Americans Win Awards In WorldSkills Contest

ASA members who actively support SkillsUSA can be proud of the fact two Americans took home awards in the 40th international competition held recently in Calgary, Canada.

Jack Frederick, a student at Pittsburg State University, Pittsburgh, Kan., took second place in the automobile technology competition. He was given a silver medal and recognized as one of the best in the world after competing against contestants from 27 different countries. Ben Janke of Marshall, Wis., a graduate of Madison Area Technical College, took home the Medallion of Excellence Award in the car painting competition.

Frederick and Janke earned the right to be a member of the United States "World Team" by winning local, district and national contests under the SkillsUSA program.

In addition to the many ASA members who actively support SkillsUSA, Bill Haas, ASA's vice president for education and training, is a member of SkillsUSA's collision repair technology committee.

WIN Schedules 2010 Conference

Denise Caspersen	Geralynn Kottschade

The Women's Industry Network (WIN) will hold its 2010 conference at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, Fla. It will be the fourth annual conference for the not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging, developing and cultivating opportunities to attract women to collision repair.

Denise Caspersen, manager of the Automotive Service Association's Collision Division, is a member of WIN's board of directors.

Geralynn Kottschade, AAM, is the immediate past chairwoman of the organization. She is co-owner of Jerry's Body Shop in Mankato, Minn. In 2004, she was named the first female chairman of ASA and has served as chairman of NACE two years.

Mitchell Offers I-CAR Courses

Mitchell International has teamed with the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) in offering a series of I-CAR collision repair training courses at its San Diego headquarters.

The courses will be open to both employees of Mitchell and the general public.

Wayne Krause, manager of labor and specialty databases for Mitchell and an I-CAR instructor, said: "Given the fact that part of Mitchell's labor time development involves the utilization of I-CAR best practices, it was felt [the courses were] a way to extend that knowledge to the rest of the industry."

For more information, go to the I-CAR Web site at www.i-car.com.

'HYB' Survey Participant Wins $250 Gift Card

Doug Hawker	Ron Pyle

Doug Hawker is the winner of a $250 Visa gift card for participating in the association's annual "How's Your Business?" survey. Hawker is the owner of Hawker Automotive Inc. in Saint George, Utah. Everyone who completed the survey by Sept. 27 was eligible for the prize drawing. The winner was drawn randomly from among participants. Drawing the winner's name is Ron Pyle, ASA president and chief staff executive. Results of the survey will be featured in the December 2009 issue of AutoInc.