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LIABRA, ABCG Meeting Focuses on OEM Recommendations, Certifications by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Jan. 15, the Long Island Auto Body Repairmen’s Association (LIABRA) and the Auto Body Craftsman’s Guild (ABCG) held their January General Meeting at Competition BMW in Smithtown, NY. More than 100 members were in attendance. Before the meeting began, attendees enjoyed a buffet dinner provided by Competition BMW and the Competition Automotive Group. After
calling the meeting to order, LIABRA Executive Director Ed Kizenberger introduced the evening’s host, Wayne Locanthi, parts director of Competition BMW. Locanthi thanked attendees and invited them to call him if they were interested in becoming a BMW-certified repair facility. Kizenberger then reviewed current events and industry news. He informed members that Nissan/Infinity had released nine new position See LIABRA, ABCG, Page 18
37 YEARS
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 9 / Issue 12 / March 2019
CCRE President Tony Lombardozzi Shares Views on NH House Bill 664 ASA Washington D.C. representative Bob Redding wrote in a ASA recently announced its support letter to the committee: “House Bill of NH House Bill 664. The 664 addresses an issue of bill states, “An insurer shall concern for consumers and reimburse a repairer for all repairers. The Seebachan v. repairs if a repairer follows John Eagle Collision Center decision reminded collision original equipment manufacturer-recommended colrepairers of the importance of having proper repair prolision repair procedures, recommendations or serv- Tony Lombardozzi cedures. The original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) ice bulletins while repairof CCRE ing a vehicle.” See NH House Bill 664, Page 10
by Chasidy Rae Sisk
2,200 Attendees Hit the City by the Bay for 2019 NADA Show
Auto Repair Professionals Create NYCARA To Represent 5 Boroughs
by Ed Attanasio
by Chasidy Rae Sisk
This year, more than 2,200 industry professionals attended the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show from Jan. 24–27 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. U.S. and international new car dealers, commercial truck dealers, automaker executives and allied industry professionals from 37 countries converged in the City by the
Toward the end of 2018, several industry professionals in New York City identified the need for a trade association dedicated to helping automotive repair businesses and professionals in the five boroughs. Board member and founding member Paul Stern Jr. explained, “For a long time, we’ve seen a need and desire for community and education in this industry, but no one has really stepped up for the five boroughs. The creation of the New York City Auto Repair Association (NYCARA) comes from a place of wanting to help auto repairers run their businesses better, and when we ran it past some of the shops in the areas, we received overwhelmingly positive responses.” While reception of NYCARA has been favorable, Stern knows that there’s a long road ahead. “Over the next few months, our
Accudraft was represented by (l to r) account specialist Stacy Defnall and business development manager Steve Boda See 2019 NADA Show, Page 26
largest focus will be to create awareness of our existence and generate interest as we strive toward our mission of empowering and educating auto repair shops to run their businesses better,” he said. “Time is a big challenge as well for many professionals, and although people are in-
terested, they’re also skeptical. The best thing we can do is prove ourselves by providing value to our members.” NYCARA held its first interest meeting on Jan. 9. Although 40 industry professionals had reserved a spot to attend, fewer than half of them actually showed up at the meeting. According to Stern, “The meeting was more lightly attended than we had anticipated, but that became See NYCARA, Page 30
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