3 minute read
Collision Engineering Program Gets Grant �������
to help make Christmas a little easier—all courtesy of G&C Auto Body and the Crozat Foundation.
NABC Recycled Rides is a unique program in which businesses representing all facets of the collision repair industry team up to repair and donate vehicles to individuals and families in need of reliable transportation. Since the inception of the NABC Recycled Rides program in 2007, members of the NABC have donated more than 2,750 vehicles valued at more than $38 million.
The late Gene Crozat started the Crozat Family Foundation in 2004 and it’s still going strong. He used to like to say, “It is our responsibility to help our fellow men.”
It started as a “Car-A-Month Giveaway” on various local radio stations and has grown into a foundation that provides support to the individuals and families they encounter when they meet through the company’s various car giveaways, according to the foundation’s website.
There have been a few setbacks for the Crozat family since they lost their patriarch, but the business is still growing. Since Gene’s passing, the Crozat family has lost seven of their homes, which burned to the ground in two separate fires, including the house they all grew up in.
One thing Gene taught his four children—Shawn, Josh, Jamie and Patrick—and his beloved granddaughter, Maddy, is to make helping people a priority. Crozat took philanthropy to the next level, giving people cars, cash and even jobs at one of his shops in some instances.
The company has given away approximately 200 cars since it started the “Car-A-Month Giveaway” nearly two decades ago.
“We hope to help the recipients get back on the road of life, giving a reliable ride and additional support to those who have fallen upon misfortune or endured catastrophic, unforeseen events,” Gene Crozat said when he established the program. “We strive to help create success where failure may have seemed inevitable.”
The Collision Engineering Program has received a $700,000 grant from ECMC Foundation to support the growth and expansion of the industry-leading program’s efforts. With foundational support provided by the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, the program is designed to attract and develop entry-level talent to fill essential roles within the collision repair industry and enhance retention and advancement.With nearly 100,000 new entrant collision technicians needed between 2021 and 2025, according to the TechForce Foundation, the Collision Engineering Program addresses the ongoing technician shortage and skills gap.
The program replicates Ranken Technical College’s unique two-year apprenticeship model at schools across the U.S., preparing students for success by treating them as professionals from day one. Students gain real-world education working alongside industry experts while also earning their associate degree.
Source: Enterprise Holdings Stogdell has noticed since the pandemic is parts availability.
“That’s really been a struggle for shops, to get parts in a timely manner because everything is on national backorder,” he said. “The problem is that you drive by a shop and there are a lot of cars but when you look closely, more than three quarters of the vehicles are torn down waiting on parts.”
Another big challenge is the technician shortage. Stogdell said Island Concepts is encouraging mentoring programs in the shops they work with to help address this.
“You don’t need an A tech to work with an entry-level kid,” he said. “You want a good solid B technician so he or she can start the migration where he becomes the A tech, the guy he seasoned is the B tech and then you bring up the next tech. If we can get those kind of establishments going on in a shop, then the shop becomes viable in itself.”
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