River Valley

From left: Original One Parts COO Dean Cerimeli, Original One Parts Chief of Staff Stephanie Hilburn, and Original One Parts Head of Engineering Sean Higgs were on hand for the St. Louis facility tour.

Original One Parts provides tour of facility and parts certification process

St. Louis—Original One Parts has been expanding its St. Louis facility. It also has distribution centers that are scheduled to open around the country this year. Original One Parts partnered with AASP-MO to provide a dinner and tour of its St. Louis facility recently, where collision shop owners,...

Deery Collision Center Manager Justin Clubb pushes for OEM certifications and the training needed for his technicians to perform OEM repair procedures.

Deery Collision Center meets technology challenge with OEM certifications

Burlington, Iowa—In his five years at Deery Collision Center, Manager Justin Clubb has seen technology rapidly increase to the point that even a once-simple mirror replacement may now require recalibration. It’s why he’s pursued OEM certifications and their training requirements: to ensure his...

Parts Manager Brenda Walther says she is excited to bring on Omnicraft, a new aftermarket product line being offered by Ford to dealerships.

Auto Plaza Ford on the move

De Soto, Mo.— Joe Pettus, co-owner of Auto Plaza Ford, says he couldn’t be any more excited. “We have so much happening right now. We’re going to be opening a brand-new Quick Lane facility, remodeling our service area and showroom, as well as bringing on new product lines for our parts and service...

Vision Co-chair Ron Haugen, owner of Westside Auto Pros, said there were 500 first-time attendees at this year’s Vision.

‘Train Hard or Go Home’ — Vision Hi-Tech’s Conference Breakfast

Overland Park, Kan.—Vision’s Conference Breakfast featured a Saturday breakfast, numerous speakers, guest speaker Jon Gordon and fun facts: • 42 states represented • Seven Canadian Provinces • Attendees from St. Martin and Zimbabwe • 500 first-time attendees. ASA-Midwest President...

In his keynote address, Chris Chesney urges shops to move to a mentorship structure to attract and retain bright technicians.

Newest technology requires higher level of service-readiness

Overland Park, Kan.—With more computing power than the latest fighter jet, some of today’s vehicles more closely resemble “complex data networks with four wheels,” said Chris Chesney, senior director of customer training at Advance Auto Parts-CARQUEST Technical Institute, at the Vision Hi-Tech...

The criteria used to determine the ACDelco Top Shops include building talented teams. From left is Service Writer Chad Stackley, Technician Ryan Williamson, Technician Jeff Hyatt, Technician Steve Sampson, Owner Jeff Bates and Technician Derek Mohart.

ACDelco shop makes ‘The List’ with high-ranking customer service and strong team

Crystal City, Mo.—Jeff Bates, owner of Bates Automotive, was approached about becoming an ACDelco PSC shop in 2011 and it has paid off recently as his shop was named a runner-up in the 2017 Top Shop Competition from ACDelco. “It was a pretty good deal. They reached out and let me know that we were...

Scott Schaefer says certifications from OEMs such as Tesla give confidence to consumers and insurance companies, and also attract quality-driven technicians.

Schaefer brings Tesla on board

Crestwood, Mo.—As Tesla aficionados await delivery of the highly anticipated Model 3, which a Morgan Stanley analyst in September predicted would triple the Tesla population by the end of 2019, the OEM has added 300 additional collision repair shops to its Tesla Approved Body Shop program. In...

Jon and Trista Parmentier are owners of two new CARSTAR locations.

River Valley People & Places - March 2018

RIVER VALLEY Bill Breuer, of Breuer’s Service Inc., in St. Louis, and Jeff Bates, of Bates Automotive & Restoration Inc., in Crystal City, Mo., were both semi-finalists in ACDelco’s 2017 Top Shops. As participants in ACDelco’s Professional Service Center (PSC) program, they excelled in...

Ranken’s John Helterbrand (left) worked with Chief’s Mike Croker to place some of Chief’s latest equipment in the department, which has been a “win/win” for both parties.

Tomorrow’s technicians now have opportunity to use today’s latest equipment

St. Louis — As vehicles rapidly become more complex and require manufacturer-specific repairs, proficiency in operating the latest in equipment will be fundamental for tomorrow’s collision repair technician, said John Helterbrand, department chair of the Automotive Collision Repair program at...

Owners Mike and Linda Silva are looking forward to holding their annual spring Basic Car Maintenance Class, April 19.

Customer education ‘lifts veil’

St. Louis—What began as an automotive class for women in 1998, has evolved immensely over the last 20 years at Advanced Auto Service. This month will mark the 61st anniversary of the shop’s opening and, on April 19, the shop will celebrate the 20th year of its bi-annual Basic Car Maintenance Class...