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AASP/MA MEMBER APPLICATION
AASP-MA P.O. BOX 850210 Braintree, MA 02185 Phone: 617-574-0741 Fax: 973-235-1963 Email:admin@aaspma.org
Membership Application 2022-2023 Please complete this form and return to our office via mail, email or fax with your dues payment. Thank You!
BUSINESS INFORMATION Massachusetts Shop Registration # __________________ Total number of Staff (Techs, office, Mgrs)________ Company’s Official Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Business Physical Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Business Mailing Address (If Different): ________________________________________________________________________________ Telephone Number: (______)________ -___________ Fax: (______)________ ___________ DUES STRUCTURE. Collision Shop Annual Dues: $495 / 12 Months*
PRIMARY BUSINESS CONTACT
Name: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Email: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PLEASE ENCLOSE PAYMENT WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Check# : _______________ (IF collision shop please note your RS# on the memo line of the check) OR CC #: ______________________________________________________________________ EXP: ________/___________ CID: _________________ Billing Address: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name On Card: _____________________________________________ Signature: ____________________________________________________
YES � Please list my business as an AASP/MA member in good standing on the AASP/MA website for
consumers to consider using for the collision repairs and assistance with the claims process.
I understand this is a member benefit (_________ initials Date ___/____/2022)
Yes � Please send me information regarding the following MONEY SAVING BENEFITS: � Dental plan � Healthcare plan � Credit card processing � Grant writing/training �Google presence optimization �All five
Note: A 4 percent convenience fee will be charged for membership renewal via credit card transaction
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rate to be repeated for another decade and a half, as we have experienced since 2008? Will we allow ourselves to once again be pacified as the cost of running our businesses increases at a steady pace? Will we continue to expect our aging technicians to attempt to work on technologically advancing vehicles without proper equipment and training? Will we continue to be unable to compete with lesser industries who can afford to pay their employees far better wages for lesser knowledge and expertise? Will we continue to bear the liability while insurers wallow in record-breaking profits? I, for one, certainly hope not…at least not without a continued fight and our ongoing shouts of, “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!”
More and more collision repair shop owners have come to realize that if they are truly going to survive – and more importantly thrive – in the future, they need to set the foundation for that future today. Collision repairers understand that just like the medical profession’s practice of “co-pay,” they too must pass on the nonreimbursed portions of their repair plan costs to the vehicle owner. Just like in the medical profession, insurers will try to impose their will on the collision repairer with their standard, “We do not pay for that.” Well, someone has to! That someone can no longer be the
collision repairer! The shops who come to this realization sooner rather than later will have an advantage. They will be able to pay their technicians better and thereby attract the dwindling number of skilled technicians to their shops. They will be able to entice technicians who have left the industry to come back to do the work they love and be able to earn a decent living. The shops being properly reimbursed because of collecting a “co-pay” will be able to bring in young, eager-to-learn talent and train them to perform proper repair techniques using up-to-date equipment. These shops will be the shops where technicians want to work. These shops are where consumers will want to get their vehicles repaired because they will be receiving the best service, and they’ll understand that “the best” comes at a cost insurers are unwilling to cover. This is already happening more and more.
Not only should you continue yelling, “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!,” but you should also be taking the proactive steps to advocate for your business, your employees and your part in the future of what is a great and essential industry. You can choose to take what appears to be the easy route, “partnering” with insurers who only want to use you to control an industry so that they can continue their profiteering on the backs of hard-working individuals and unsuspecting vehicle owners…or you can take a stand.
Or you can join those who will ultimately be successful because they rely on their abilities and business savvy and they believe in themselves. You CAN be one of those who will continue to make things happen…instead of merely waiting or watching from the sidelines, hoping something happens.
YOU could be someone who will no longer have to yell, “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!” because you will be getting paid 2022 labor reimbursement rates and not 2003 rates.
We are facing issues which have the ability to take the attention away from the crisis in the collision repair industry. We have to continue to apply pressure in a sustained manner.
PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND THE COLLISION INDUSTRY
MASSACHUSETTS
AASP/MA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EVANGELOS “LUCKY” PAPAGEORG
can be reached at (617) 574-0741 or lucky@aaspma.org.
Auto Sense – Airing Soon on Public Access TV!
AASP/MA recognizes that a well-informed public is the key to many of its endeavors, so the association will soon be taking its educational programming to a whole new level by starting Auto Sense, a TV show hosted by AASP/MA Executive Director Lucky Papageorg debuting in early July.
“The TV show is going to cover everything from insurance to ADAS, from repair procedures to legislative initiatives, as we attempt to educate the motoring public,” Papageorg says. “It will provide an opportunity to do in-shop recordings and demonstrate the extent of equipment shops must invest in to help consumers understand everything we undertake to ensure the safe repair of their vehicle.”
Auto Sense will debut on Braintree’s BCAM TV in early July; however, it will also be distributed to nearly 350 additional public access stations across Massachusetts that may elect to broadcast it to their local communities as well, according to Papageorg. Contact your local station to request they add it to the programming in your area.
PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND THE COLLISION INDUSTRY
MASSACHUSETTS
[LOCAL] NEWS
The Best We’re Going to Get: ADALB Votes to Strengthen Regulation 212 CMR 2.00
After more than a year of meetings focused predominantly on reviewing the key issues raised in a 2016 letter from the Division of Insurance (DOI) regarding proposed and submitted amendments to 212 CMR 2.00, the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) seems to have finally worked out all the points of contention in the regulatory language during its May 17 meeting, though a final vote to submit those amendments to the DOI will not occur until the Board’s next meeting.
The Board revisited the final two sections of 212 CMR 2.00 which have spurred controversy between the ADALB’s automotive and insurance representatives: 2.04(1)(e) and 2.04(2).
Reading aloud, Board member Peter Smith (MAPFRE) reviewed the revisions to the temporary licensing provision identified in 212 CMR 2.04(2). Board member Bill Johnson (Pleasant Street Auto; South Hadley/ Belchertown) questioned whether the ADALB would need to convene to vote to authorize the chair to grant said temporary licensure, suggesting that the regulation be revised to grant authorization to the chair to grant temporary licenses up to 60 days, leaving veto power in the Board’s hands. A motion to approve the revision passed unanimously.
Board member Samantha Tracy (Arbella Insurance) then proceeded with the review by reading the proposed amendments to 212 CMR 2.04(1)(e). Board member Rick Starbard (Rick’s Auto Collision; Revere) expressed concern about whether insurers would agree that certain costs are associated with the repair job.
“The only way it’s not considered overhead is if the insurance company appraiser agrees that it is a cost associated with the job, and when the shop buys two parts and puts that money out, they don’t care if you can get your money back or not on that first bad part. And if they don’t agree that it’s a cost, well guess what? It’s not a cost. This doesn’t address the problem at all.”
“It gets to the point where we as shop owners have to say, ‘Fine, you pay what you want, and I’m going to bill the customer,’” Johnson interjected. “Locks are made for honest people, and if somebody’s not going to negotiate in good faith, it doesn’t matter what we put in here – they’re going to figure something out. But we as appraisers, on the insurance and collision side, need to figure it out. Otherwise, the only one who suffers is the consumer.
“This is the best we’re going to get,” he added. “We cannot legislate common sense.” AASP/MA Executive Director Lucky Papageorg agreed with Starbard’s assessment: “You are here as a Board to enforce the regulations as they are, and if the regulations are creating problems, you should be changing the regulations to clarify everything so they’re not ambiguous and so we’re not wasting time going back and forth. You’ve taken the teeth out of what was a decently written piece of regulation. It had to have the ambiguity taken out, but you’ve gutted it.” After some continued debate, the Board voted in favor of the amendments to 212 CMR 2.04(1)(e) with Starbard casting the only dissenting vote. Attorney Michael Powers was tasked with incorporating the most recent changes into the revised version of the regulation that has already been agreed upon, and the ADALB is scheduled to cast a final vote to approve the amendments at their next meeting which will be held June 21.
AASP/MA members are strongly encouraged to listen to the recording of the May 17 meeting in the Members Only section of aaspma.org for a glimpse into the inner workings of the ADALB. The original proposed revisions can be found on the May meeting agenda, available at bit.ly/ADALB0522. More detailed coverage of this meeting appears in the June issue of the Damage Report members only newsletter.
PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND THE COLLISION INDUSTRY
MASSACHUSETTS
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[LOCAL] NEWS
Racing Through the Sky: Remembering Former MABA Executive Director Chris Muise
Caring. Dedicated. Energetic. Passionate.
Auto body veterans repeated these adjectives many times as they reflected on the legacy and impact left on the industry by Chris Muise, former executive director of the Massachusetts Auto Body Association (MABA), who passed away on January 1.
“Chris was a wonderful guy who really believed in the association and the industry,” Fred DiCesare (Atlas Auto Body; Revere) recalled. “His job was to meet members and ignite them, and that’s exactly what Chris did. He fought for the little guy, and he always stood up for what he believed in. That means a lot, and we all respected him for that.”
Rick Starbard (Rick’s Auto Collision; Revere) first met Muise in the 1980s when they met through the association.
“He had a background in the industry and a real passion for cars, and when he came on as the executive director of MABA, he just started visiting shops in different parts of the state and connecting us all. He worked hard to get shops on the same page to come together, to learn together and to stop competing with each other. He taught us that we were ‘colleagues, not competitors.’ Our industry was the strongest I’ve ever seen, and that was due to Chris and his passion.”
Early in life, Muise worked in his older brother Dave’s shops before studying business management, but his passion for everything automotive led him right back to the shop.
“Mechanics weren’t his forte, but Chris was a great salesman who was good with people, so he ran my office for a while,” praised Dave Muise (Dave’s Auto Body; Woburn). “After working for me, he found his niche with MABA and got involved with a lot of the shops. A natural politician, he could talk the socks off anybody, and that’s what made him good at what he did. It was what he was meant to do.”
Inspiring others was another of his strengths. AASP/MA Executive Director Lucky Papageorg first met Muise while managing a dealership in Quincy.
“He came into the shop and started talking to me about the association. At the time, I knew nothing because I was so new in the industry, but he roped me into convincing the dealership to join. His energy and care for the industry were contagious. I hope I’m making him proud because I wouldn’t be in this role if it wasn’t for him. He taught me the importance of believing in what you’re doing and putting everything you have into it. I owe him a lot.”
“Chris definitely left his mark on the auto body industry,” DiCesare emphasized. “Our industry’s issues have reached crisis level, and it’s all coming to a head now, but things are finally changing. Chris laid that groundwork years ago, and he deserves some of the credit. It took a long time to get here, but his actions were not in vain.”
“He paid attention and knew what he was talking about because he read all the articles in all the magazines; he researched this industry constantly,” the elder Muise added. “Chris knew what he was talking about, and when I attended trade shows and meetings with him, I enjoyed watching how people listened to him. He was my little brother, and I miss him every day.”
Muise’s passion for the automotive industry was only surpassed by his dedication to his family: Bonnie, his wife of 39 years, and their five sons.
“My husband spent a lot of time at home with our kids,” she recalled. “He was a strict father, but he was a good father. He stayed involved with their sports teams when they were younger, and all the boys learned how to work on cars. Our 20-year-old son constantly tells me, ‘I can fix this; Dad showed me how.’ It’s amazing how much time he spent with them and how much he taught them.”
Once the Muises’ eldest son grew up, the couple added to their family through adoption, and shortly after adopting their
Courtesy of Bonnie Muise
third child (their fourth son overall), Mrs. Muise fondly remembers receiving a call at work:
Muise’s love for children expanded beyond his own household as well. One year, the Muises built a float for a Boy Scout parade, but that’s not his wife’s favorite memory.
“Before we had kids, he used to dress up as Santa and visit the children at the hospital where I worked,” she reminisced. “One year, a little girl in the ICU had her kidneys out and was put on a respirator because she wasn’t doing well. She woke up after the new year and asked if she missed Christmas; she wanted to see Santa, so Chris got dressed up again and visited her. He always had a soft spot for kids.”
Through his friendship with Dave Muise, Rawson first met Chris when they were little more than kids themselves.
“Chris was the typical pain-in-the-butt little brother who wanted to hang with the big boys, but he was an all-around nice guy who would do anything for anyone. He loved his family, and he loved life. He was also goofy and clumsy. Chris was the type to fall into a bucket of roses and come out smelling like manure,” Rawson chuckled as he recalled the time a teenage Muise fell and gashed his arm on a quarter panel.
Given his passion for the automotive industry, it’s not surprising that Muise was an avid fan – and participant – at the local dragway. In fact, he took his wife to the New England Dragway on one of their first dates!
Muise spent much of his later years building and racing drag cars.
“Racing was a dream of his, and after he retired, he was so happy when he finally got a stock car of his own about four years ago,” Rawson mused. “Chris took an old car and brought it back to life. His son, TJ, took on the role of crew chief, and they really enjoyed racing together. The guys at the track gave him advice to cut his times, so he was becoming pretty well-known and successful at the dragway. Chris was living the best part of his life.”
On July 31, the Orientals Hot Rod Club will honor Muise with a memorial event at the New England Dragway.
PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND THE COLLISION INDUSTRY
MASSACHUSETTS
