Bloomington, Minn. -- Darrell Amberson said waiting for the start of the International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE) feels a bit like sitting in his nitro funny car at the race track, watching the "Christmas tree" for the green light. NACE starts Oct. 31, an event for which Amberson serves as chairman.
"This is the event's 25th year, so it's a milestone," said Amberson, who raced professionally for four years in the late 1980s, but has spent most of his career in the collision repair industry and is president of Lehman's Garage, a six-location business based in Bloomington, Minn.
The four-day NACE event is again being held during Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas. Amberson, who also serves as national director of the Automotive Service Association (ASA) Collision Division, said there are a number of elements of this year's NACE that he is particularly pleased and excited about.
"First of all, I-CAR is premiering some classes there, which is kind of cool," Amberson said.
Of the seven I-CAR classes being offered at NACE, Amberson said two are all-new and focus on steel-related topics: "Steel Full Frame Technologies and Repair" and "Steel Unitized Structures Technologies and Repair."
"That's a big thing for our industry because I get the impression the steel industry is really responding to the presumption that aluminum was going to become the automakers' metal of choice," Amberson said. "The steel industry is finding ways to make higher-strength steels out of thinner material at a lower weight and cost. So we're starting to see a lot of these new steel technologies now, and NACE and I-CAR are helping provide the information we need."
Amberson also points to another new aspect of NACE this year: a special set of classes aimed at women in the industry. The "Women's Professional Development Track" features four sessions designed to develop the skills and careers of women in the industry by covering such topics as communication skills, assertiveness, and stress management.
"One of the other things I'm thrilled about is that we have sessions at NACE on some of the more controversial topics in the industry, such as, 'feather, prime and block' and 'blend within panel,'" Amberson said. "And I'm also very pleased that we have a couple of sessions relevant to new process innovations in our industry--variations on the 'lean philosophy' and the theory of constraints--and new technologies like waterborne paints."
Amberson said one role he plays as NACE chairman is working with show organizers and advisory councils to thoroughly review the attendance numbers and attendee reviews of all of the conference sessions held the previous year.
"We take the cream of the crop and may carry them over to offer again this year, but the rest of the sessions are new," he said. "There are always first-time attendees at each NACE, and some topics will always be around and have value as sessions, but we also try to put some classes in place that will be valuable to someone who has been coming to NACE for years."
He said NACE organizers are optimistic about likely attendance numbers, which peaked at over 40,000 a decade ago but have been between 24,000 and 30,000 the last five years.
"We don't expect them to be what they were (in 1997), given the shrinking market and the challenging market," Amberson said. "But we've been pleased to see there's been some stabilization and slight increase in numbers the last couple of years, and are kind of expecting that to continue."
Amberson's input and leadership as NACE chairman have benefited from his long, and in some ways unique, career experience in the industry. He spent about 22 years in the dealership sector, including managing dealership body shops, before moving to an independent shop.
Along the way came opportunity to turn his life-long love of fast cars into time drag racing an alcohol funny car at 210 mph and even racing nitro funny cars professionally for several years.
"My fastest speed was 265 mph, and the last two years of racing I did it for a living," Amberson said. "I did not get to the point where I could say I contended for a world championship. But I could be quite competitive. The last year I raced, in 1989, I finished third in world championship points in the International Hot Rod Association."
Amberson said he chose to return to the collision repair industry when he felt the "commitment you have to make racing at that level makes it difficult to balance with family life."
His eventually joined Lehman's Garage, founded in 1917 and acquired in 1969 by Dick Cossette, who became well-known in the industry through his national involvement with ASA. Amberson said the company grew dramatically, particularly in the 1990s, and Cossette named him general manager in 1999. Amberson became president of the company in 2002, a few months before Cossette's death.
In addition to collision repair, Lehman's offers mechanical and glass work at four of its six shops.
"Frankly, having multiple locations has been a lot of fun," Amberson said. "It offers all sort of opportunities to learn at one location and apply that somewhere else, and to shift people around in order to give them opportunities to grow."
Amberson said that although Lehman's has experienced significant growth during his tenure, the company has not been immune to the difficulties faced by many collision repair shops in recent years.
"The last few years, the market has become such a challenge," Amberson said. "I'll feel like we've gained some ground, but a year later other challenges force you to continue refining and addressing your costs. The challenge of maintaining and increasing sales has been exponentially more difficult. But I'm optimistic about our future. We'll just have to work harder to gain ground."
It's that sort of challenge that makes attending NACE all the more important and valuable, Amberson said.
"I remember one of the things that struck me my first time at NACE was not just the number and quality of the classes and sessions, but also the opportunity it offers to interact with so many people," he said. "That's why so many people spend their time and dollars to travel and attend, even in a challenging market. They want to make themselves better. Obviously, there's the entertainment factor in Las Vegas, but frankly, people go to look at the equipment, to talk and network with other people, and to pick up on industry trends. You can get on one of the buses going to the convention or sit next to someone at lunch and strike up a conversation with someone from another part of the country and learn so much more about the industry. That's a huge part of the value of NACE."
NACE 2007 will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. For housing, registration and other NACE information, check the event's Web site (www.NACEexpo.com ).
Snapshot of NACE Chairman Darrell Amberson
- President, Lehman's Garage, Bloomington, Minn.
- Director, ASA Collision Division
- Member: United Recyclers Group (URG) Advisory Committee, CCC/Motor Industry Forum Group, Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Database Taskforce, AASP-Minnesota Workforce Task Group and Government Affairs Committee
- Chairman, Hennepin Technical Colleges Advisory Council
- Earned Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) designation in 1998
- 2006 Winner, Russ Verona Memorial Scholarship to attend International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS) in Cannes, France