A conversation with Skip Potter

Sept. 21, 2017
William “Skip” Potter, who recenlty retires as executive director of the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) spoke with Motor Age about his career and the industry.

William “Skip” Potter, executive director of the National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) since 2012, is a long-time industry veteran who has worked for more than 45 years in parts distribution, service, and in not-for-profit organizations. Earlier this year he announced he was retiring from NASTF.

Skip Potter

Prior to taking his position at NASTF, Potter was executive director and CEO of the Chesapeake Automotive Business Association and CEO of the Automotive Aftermarket Employee Federal Credit Union. He is also a past vice president of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, and worked in various capacities for ACW Automotive Warehouse, Champ Auto Machine, and Potomac Automotive Warehouse. He was also the host of a syndicated radio show in the 1970s and 1980s called “Virginia Race Line,” and public relations director at the Old Dominion Speedway.

NASTF provides access to OEM scanning and repair resources to independent shops. Board member Donny Seyfer will serve as interim executive director while the organization looks for a new candidate to fill the position.

Potter spoke to Motor Age about his work at NASTF.

In your five years at NASTF, what do you consider your biggest accomplishments?
When I first got the job in 2012, I asked the board what they saw as their top priorities, and one of the main priorities was that they needed to be more well known. NASTF had been around since 2000, and some of the research done indicated that there was a huge void in awareness of NASFT and as a result, lack of awareness of OEM service information websites. One of the reasons the OEMs created NASTF in the beginning was to help reach out to independent technicians to make them aware of those service information resources.

When I got the first collection of e-mail addresses of supporters of NASTF and consolidated it, there were 1,100 addresses. The last time I looked in August, that number was up over 14,000.

So I think that’s probably the number one accomplishment over that period of time.

The committees are also very active, and that was another priority when I joined. There were five existing committees, and I created the education committee. Most of them did not have defined projects to keep them as busy as the board wanted them to be. I was able to get the committees to meet on a more frequent schedule, and we got more volunteers. The role of the volunteers increased probably six-fold over my five years.

Moving forward, what do you think that NASTF will be focusing on?
Well, we’d already started wheels turning on the secure data release model, which is the software the OEMs use to sell check the NASTF vehicle security registry database. That project has been undergoing intense scrutiny and redesign to make sure its secure and ensure that technicians in it are not able to abuse their rights to purchase those codes.

They are very close now to implementing it and have been upgrading the processes, and are getting ready to upgrade the computer services that back up the processes. It will be much more efficient. Internally there are going to be some expenses on one side, but cost savings on the other.

How do you think NASTF can help the aftermarket improve?
NASTF is in a unique positon because they have a very narrow mission that defines the relationship between the OEM and the independent technician. There are other organizations like ETI [Equipment and Tool Institute] that have relationships between tool companies and the OEM engineering staff that build tools. But NASTF is the only that connects the technician to the OEM.

Because that role is so narrowly defined, NASTF doesn’t get involved in all the other marketing opportunities involved in parts or aftermarket tooling. They can stay focused on promoting the OEM resources to the independent and help them navigate those resources.

Any other parting thoughts?
The education committee at NASTF is involved in a project called “Building a Road to GREAT Technicians.” There are challenges around education, and the board recognized that this is not just an aftermarket problem, but it involves the OEMs and there is something we can do together to help solve the issue of building a career for technicians in our industry.

There’s a process now of better defining what the project really is, but the goal is to recognize that the old job of the mechanic has long been gone. With the evolution of technology and big changes that are quickly coming regarding alternative fuels and the migration away from, or evolution of, the internal combustion engine, the needs of the shop will change dramatically.

How do you prepare for that? How do you fix the education system? How do you fix the professionalism of the independent shop so they can compete and be better prepared to keep the best, technically competent people on their staff and not lose them to other industries? There is a lot of work to be done, and NASTF is well positioned because it can help coordinate solutions to each element of those problems that contribute to those challenges.

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