by John Yoswick
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 22:00
Gresham, Ore.—Whether for custom paint jobs that catch the eye – or for collision repair refinishing that goes undetected – Al Link has relied on one paint brand for two decades.
“Paint is the biggest part of this auto body industry, and that’s why we use AkzoNobel...
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 22:00
Elmhurst, Ill.–As the first large market in which State Farm has rolled out mandated use of PartsTrader by its Select Service shops, Chicago is serving as a test of whether the program can scale up to meet the needs of hundreds of shops and vendors in a single market.
Ninety days into the...
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 22:00
Naperville, Ill.–Most collision repairers in the U.S. probably most associate the Spanesi name with the Italian company’s unique Touch electronic measuring system.
But step inside Spanesi’s new corporate center and training facility outside of Chicago, and you’ll essentially...
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - 13:20
Cathedral City, Calif.–Desi Gonzalez said his shop had been spraying a “second-tier” waterborne paint line before switching to PPG’s Envirobase.
“It’s better quality and has better color matching,” said Gonzalez, an experienced painter and owner of...
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - 11:16
Paint company representatives say they see it all the time: Two shops in the same market, similar in terms of size, spray booths, and sales, yet with wildly different gross profit levels in their paint departments.
The shop with the lower gross profit, the paint reps say, will be sure it...
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Monday, February 25, 2013 - 15:57
Portland, Ore.—John Spinnett has a simple philosophy that guides his work as general manager of Steve’s Imports, a collision and mechanical shop just off I-205 in Southeast Portland.
“My biggest concern is that everyone feels they are cared about,” Spinnett said....
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Monday, February 25, 2013 - 14:45
Beaumont, Calif.—Brothers Joe and Daniel Nevins, and Joe’s childhood friend Jeremy Pistilli all started working at Class Acts Autobody while teenagers, learning the trade. Though they later went their own ways, working at different shops over the years, Joe Nevins became owner of Class...
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Monday, February 25, 2013 - 12:55
Palm Springs, Calif.—From hiring practices to payment plans, attendees at the recent Collision Industry Conference (CIC) got a pop quiz on their knowledge of human resources practices.
California business attorney Cory King serves as a one-man “human resources committee” at...
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Friday, January 25, 2013 - 16:36
Hoffman Estates, Ill.—Fewer than half of technicians in the collision repair industry who are regularly welding have been recently trained or tested in the skill, according to statistics cited by I-CAR.
Those stats begin with U.S. Bureau of Labor numbers that peg the total number of...
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Friday, January 25, 2013 - 11:33
Wilsonville, Ore.—As with any business, Terry Morris said building, restoring or customizing classic cars and hot rods is not without its challenges. But on the upside, he said, it’s not nearly as impacted by swings in the economy.
“Even when the economy is bad, people have...
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