the event a great start.
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Ohio Driver’s Licenses Blocked for Some Illegal Immigrants
Driver’s licenses for some young immigrants who came to the United States illegally are being blocked by Ohio Department of Public Safety officials’ who question whether a new federal program gives those immigrants temporary legal status, the Insurance Journal recently reported.
Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles offices are reaching different conclusions about the status of the young immigrants because they are not getting guidance from the Department of Public Safety that oversees the BMV office, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.
Former Auto Body Shop to Become “Chop Shop” Bar
A former, long-vacant 9,300 square-foot auto body shop on W. North Ave. in Wicker Park, Chicago, IL, will become a deli-style restaurant, music venue and bar.
Matt Bailey, a spokesman for Ald. Joe Moreno’s (1st) office, said that he’s heard that the space will be called “Chicago Chop Shop” and feature a deli-style restaurant, a music venue and a bar.
“It’s been in the works for a year and a half now and the owners will be meeting with the alderman,” Bailey said.
Bailey added, “It’s a cool concept, the kind of business we are excited to bring to our neighborhood.”
In August 2011, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that the owners of the building are Nick Moretti and Joe Seigle and that they are “redeveloping a 9,300-square-foot former auto body garage into a Chicago Chop Shop restaurant with 5,000 square feet of event space in the back.”
Built in 1913, the building is 200 feet west of the Milwaukee-Damen-North avenue intersection.
Superior Service Center is Finalist for Chamber Award
Superior Service Center in Eagan, MN, was recently named one of seven finalists by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for the 2013 Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award.
The award honors businesses that excel in the areas of staff training and motivation, community involvement, customer service and strategy.
Superior Service Center was founded by Dan Sjolseth in 1982 as a full-service automotive facility that offers both mechanical and collision repairs. The shop now has 29 employees. Sjolseth works closely with local colleges, trade schools and technical high schools to provide internship and mentorship programs.
Superior Service Center and the other finalists will be honored at the chamber’s Small Business Summit, which will take place April 29-May 1 in Washington, DC. The winner will be announced during the event, and will receive $10,000.
“Superior Service Center is a living example of the power of free enterprise at work in our economy,” said Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Chrysler Invests $374 Million, Creates Indiana Jobs
Chrysler Group announced Feb. 28 it will invest nearly $374 million in central Indiana to boost production of automatic transmissions, a move the company said will create about 1,250 jobs, the Detroit News reported.
The automaker is spending $212 million on new equipment and tooling for three of its existing factories in Kokomo to produce eight-speed and nine-speed automatic transmissions. Chrysler is spending another $162 million to open a new transmission plant in the nearby town of Tipton that will produce an all-new nine-speed transmission.
“Our investments in Kokomo and Tipton are a tribute to the character of the men and women of Chrysler who survived a near-fatal experience and have embraced the challenge of building an enterprise that is able to compete with the best in the world,” CEIO Sergio Marchionne.
The latest investment brings Chrysler’s total U.S. investment to nearly $5.2 billion since Italian automaker Fiat SpA took over the bankrupt company in June 2009. Chrysler has already added some 8,000 jobs in the United States since then.