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Southeast Collision Associations Team Up for Inaugural Southeast Collision Conference The Carolinas Collision Association, in partnership with the Tennessee and Gulf States collision associations, are holding the first Southeast Collision Conference in Richburg, SC, at the Gateway Conference Center. The conference starts at 8 a.m. Feb. 3 and goes through Feb. 5. Attendees will enjoy workshops including Assured Performance Network, presented by Mike Anderson, as well as featured speakers such as Erica Eversman, David Luehr and Mark Olson. There are more than $1,000 in prizes for the winning attendees that
participate in diverse skills challenges, judged by special guests Collision Hub and other industry professionals. This educational event will feature Open Mic with industry leaders, live demonstrations and training classes for every skill level. The John Eagle vehicle will be onsite with the gracious sponsorship of Intrepid Direct, and attendees will have the opportunity to network with diverse aspects of the collision industry. The Southeast Collision Associations are invested members of the collision industry and created this See Collision Conference, Page 6
Tesla Makes it Official—Texas Now Truly New HQ by Simon Alvarez, Teslarati
A recent Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Dec. 1 revealed Tesla has now made its headquarters’ move to Texas official. As per the filing, dated Dec. 1, the company’s headquarters is now located at Gigafactory Texas. “On Dec. 1, 2021, Tesla, Inc. relocated its corporate headquarters to Gigafactory Texas at 13101 Harold Green Road, Austin, Texas 78725,” Tesla officials noted in the filing. The statement clarifies speculations about the location of Tesla’s
Texas headquarters. The company previously operated a separate HQ in California at 3500 Deer Creek Road in Palo Alto, about 23.5 miles away from the Fremont Factory. Looking at Tesla’s SEC filing, it appears Gigafactory Texas would be serving multiple roles for the company. Apart from being the location where key vehicles such as the Model Y and the Cybertruck will be produced, the facility will also host Tesla’s headquarters. Speculations suggest a 4680 production and recycling plant may be built in the Giga Texas complex as well. See Tesla Makes it Official, Page 8
Vol. 12 / Issue 11 / January 2022
High Inflation Causing Virginia Businesses to Struggle by Tyler Arnold, The Center Square
After facing economic hardships from pandemic-era restrictions and struggling to find workers because of the subsequent labor shortage, Virginia businesses are now facing another problem—inflation. Inflation rates have risen in recent months, surging to 4.2% in July and up to 6.2% in October. Inflation is an increase in prices for goods and services and a reduced value in the country’s money, which means every dollar is progressively worth less than it was the previous month.
High inflation is caused by a variety of factors, including supply shortages, high government spending and the Federal Reserve increasing the money supply. Current inflation rates are the highest they’ve been since the 1990s, causing businesses and consumers to make tough decisions on how they will spend their money amid soaring prices. Tony Stafford, founder of local northern Virginia chain Ford’s Fish Shack, told The Center Square everyday items he never had issues See High Inflation, Page 8
Collision Repair Industry Thought Leaders Share Innovative Ideas During IDEAS Collide Showcase rattle the status quo,” added SCRS Chairman Bruce Halcro. “I think Thought leaders from across the the lineup of contributors this year collision repair industry had the op- was poised to do just that and I perportunity to share innovative ideas at sonally find this to be one of the the IDEAS Collide Showcase held most ambitious sessions that breaks during the 2021 SEMA Show. out of what we traditionally expect The event was first introduced from industry education.” at the 2018 show by the Society of Information about the SEMA Collision Repair SpecialGarage Detroit was shared by Ben Kaminsky, general ists (SCRS) as part of its manager. Repairer Driven Education Kaminsky said the goal (RDE) series. of SEMA Garage Detroit is This year, eight speakers were given 10 minutes to help SEMA members and each to talk about creative partners develop new prodways to help the industry Ben Kaminsky, gen- ucts, train and understand evolve. eral manager, SEMA what they need to succeed Garage Detroit “The ideas that we’re in their businesses. exploring really traverse a The 45,000-square foot lot of different business models and facility offers the capability to cona lot of different topics,” said Aaron duct emissions and horsepower testSchulenburg, executive director of ing. A large install center is being set SCRS. “Some of them will be about up for influencer videos and instruchow we approach the industry and tion manuals. some of them will be very specific One of the highlights of the solutions to specific challenges.” multi-million dollar project is the “We’ve always championed inclusion of an advanced driver asSee IDEAS Collide Showcase, Page 22 that the topics in this session should by Stacey Phillips
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