The Surest Bet in Vegas: CARS@aAAPEX

Meet the entire auto industry, from widgets to gadgets and the people who make and repair them. Attend the premier automotive service repair event of the year, taking place Nov. 2-4 at CARS@AAPEX.

Back in Las Vegas at the Sands Convention Center, this CARS event is the result of ASA responding to the most challenging issues in the history of the industry with extensively researched content designed to teach you:

• How to attract and build technicians equipped for the future
• How new and existing competitors are changing their game plan to take your market share
• How to prepare to repair advanced vehicle technologies, now and in the near future, as well as how the technologies work

In addition, AVI will present its annual technical- and management-education program, and the Automotive Management Institute (AMi) will host four classes during the week.

Cost for the entire four-day event is just $215, and includes AAPEX/SEMA registration. To register and get hotel information, go to AAPEXshow.com. And for a detailed preview of CARS activities, see former ASA Chairman Donny Seyfer’s preview article on page 30 of this issue.

If you want to succeed where others will fail, you must attend CARS@AAPEX!

A Super Opportunity to be a Super Tech

Pop quiz: What’s super and takes place on a Saturday? All ASA members should know the answer. It’s ASA-PA’s Super Saturday event, where technicians from all over the country are encouraged to learn the information, processes and solutions they need to perform diagnostics that repair vehicles the right way, the first time.

And what better way to share this information than ASA-PA’s no-cost training courses on Oct. 14. Courses will include top-of-mind topics in today’s mechanical and collision repair industry, led by instructors from top authorities in their fields, including Barry Barrett, Jim Groves and John Burkhauser, as well a body-shop instruction by representatives of I-CAR.

This year, ASA-PA has selected Jeremy O’Neal, an ASE Master Technician and service consultant, as the keynote speaker for the event. As president and founder of Advisor Fix, O’Neal is skilled at helping shop owners and service advisers improve their sales and customer service experience and enjoy a higher level of success.

As part of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), the Pennsylvania affiliate is dedicated to Driving Your Success! by providing independent automotive repair and collision professionals with the resources they need to better their business. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn to earn. Register now at http://asashop-pa.org/.

The New Woman at Women in Auto Care

Women in Auto Care’s newly created membership committee just got a new member. She’s Cindy Frasca, chief operating officer at Kukui Corp.

Women in Auto Care is an organization of auto-care professionals dedicated to providing opportunities, education and career leadership to women in the industry through networking, mentoring, recruitment, recognition, industry advising and communication.

“It’s about more than just getting together as a group a couple of times a year to discuss issues facing women in the auto industry, says Frasca about why she’s proud to be part of the organization. “It’s also knowing daily that there are women working hard to make a positive impact in the industry.”

Led by Dawn Zieren, president of the Automotive Business Unit at the NPD Group, the Membership Committee is charged with growing membership through actively recruiting new members while retaining existing membership. New committee members got together for the first time July 19-20 at the Women in Auto Care’s Summer Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

“Cindy’s ambition and positive attitude are great inspiration and greatly appreciated as she steps up her involvement in the Women in Auto Care,” says Sarah Shelstrom, executive chair of the Marketing Committee. “Cindy will be a great asset to the organization’s growth, and we look forward to having her on the Membership committee,”

Kukui provides businesses, many in the automotive service and collision repair industry, with custom online marketing platforms that integrate with each organization’s point of sale (POS) system.

AMi Offers Estimators Professional Designations

The Automotive Management Institute (AMi) recently announced the development and launch of two new professional designations for the collision repair estimator role.

According to Jeff Peevy, AMi president, the new designations represent 14 months of industry work to identify and develop requirements, which included AMi, I-CAR and information-provider training and ASE B6 certification. “The designations also require elective credit hours from AMi-approved industry training providers that teach estimating-related topics,” he says.

Two levels of designations are available:

• n Accredited Collision-Repair Estimator (ACE)
• n Accredited Master Collision-Repair Estimator (AMCE)

Peevy explains that the new designations require multiple categories of training and professional achievement, including business-related and soft skills, technical damage analysis and information-provider knowledge. And both designations require I-CAR training to satisfy technical damage analysis.

“The joining of two esteemed professional designations, I-CAR Platinum and AMi ACE/AMCE, strengthens and reinforces the professionalism of the estimator role, a role that is critical to the collision repair process,” notes John Van Alstyne, CEO and president of I-CAR. “As the industry standard for technical training, I-CAR’s Pro-Level 3 Platinum Estimator/APDA achievement is a logical and robust building block for AMi’s accreditation program. This move further builds our relationship with AMi, which started in 2016 with our Production Management coursework as an elective for its collision repair accreditations.”

In addition, the master level designation requires successful completion and maintaining of ASE’s B6 certification. “The collision repair estimator needs wide-ranging knowledge and skills to serve as the all-important link joining customer, insurance and repair shop,” says Tim Zilke, ASE president and CEO. “At ASE, we are proud to offer the ASE Damage Analysis and estimating (B6) certification. It lets the pros demonstrate their proficiency in all job-related areas. The inclusion of this certification in AMi’s Accredited Master Collision-Repair Estimator designation is further proof of the pivotal role of estimators within the broader collision repair industry.”

For more information about AMi’s estimator designations and their requirements, go to amionline.org.

The Training You Need for the Jobs You Do

Don’t miss an exciting opportunity for training at ASA-Illinois’ CAN Conference, scheduled for Sept. 22-24 at the Westin Chicago Northwest in Itasca, Ill.

You’ll find even more hands-on and advanced mechanical training in breakout sessions by some of the best trainers in the country, including John Thornton, Scot Manna, Scott Shotton and Eric Ziegler, as well as authoritative leadership lessons from Bill Haas, Jeremy O’Neal, Jim Silverman and Doug McAllister.

A three-day pass to the CAN Conference costs just $335 for ASA members. The pass includes more than 17 hours of training, as well as lunch each day, two evening receptions, a great vendor tradeshow and giveaways.

For more information on the exhibitors, a full schedule of classes, session descriptions and lodging, as well as to register, go to ASA-Illinois’ CAN Conference website at asailcan.com.