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- West Virginia Used Car Business Sues Auto Repair Company for Breach of Contract
- Chesapeake, VA-Area Service Members Receive Gift of Reliable Transportation
- Hyundai and Hyundai of Asheville Donate $20,000 to Special Olympics North Carolina
- Atlanta Single Mother Receives Reliable Transportation Courtesy of NABC Recycled Rides®, GEICO, Classic Collision
- Mississippi Welcomes Its First Tesla Store
Southeastern News
Local news stories affecting the auto body industry in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and West Virginia
Copart Adds Fifth Facility in Georgia
Copart, Inc., a live online vehicle auction, announced August 30 the opening of its new South Atlanta facility in Ellenwood, Georgia. This latest addition to Copart's footprint marks the company's fifth facility in Georgia and the 154th facility world-wide.
Copart President Vincent W. Mitz said the 77-acre site will improve Copart's service in the greater Atlanta Metropolitan area.
"Atlanta is a major market, and our new South Atlanta facility in Ellenwood provides additional capacity to more efficiently cover the region as demand for our services grows," said Mitz.
Copart, founded in 1982, provides vehicle sellers with a full range of remarketing services to process and sell salvage and clean title vehicles to dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters and, in some states, to end users. Copart sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, car dealerships and others as well as cars sourced from the general public. The company currently operates 154 facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information, or to become a member, visit www.copart.com.
ABRA Expands Repair Center Operations in Mississippi
ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Minnesota-based damaged vehicle repair company, announced July 13 the opening of a new repair center in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The facility, located at 7532 Craft-Goodman Frontage Road, will increase the total number of ABRA repair centers to 107 in 12 states.
Tim Adelmann, ABRA’s Executive Vice President of Business Development says, “ABRA built this repair center to meet the growing needs of vehicle owners and our insurance partners in the community of Olive Branch. ABRA’s long-term plan is to make it convenient for consumers to find a state-of-the-art ABRA repair center no matter where they happen to live or work.”
The repair center will eventually staff more than 20 new employees and is equipped with all the latest technology to maintain high standards and assure top quality repairs.
The repair center is one of ABRA’s newest prototype models consisting of more than 13,000 square feet and offers collision repair along with glass repair and replacement services with free mobile service to home or work.
Car-Mart Continues to Expand, Opens 9th Store in AL
Continuing its expansion, America’s Car-Mart broadened its buy-here, pay-here dealership footprint in Alabama. The newest rooftop is located in Albertville, AL, raising Car-Mart’s total in the state to nine.
Car-Mart now has 108 dealerships spread through Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
“Car-Mart has tremendous growth opportunities especially in states like Alabama. Albertville is our ninth location in Alabama, a state that has potential much like our home state of Arkansas, where we have 37 dealerships,” explained William “Hank” Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Car-Mart.
Henderson added the Albertville dealership will be managed by Brad Martin, “who is very excited to lead our efforts at this great new Car-Mart location.”
Elaborating more on the company’s future, chief financial officer Jeff Williams reiterated Car-Mart anticipates opening new lots at an approximate 10-percent annual rate.
Florida Auto Collision Alliance Holds First-Ever Statewide Convention and Expo
The Florida Auto Collision Alliance (FACA) held its first-ever statewide convention and industry exposition May 19 to 21 at the Villas of Grand Cypress in Orlando, FL.
Vendors, technicians, managers and owners of repair centers across the state came together to examine best practices, new products,and efficient alternatives to conventional shop-management and supplychain systems.
The Florida Collision Repair Summit was held in conjunction with the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS)’s Improving Workshop Efficiency seminar. The co-sponsored program focused on the implementation of “lean” production practices designed to eliminate wasteful processes in body shop management.
The event drew in approximately 30 attendees in the classes, and 26 vendors set-up on the expo floor for the weekend, according to Cathy Mills, FACA’s executive director.
“The Summit was an excellent opportunity to network with peers, learn new skills, share expertise, and explore emerging products and services in the collision repair industry,” said Mills.
Florida Collision Repair School to Receive Mini-Makeover at NACE 2011
The Collision Repair Education Foundation will be presenting Lake Technical Center of Eustis, FL with a “Mini-Makeover” during the International Autobody Congress & Exposition (NACE) Thursday, October 6th in Orlando, FL.
Lake Technical Center was the only school in Florida that applied for the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s 2010 $50,000 Ultimate Collision Education Makeover grant. Due to the school’s proximity to NACE in Orlando, the Education Foundation has been gathering industry supporters/donors to fulfill portions of the school’s $50,000 wish list that they provided as part of the grant application. School instructors, administration and their collision students will be on hand during a presentation at NACE to showcase how the Mini-Makeover donors have benefited the school’s collision program.
The presentation will take place from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. in the ASRW Media Center located inside the Orange County Convention Center’s West Building.
Scott Kruger, Executive Director of the Collision Repair Education Foundation, said, “Lake Technical Center was one of 52 schools nationwide that applied for the Foundation’s 2010 Ultimate Collision Education Makeover grant and the only school in the state of Florida to apply. As industry professionals from across the country will be gathering in Orlando for NACE this fall, we thought it would be a great opportunity to not only highlight the Makeover grant program, but also help this local school through the support of our donors and supporters. We invite industry professionals attending NACE and ASRW to attend the presentation to hear how Lake Technical Center’s collision program has benefited through the support of industry donations and to learn how to get involved with helping schools in your local area.”
Leaf Now Available in Florida, Alabama and Georgia
Drivers in Florida and Georgia will be able to start ordering the new Nissan Leaf electric car on July 25— but only if they were among the 20,000 who made $99 deposits during a fall online reservation period, according to reports made by the Florida Times-Union.
Nissan has sold 4,000 of the all-electric sedans since February in its first market phase in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington State.
Now the ordering process opens to consumers with reservations in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Alabama.
The Leaf is an all-electric car with 48 lithium-ion battery modules, giving it an estimated 100-mile range.
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Florida Auto Collision Alliance Jacksonville Chapter Holds 13th Annual Golf Tournament
The Florida Auto Collision Alliance's (FACA) Jacksonville Chapter held their 13th annual golf outing at Fleming Island Golf Course on May 26. The event was a huge winner for the group and another opportunity for owners, managers, support staff, insurance adjusters and vendors to build new relationships and rekindle old ones.
FACA’s generous vendors were particularly noteworthy participants and stocked the entire course with the very best food and drink.
FACA did an outstanding job with prize giveaways and ensured everything ran smoothly. The tee time was only delayed by 15 minutes—-not bad when you consider that more than 150 golfers had to be checked in and assigned golf carts before putting could begin. A big surprise was ex-NFL player Jeff Lageman defending the 16th hole, challenging all that came through to raise money for charity.
In the end, all went well and everyone had a great time and is looking forward to next year’s event. FACA issued a big thank you to Steve Carey, Cathy Mills and Dave McBroom for all their efforts.
For more information please visit www.facafl.com.
Florida Manufacturer Honored With Broward County Environmental Business of the Year Award
The Broward County (Florida) Board of County Commissioners presented the Emerald Award to Uniweld Products Inc., designating the company as Broward County's Environmental Business of the Year for 2010.
Uniweld Products, a U.S. manufacturing company, is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Established in 1949 on farmland in the Dania Beach area, the company has grown and expanded into one of the major manufacturers in the welding, HVAC/R (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration), plumbing, and alloys markets.
The Award commends Uniweld for its continuing adherence to strict environmental friendly business practices and green initiatives. David Pearl II, Uniweld's president, accepted the award on Tuesday, April 12th, 2011.
Sikes & Stowe Downtown Collision Celebrates 85th Anniversary
Sikes & Stowe Downtown Collision, the oldest independent, family-owned body shop in downtown Jacksonville, is currently celebrating its 85th anniversary.
Founder John E. Sikes Sr. started the business in 1926, his son John E. Sikes Jr. took over in the 1960s until his death in 1999 and grandson, John E. “Bud” Sikes III is the current owner.
The owners have always credited their loyal customer base throughout the years for their longevity of success, and are, as always, committed to the growth and development of downtown Jacksonville.
For more information please visit www.sikesandstowejax.com.
Georgia Collision Industry Association Hosts Consultant at Monthly Meeting
The Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA) July meeting was held on July 14th at the Crowne Plaza Perimeter Atlanta NW.
Patrick Delaney from Summit Consulting International was the night's guest presenter. The presentation centered on how to improve performance in your collision shop.
Delaney’s presentation covered how to measurably improve the processes that impact the most vital areas of your business—profitability and customer loyalty.
Delaney spoke about Production Management Foundations, Measuring in Order to Manage and Making an Impact. He also discussed how to set up production controls to address the following four areas; customer interaction, managing repairs, production processes, and administrative processes.
He explained the impact each area has on the production process and how these area can affect the repair planning process. Summit Consulting has a computer program to help shops with their production management.
Refreshments and food began at 6:30 pm.
The group also discussed the upcoming 15th Annual GCIA Golf tournament and the Property and Casualty Insurance Stakeholder Advisory committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 10th at 1:30PM in Atlanta (Location yet to be determined).
Please visit www.summitci.com for more information about Summit Consulting International. Visit www.gacollisionindustry.wordpress.com for updates on the GCIA.