Autobody News Writer Recognized for ‘Solving the Tech Shortage’ Column Congratulations to Stacey Phillips, freelance writer at Autobody News, for receiving an award for her column, “Solving the Tech Shortage.” Phillips received a 2020 APEX Award for Publication Excellence from Communications Concepts in July. “I’m honored to have received this award,” said Phillips. “I am greatly appreciative of all the individuals I interviewed over the past year who have shared ways to hire and retain technicians for the future.” Phillips is a freelance writer for the automotive industry based in Southern California and owns Radiant Writing & Communications. As the prior assistant editor of Autobody News, Phillips has written for the publication since 2014. Her regular columns include “Best Body Shops’ Tips,” “Shop Strategies” and “Solving the Tech Shortage.” In addition, she assists the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) with marketing and communications and has co-authored two books, including “The Secrets of America’s
Greatest Body Shops.” Phillips initiated the column in January 2019 after talking to Jeff Smith, a collision repair instructor at the Northeast Arkansas Career and Technical Center, about the overwhelming shortage of technicians. “At the time, collision repair shop owners and managers faced a shared challenge: how and where to find new technicians,” said Phillips. “My intent on starting this column was to come up ways for the industry to share ideas on how to solve this problem.” Since then, Phillips has profiled a variety of individuals and organizations about the ways they are approaching the problem, including the Collision Career Institute (CCI), the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR), the March Taylor Memorial Foundation, in-prison automotive program instructors and technical schoolteachers. Her column can be found online at www.autobodynews.com.
Most Expensive States for Car Insurance in 2020 by Denny Jacob, PropertyCasualty360
In a country as large and diverse as the U.S., each state offers a range of pros and cons across a number of aspects. Whether it’s the cost of being a homeowner, the proximity to nature or their state and local tax rates, there is something for everyone. While it might not be the first factor someone might tout when talking about their state, the cost of car insurance is an important quality for many. An analysis by Insure.com found that the average cost of car insurance in 16 states is more than $100 above the national average, which came in at $1,517 this year. What state an insured lives in is a significant factor when determining the cost of car insurance, but insurers also consider gender, age, the vehicle and credit score. State-specific factors like insurance laws, claim and crime rates, and the number of uninsured drivers can influence the premium as well.
Whether you live in an expensive state or a cheap state, Insure.com says to shop at least three insurers and “always make sure you’re comparing apples to apples when it comes to coverage levels and deductibles.” And when buying a new car, it’s always wise to shop for insurance as you look for the car so the premium won’t tear through your budget. Insure.com commissioned Quadrant Information Services to calculate auto insurance rates from six large carriers (Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, Nationwide, Progressive and State Farm) in 10 ZIP codes per state. It averaged rates in each state for the cheapest-to-insure 2020 model-year versions of America’s 20 best-selling vehicles as of January and ranked each state by that average. With this in mind, explore the slideshow to see Insure.com’s list of the most expensive states for car insurance in 2020. We thank PropertyCasualty360 for reprint permission.
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