Calens has 17 years of experience in the insurance and collision industry that will benefit him in his new role. He joins CARSTAR after serving as a consultant with collision shops to improve their operational performance and insurance relationships. He began his career in 1996 with Bristol West/Coast National Insurance as an appraiser trainee. From there, he worked as a case manager with Cigna. In 2002, he joined Nationwide Insurance as a master claims rep and was promoted to claims manager in 2004 where he was responsible for 51 On Your Side repair facilities in five states. He was recognized for the CSI performance and NPS of 90%+ for the facilities he managed. He keeps current by attending I-CAR training and he previously served as an I-CAR silver committee member.
Also joining the CARSTAR Operations team is Tya Smith, who serves in a newly created position as an Operations Coordinator. She reports to Dean Fisher and is responsible for supporting the delivery, planning and reporting needs of the EDGE Performance program. She also supports CARSTAR’s contract renewal efforts, support the legal department and oversees the Business Group administration.
Smith was recently employed Global Medical Direct in a dual-role as in Sales and Customer Service Manager. In this role, she managed a team of 28 employees in their call center and also developed training programs to support their sales growth plans. Prior work history includes contractor manager and account/sales manager at Ahlers Building Maintenance, client relations director at Fox Collision and owner/operator of Elite Glass (a glass repair and replacement company for collision stores).
“As our network of collision repair experts grows, so does our need to expand our team with well-trained, experienced collision industry professions,” said David Byers, CEO of CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts. “We’re excited to welcome these four individuals to our CARSTAR family and look forward to having them help us continue to build North America’s leader in collision repair.”
About CARSTAR
CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts is North America’s largest Multi-Shop Operator Network of independently owned collision repair facilities with more than 440 locations in 31 states and 10 Canadian provinces. CARSTAR delivers national scale, consistently high-quality vehicle repairs, repeatable outcomes and the industry’s highest customer satisfaction ratings; all repairs are backed by a national warranty and service guarantee. For more information visit www.carstar.com.
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