Nick Notte, former president of Sterling Autobody before its acquisition by Service King, is launching a new company — International Paintless Dent Repair.
Serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Notte is taking the next big step in the catastrophe repair industry with IPDR.
With the company headquartered in Chicago, Notte, a 30 plus-year collision industry executive, has joined forces with Chicago businesswoman and entrepreneur Valerie Hoover. Hoover, who began her career in business while working in the commodities industry, is the owner of IPDR. She will serve as the CEO, overseeing the only woman-owned business in the industry.
James LaPaglia, Executive Vice President, overseeing field operations for the company, joins Notte as another auto industry veteran. LaPaglia spent the first 28 years of his career in the P&C insurance claims industry. He then became senior vice president/GM of a company that measures customer service performance for collision repair operators. He has also owned and operated his own automotive collision repair business.
“We’ve assembled a dream team of management with extremely high qualifications,” says Hoover. “Now we’re in a position to take this underdeveloped/fragmented industry to a new level of high standards and accountability.”
IPDR operates from a vastly different model than those conventional PDR companies in existence today. IPDR engages the market exclusively through the insurance companies with a focus on controlling costs, improving cycle times and enhancing customer satisfaction, while insisting on quality repairs.
“We’re coming at this industry with a totally new model,” said Notte. “With most of the current operators, insurance providers are an afterthought. IPDR puts them at the center of our universe.”
In what is heavily regarded as a fragmented industry, IPDR is on a mission to provide high standards and accountability through every stage of the catastrophe paintless dent repair process. And for good reason: According to the National Weather Service in 2013, there were over 5,000 hail damage events across the country. That translated to more than a billion dollars at risk for insurance providers, in claim payments.
“We feel that our mission is about catastrophe relief, said Hoover. “We have great empathy for everyone whose car has been damaged. We are a customer-centric organization and will ensure that we respond immediately and professionally to all those in need.”
Community is important to IPDR. Although the company has a temporary presence in cities across the country during hail events, they are committed to leaving a legacy to the communities they serve.
“We strongly believe in giving back,” said Hoover. “ There are professionals in the community who put their lives on the line every day. We respect their dedication and it’s personally very important to me that we leave a legacy of our involvement with the community that we serve each and every time.”
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