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VOL. 3 ISSUE 8 NOVEMBER 2013
NACE 2013 Proceeds As Expected, Eyes Turn to Revitalized Show in Detroit in 2014 To no one’s surprise, the 2013 NACE exhibition was a downsized event from previous years, but the Las Vegas-venue may have been the Mike Anderson most appropriate brought his tradelaunching pad for mark mix of humor, experience, consul- what is expected to tation, and evangel- be a revitalized ism to the NACE NACE event in Dekeynote address. troit next summer. Attendance has been down for the past three years, with a slight uptick
for the 2011 show in Orlando, FL. This year’s event saw another attendance dip, which ASA Executive Director Dan Risley says was expected. There were significant successes at the 2013 show such as a popular keynote by industry veteran Mike Anderson and the MSO Symposium which has been growing in attendance. Mike Anderson kicked off the 2013 NACE Expo with a keynote speech entitled “The Future Is Not Set in Stone” at the Opening General Session/Collision Industry Forum. Anderson’s familiar audience engagement techniques were on display
as he employed humor, moving personal annecdotes, and even his Tourette’s syndrome ticks, as models and metaphors for perseverance, unity
and action in the industry. “We get caught up in how much things cost, in Parts Trader, in cycle See NACE 2013, Page 14
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This is our ASSOCIATIONS ISSUE covering local and national associations and regional events. See pp. 1, 10, 20, 32, 39, 46, 52, 58, 60, and 62.
Four-Legged Service Tech is on the Job at Penn College Aiding with PTSD, Jesse ‘Stays Calm’ and Keeps On
See Jesse and PTSD, Page 13
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Jesse James and Alfred M. Thomas, collision repair professor at Penn College
“Jesse” (his full name is Jesse James) is the service dog of Alfred M. Thomas II, associate professor of collision repair. Following a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and certification through the Veterans Administration, Thomas obtained approval to have Jesse with him at work via the Americans with Disabilities Act. The young border collie arrived on the scene last year. In a place where the restoration of automobiles is the key concentration, other forms of restoration are occurring deeper, below the surface.
Auto Body Association of Connecticut and their Ten Year Battle with The Hartford Insurance Company by Chasidy Rae Sisk
For nearly ten years, the Auto Body Association of Connecticut (ABAC) has been engaged in a legal battle with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company (the Hartford) and—though a judge and jury awarded the victory to ABAC—the fight is not yet over as the Hartford has appealed the ruling to the state’s Supreme Court. Still, Tony Ferraiolo, President of ABAC, remains optimistic, noting “this is one of the biggest things happening in the industry right now, and it will rock the country if—no, when—we win next year.”
ABAC filed a class-action lawsuit against the Hartford in 2003, claiming the insurer was manipulating labor rates across the state and using steering practices to direct customers
to shops on their direct repair program (DRP). Besides getting a discounted rate from their network of DRPs, the insurer also had their David Slossberg appraisers use the same uniform labor rate in their estimates across the state, thus pressuring independent shops to lower their rates. David Slossberg, lead attorney for ABAC in this lawsuit, noted that, as a result of this conduct across the industry, profit margins for auto body shops have decreased from 6% to less than 2%, which disregards the shops’ expenses related to training, equipment and environmental regulations. In November 2009, a Superior Court jury in Stamford ruled in favor of ABAC, awarding $14.7 million in compensatory damages to the shops represented in the lawsuit. They found that the Hartford engaged in unfair trade pracSee ABAC v Hartford, Page 4
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