COVER STORY

A Quarter- Century Career:

After 27 years of work with the automotive repair industry – which included writing more than 200 columns for AASP-MN News magazine – I want to wrap up this chapter of my life by sharing lessons I have learned during our time together. Some lessons are about the industry: You face challenges on a daily basis as you strive to keep up with changes in technology to ensure that vehicles are returned to their owners in safe condition.

Other lessons are more personal. I have observed a steady stream of shop owners emerge as leaders in the industry and as spokespeople for the Alliance. Our members’ leadership skills and business acumen are also evident in the transitions of shop ownership which have occurred on a continuous basis – sometimes transitioning to a family member, other times to a long-term employee of the shop.

It has been rewarding to watch as the next generation steps up to serve the industry, having gained the knowledge that this service pays back many times over as they work with and learn from their colleagues.

Probably the biggest take away from all these years working with AASP-MN is the necessity of affecting quality repairs in one of the most rapidly evolving business sectors on the planet. Who would have guessed 25 years ago that a shortage of computer chips would slow the production of cars and trucks as it has in recent months?

It’s incumbent on every shop to bring precision to the repair process to ensure that the vehicles you are entrusted to repair and return to the road are safe for the occupants and other people who share the road with the repaired vehicle.

This marketplace necessity has become a legal imperative as the John Eagle Collision Center case out of Texas drove home the point that repair shops are ultimately responsible for the repairs they perform. The open questions that expose repair shops to ongoing risk pertain to the standards that repair shops must maintain and how that guidance is transmitted to the repair industry. Manufacturers need to provide more specific guidance, to ensure both safe repairs and to Kevin Walli guarantee that the repair industry receives proper payment for completing repair work in accordance with manufacturers’ repair specifications. Over the years, we have found ourselves explaining the industry to an audience of policymakers who are rather clueless about how sophisticated the repair industry has become. For example, we worked to change the point of imposition of sales tax from the wholesale purchase of paint and supplies to the retail invoice prepared by the repair shops to be paid by the customer or their insurer. Previously, shops had paid the tax and had no means to recover that payment. When we accomplished that change, repair shops saw real financial benefit. This process also produced one of the most surprising and humorous exchanges between the repair industry and state agency officials in my years working in the legislative process. As AASP-MN made its case for the sales tax change, we met with key legislators and officials at the Department of Revenue. One exchange, in particular, demonstrated just how little some (or most) people understand the auto repair business. It went something like this: AASP-MN staff: “We are requesting that the point of imposition of the sales tax on paint and supplies in the automotive repair process be moved from the repair shops’ purchase at wholesale to the final retail invoice issued by the repair shop.” Department of Revenue staff: “The supplies you

Lessons learned as your lobbyist

refer to – would that be the paint brushes you use on the cars?”

AASP-MN participants: Long silence – then, “Nooooo” – followed by a diplomatic description of the repair process.

Despite this lack of awareness, repair shops have a good story to share with policymakers. You employ thousands of Minnesotans in good jobs.

AASP-MN made this point clearly when it arranged a meeting and shop tour for two leading lawmakers. During the tour, two painters were working in their respective paint booths. One of the legislators asked, “How much can a painter earn in a year?”

When the shop owner quoted six figures, the legislators were clearly impressed. Repair shops are the type of main street businesses that form the backbone of every community.

The Alliance has also been a team player, taking an appropriately supportive role in broad coalition efforts. AASP-MN did so in the case of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce initiative to reduce or eliminate the General Business Property Tax which flows to the State General Fund.

This business property tax which is paid into State coffers was enacted 20 years ago as part of a major tax reform compromise package. As you can imagine, the business community was not thrilled with this added property tax burden, and the Chamber led efforts to reduce the tax. They focused on either reducing or removing the escalator for scheduled annual upward adjustments in the tax rate or reducing the base rate for business properties.

Organizations like AASP-MN supported the Chamber’s effort and weighed in through our legislative contacts. As a result, there have been several amendments that have reduced this business property tax burden over the past decade.

AASP-MN has also played it smart in establishing and maintaining good working relationships with some of the state agencies who can have the biggest impact on our members’ businesses.

The association’s relationship with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is a good example. For the past several years, AASP-MN has maintained a positive working relationship with the agency as it has sought to update air emissions rules. We engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the agency’s business liaison staff regarding changes to rules affecting repair shops. During this process, AASPMN provided information about what takes place in a well-run repair shop. The end result was a set of rules that maintained the status quo for many shops’ air permitting requirements and a more reasonable path to compliance for other shops.

The Alliance has also maintained communications with the Department of Commerce, which has the authority to investigate and impose sanctions on insurers who violate claims practices. AASP-MN must continue to be the conduit for shops to document violations. We know it’s a challenge to assemble sufficient evidence to trigger an investigation, but it has been done, and sanctions have been imposed. Correspondingly, insurer behavior has been modified.

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the person who has kept the band together. Judell Anderson has been a steady hand in administering the Alliance. She has presided over a period of growth for the association with expanded member benefits and a stronger voice in the public policy arena. She has also helped bring to fruition the sharing of resources for scholarships to attract more young people to the repair industry as member shops find themselves among the many employers who are facing a workforce shortage.

Twenty-five years is a long time to keep a client. I am grateful for what I have learned from all of you and even more grateful for the people I met and the friendships I’ve formed working with you over these many years.