WIN opens nominations for 2027 Founding Mothers Award
The Women’s Industry Network (WIN) will open nominations Nov. 16 for its second annual Founding Mothers Award, which recognizes women who paint or repair vehicles hands-on in collision shops.
WIN’s six founders, Frederica Carter, Geri Kottschade, Gigi Walker, Patricia Serratore, Kathy Mello, and Marcy Tieger, created the award. Its first recipient, Haylie Colby, a painter at Nuss Collision Center in East Bethel, Minn., received the honor at WIN’s annual conference in May.
Nominees are evaluated on industry visibility and leadership, professional accomplishments, mentorship, and community involvement. Nominees must have worked full time in a shop for at least two years. WIN membership is not required for nominators or nominees.
“Key considerations for this still new, prestigious award include excellence in their craft, as well as mentoring others to success in repair excellence,” said Laura Kottschade, WIN chair.
Nominations close Jan. 18, 2027, and WIN will name the winner March 22. The recipient receives up to $3,000 toward tools or equipment, an all-expenses-covered trip to WIN’s 2027 conference May 3-4 in Portland, Ore., with airfare covered up to $600, and a $400 apparel stipend.
AkzoNobel launches Modern Vintage refinish line with Dave Kindig
AkzoNobel has launched Modern Vintage, a refinish line that uses Sikkens refinish technology to recreate factory colors from vehicles built over more than 140 years. The line is aimed at restoration shops, professional builders, refinish professionals, and vehicle owners.
AkzoNobel developed the line with custom builder and television personality Dave Kindig, founder of Kindig-It Design. Users can look up a vehicle’s original color by its year, make, model, and OEM paint code.
Modern Vintage is sold exclusively through TCP Global, whose Auto Color Library provides the historical color data each formula is based on. The library holds factory color chips and formulas going back to the early 1900s, and TCP Global’s color lab prepares each order and ships it to the customer. The new line pairs with the existing Modern Classikk color collection.
“Modern Vintage completes our portfolio of Sikkens refinish technology for custom and OEM matching colors to distributors, shops and restorers,” said Maximilien Schréder, commercial director, AkzoNobel North American Automotive & Specialty Coatings.
“I’ve always believed every great build starts with the right color,” Kindig said.
Shops and current Sikkens customers with professional questions can go through their Sikkens representative. More information is available at modernvintagepaint.com.
Crash Champions enters Rhode Island, opens first Toledo-area shop
Crash Champions has expanded into Rhode Island, its 39th state, by acquiring AutoPaint RI in Cranston, and has opened its first repair center in the greater Toledo, Ohio, market.
The Cranston facility at 47 Stamp Farm Road is an I-CAR Gold Class shop that was previously part of Tasca Automotive Group’s New England division. It began running under the Crash Champions name immediately. The building covers nearly 20,000 square feet, about 16,550 of which is production space. Trackhawk Advisors advised Tasca on the sale.
“AutoPaint RI has built a strong reputation for quality repairs and customer service, making it a natural fit for our organization,” said Matt Ebert, founder and CEO of Crash Champions.
Separately, the MSO opened its 27th Ohio location at 1255 E. Mall Drive in Holland. The 18,701-square-foot shop includes 15,927 square feet of production space and will serve Holland, Lucas County, and nearby communities.
“We’re excited to officially open our doors in Holland and continue building on our strong presence across Ohio,” Ebert said.
Crash Champions now has more than 650 locations in 39 states.
All County Collision to open second Florida location in Oxford
All County Collision & Repair, a family-owned independent shop in Eustis, Fla., will open a second location in Oxford, Fla., on Nov. 24.
The new shop at 12027 N. U.S. Highway 301 will serve Oxford and the nearby Villages area, according to the company. Ryan DeMarco, who took over leadership of the business in 2016, leads the operation.
Autobody News profiled the Eustis shop earlier this year in a Shop Stack Breakdown, which described All County Collision as a second-generation operation holding eight OEM certifications. DeMarco brought ADAS calibrations in-house in September 2025 after running into quality control problems with mobile calibration vendors.
At the time of that profile, the second location was under construction, and the shop expected the new location to require repeating much of the work involved in managing its OEM certification programs.
NABC honors Texas Collision Centers’ Shyllo Michaelis
The National Auto Body Council (NABC) named Shyllo Michaelis, chief strategy officer of Texas Collision Centers (TCC), the winner of its 2026 NABC Changing and Saving Lives Award. NABC announced the award Nov. 3 at the Collision Industry Red Carpet Awards and recognized her the same day at its 2026 NABC SEMA Celebration.
TCC is an 18-store, family-owned MSO. Since 2021, Michaelis has played a central role in the company’s work with the NABC Recycled Rides program, which refurbishes and donates vehicles to people who lack reliable transportation.
In 2025, TCC refurbished 19 vehicles for the program. Sixteen of them went to 16 Texas veterans in a single Veterans Day presentation, which NABC described as the biggest one-time Recycled Rides donation in the program’s history. TCC has gifted two more vehicles in 2026.
“We really appreciate the partnership with the insurance carriers who donate these vehicles and our paint, parts and service providers who help support the giftings,” Michaelis said.
Outside the industry, Michaelis volunteers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including with the Plano Christmas Cops toy program, and has organized drives to send socks and toiletries to deployed troops.
Fix Auto USA recognizes Army veteran and franchise owner Ian Morton
Fix Auto USA recognized Ian Morton, owner of Fix Auto Tucson-Thoroughbred and Fix Auto Sierra Vista in Arizona, for his service in the U.S. Army as part of its Veterans Day observance.
“After 9/11, I made the decision to join the United States Army and serve my country,” Morton said. “It was an honor to serve, and I feel truly blessed to have had that opportunity. My time in the Army is something I’ll always be grateful for and proud of.”
“Ian’s story is a powerful reminder of what Veterans Day represents,” said Damien Reyna, chief operating officer of Driven Brands Collision Group. “We are incredibly proud to have a veteran like Ian as part of the Fix Auto USA family.”
Crush Customs sweeps three SEMA restyling awards
Crush Customs, a woman-owned restyling company in Marietta, Ga., won three awards at the 2026 SEMA Show: the SEMA Professional Restylers Organization (PRO) Restyler of the Year Award, the PRO Cup Challenge championship, and the PRO Cup Challenge People’s Choice Award.
The company said it is the first in PRO Cup Challenge history to win both the judged title and the People’s Choice vote. The competition judges restyling concepts on creativity, marketability, profitability, and how readily they could be repeated across multiple dealerships.
The winning entry, a pink-themed 2026 Kia K5, was designed as a dealership-ready package tied to breast cancer awareness. Its upgrades include a bespoke Alea leather interior, XPEL matte paint protection film, custom seatbelts, ambient lighting, and a starlight headliner. Under the concept, participating dealerships would offer the customized vehicles along with a charitable-giving component.
“As a woman in this industry, I know how important it is to challenge expectations and show that leadership and innovation have no gender,” said Chelsea Allen, founder and owner of Crush Customs.
The company plans to add dealership partners and build more custom vehicle packages.
SEMA names 2026 Visionary 8 honorees
SEMA named eight recipients of its 2026 Visionary 8 program, which recognizes members 35 or younger whose work has had a positive effect on their businesses and the wider aftermarket industry. SEMA announced the honorees at the 2026 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
The 2026 honorees are:
- Braxton Boone, owner, Boone Mobile Detailing
- Justin Hartenstein Jr., social media manager, Oracle Lighting
- Dustin Korth, senior accounts manager, MetaMartini
- Kyle Kuhnhausen, president, Kuhnhausen Metal Concepts LLC
- Sean Leger, owner, Emerald City Hot Rods
- Erik Nave, COO and marketing director, Titan Fuel Tanks
- Ray Padilla, CEO, Auto Film Mastery & Media Tune
- Rashmi Sinha, chief innovation officer and co-founder, Revv
Judges scored nominees on entrepreneurship, insight, integrity, responsibility, and skill. Boone launched his detailing business while still in high school and now serves customers throughout the Richmond, Va., area. Kuhnhausen won the 2025 SEMA Best Engineered Vehicle award.
“Their achievements are strengthening businesses, expanding the industry’s reach and creating opportunities for the next generation,” said Joe Escobar, SEMA manager of recognition programs.
Nominations for the 2027 class open in summer 2027.
Women in Auto Care names 2026 award winners
Women in Auto Care, a community of the Auto Care Association, named its 2026 award winners during a ceremony at AAPEX in Las Vegas.
The winners are:
- Lifetime Achievement: Liz Whalen, founder and president, Whalen Search Group
- Outstanding Leadership: Jessica Toliuszis, vice president, national accounts, Highline Warren
- Shop Owner of the Year: Tenise Chapman, owner, Black Hills Tire
- Women of Excellence: Samantha Higdon, Schearer’s Sales and Service; Allison Moody, Snap-on Equipment; Kendra Mitchell, TERREPOWER; and Caitlin McGill, WD-40 Company
- Company Ally of the Year: AutoZone
- Champion of the Year: Dawn Fitzgerald, senior manager, marketing communications, Stryten Energy
Chapman and her husband, Weston, founded Black Hills Tire eight years ago. The business has grown from two bays and three employees to eight bays, 16 employees, and $5 million in annual sales. She also founded Camp DRIVE, a two-day camp that gives young people ages 12-15 hands-on exposure to automotive work, from welding to brakes and alignments.
“My grandparents owned their own automotive repair shop for many years and received many accolades, but my grandmother was never able to receive any recognition because that’s just how it was,” Chapman said.
Moody, senior global marketing manager at Snap-on Equipment, oversees marketing strategy covering undercar, collision repair, and heavy-duty work.
Lisa McArdle