ASA-Colorado Shops to Become
Certified Vehicle Safety Experts for Kids

The state of Colorado has a severe shortage of certified child vehicle safety experts. Donny Seyfer, AAM, ASA-Colorado chairman, had an idea. If more auto repair shop owners and employees became certified in installing car seats, that would help with the shortage.

ASA-Colorado put out a call for a geographical spread of its membership to provide this service to Colorado families. For mechanical members it is a great new touch point for new customers and the communities their shops serve. Collision members have the opportunity to be in touch with new and existing customers during the repair process to identify child seats that are no longer safe for service.

Participants will pay between $300-$350 for the training and certification. Classes will be held two days per week for a three-week period. Thereafter, a one-day practical final will be performed with families scheduled to come to the event where they will be taught how to properly install a child safety seat. Current Safe Kids technicians will be on hand to assist and sign off on new certifications.

A database will be created of the ASA members who are certified. They will be allowed to publish their certification on their business Web sites as well as on the ASA-Colorado Web site. A list of certified ASA members will be used to refer families to these shops. There will be no charge for this service - it will be a free service to local communities by participating ASA members.

As of this writing, 15 ASA-Colorado member shops have signed up for training for certification; another group of shops is ready to start the next round of certification. ASA-Colorado hopes to quadruple the number of child safety technicians actively working in the state. The first class should be completed by the end of May.

Koebernicks Honored by ASA-Illinois

Frank Brizek, ASA-Illinois board member, presents a plaque to Neil and Joan Koebernick for their service to ASA and the automotive service industry.

In February, ASA-Illinois honored Joan and Neil Koebernick, AAMs, for their service to ASA and the auto repair industry.

In the early 1970s, after trade school, Neil moved to Illinois from North Dakota and went to work in a Goodyear store. While working there, a young lady experienced her car's engine overheating and brought it to Goodyear to be repaired. Neil repaired her car; they started dating and were later married.

In 1974 Joan and Neil started their business as Dakota Union 76 and later in 1991 renamed their shop, Dakota-K Auto Repair & Tire Center. The shop is now run by their sons. Both Neil and Joan are Automotive Management Institute (AMI) graduates, and they have received the Alpha Award from ASA national. Besides being involved in ASA, both locally and nationally, they have also been honored with numerous awards by the Better Business Bureau and Carquest.

VISION Hi-Tech Training & Expo

Shop owners and technicians visit with exhibitors on Saturday afternoon during the 18th annual VISION HiTech Training & Expo held at the Overland Park Convention Center in Kansas City. – photo by Brian Turner

ASA of Missouri/Kansas hosted the 18th Annual VISION Hi-Tech Training & Expo March 6-8, in Overland Park, Kan. Twelve hundred automotive service professionals received more than 11,000 hours of training during the three-and-a-half-day event. VISION is one of the leading automotive service industry training events in the country. Automotive service professionals from 34 states and Canada attended some of the industry's top management and technical training offered by the industry's leading instructors. The course offerings were designed to meet the needs of the entry-level technician up to the very experienced driveability technician.

More than 500 people attended the awards dinner and comedy night Saturday evening. Four scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each were presented to students pursuing a career in the automotive service industry. Three automotive service facilities were presented with the Green Star Facility Awards recognizing their accomplishments in environmental practices and awareness.