The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) held an open board meeting July 22 in Philadelphia, a day before the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), taking place at the same location.
“What I really want to focus on in my tenure [as SCRS chairman] is leading by listening, and listening with the intent to serve,” North Carolina shop owner Michael Bradshaw said as he kicked off his first open board meeting leading the association. “I think that is extremely important. I think many of the [people] up here [on the board] who have mentored me over the years have always done a phenomenal job of doing that.
“I think it is extremely important, as SCRS, that we listen to the needs of our membership, and we develop initiatives and respond in a way that serves their needs, because that's ultimately what we’re here for,” Bradshaw said. “We're here to serve. So that's going to be a big focus for me, looking for ways we can continue to innovate how we do business, and innovate in the offerings that we continue to provide to our members. We’re going to continue to push for what we can do to help make our members’ lives and jobs easier each and every day.”
While highlighting some of the association’s current projects and member benefit programs, the open board meetings also provide a platform to gather industry input on issues affecting collision repairers, and to present insights from SCRS board members, staff and committee leaders.
At the July 22 meeting, for example, the SCRS Education Committee offered a presentation on the impacts of ceramic coatings in the collision repair environment, offering insights into the chemical composition of such coatings, and cutting through some of the marketing jargon for coating manufacturers.
Also at the meeting, Danny Gredinberg, administrator of the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG), discussed how widely the required scanning, aiming and diagnostic steps needed for a particular vehicle can vary by make and model.
The day following CIC, SCRS is set to hold its annual Affiliate Leadership Conference, an in-person gathering of leadership from SCRS’ state and regional affiliated associations, designed to enable these groups to share ideas, collaborate and conduct some strategic planning. More than 30 people from the 33 SCRS affiliate associations are scheduled to attend.
Stay tuned for Autobody News' John Yoswick's full coverage of the SCRS open board meeting.
John Yoswick