Princeton Junction, N.J.--Michael Quinn, co-founder of 911 Collision Centers—with locations in Las Vegas, Tucson Ariz. and Phoenix, has received the NABC President’s Award.  This award has only been presented once before, to Marco Grossi by then NABC President Ed Dollar in 1999.

Sacramento, Calif.—Dennis Shanahan freely admits that employee turnover once plagued his collision repair shop and towing business.  Instead of blaming employees, he said he looked inward to figure out what was going wrong.  In the process, he decided to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each position in the shop, which ultimately revealed the root cause of his problems.

West Sacramento, Calif.—When it comes to the fundamentals required to properly repair a collision damaged vehicle, WyoTech’s Collision Refinishing Technology program has its students’ needs covered.  The instructors at the West Sacramento campus provide their students with knowledge necessary to obtain entry-level work in the collision repair industry, using I-CAR training as a basis.

Huntington Beach, Calif.--John Gustafson, owner of Gustafson Brothers, believes so strongly in training that he’s building a 5,000-square-foot addition to the shop this year in part to house a new training facility.

Wood Village, Ore.–Brasher’s Auto Body demonstrates the value it places on ongoing technical training by not only having earned the I-CAR Gold Class Professional designation, but also by opening its facility to host I-CAR training for the industry for several months each year.

Lakewood, Colo.—Three years ago, Gary Garcia said he had become frustrated with the performance of Jewell Auto Body, part of his mainstay business, Ace Towing.  The shop, which Garcia founded in 1993, is again on the right track under the guidance of Christian Lewys Carson.

El Dorado, Kan.--Enrollment was down at Butler Community College three years ago when Donnie Smith was hired as lead instructor of the Auto Collision Repair program. To turn things around, Smith said Judy Bastin, Butler Community College’s Librarian taught him about Google and blogging so he began promoting the program, and he did so through the Internet, with a blog about the program, and Youtube videos of students involved in the collision repair process.

Kansas City, Mo.--A toy pedal car was featured at the Women’s Industry Network (WIN) booth at the NACE Expo in Las Vegas on Nov. 4-7.  What makes the child-sized ride special is how the car found its way to the show and what it stands for.

Pleasant Hill, Mo.--Do you still have questions about compliance with the new EPA National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP)? Rest assured you are not alone.

Warrensville Heights, Ohio--Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Corp. (SWAFC) has introduced its Prospector color reference system.  It allows fast, accurate color reference as it uses technology developed to accurately represent the latest waterborne aftermarket coatings, company officials said. 

In a 10-minute demonstration at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) last November, Toby Chess proved that one person can make change happen in the collision industry.