Those who knew March Taylor will remember exactly where and when they found out that one of the true leaders of the industry was no longer with us.
What do we really know about the people who impact our lives every day? How many of us are involved enough in community programs, parent-teacher groups or business associations to understand why certain changes take place where we live and work? Who's overseeing the paving project down the street and how did that project get approved, while another street falls apart? Why exactly am I paying this new business tax? Why did the labor times change in my shop's estimating system, or why is this procedure included now, when before it wasn't?Those later questions related to estimating system changes are certainly ones you have encountered over the years. What you may not know is one shop owner had a lot to do with those changes, because he cared enough about you and the industry to make it his own mission to challenge database information.
March Taylor was perhaps one of the country's brightest and best shop owners. March died of a heart attack while scuba diving off the coast of Hawaii. He owned Auto Body Hawaii in Kailua-Kona and was completely devoted to the craft of properly running a collision repair shop.
It's not overstating March's impact to liken the history of his passing with such questions as, "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?" or "Where were you when the World Trade Center towers fell in New York City?" Anyone old enough to remember those days recalls them vividly. Those who knew March will remember exactly where and when they found out that one of the true leaders of the industry was no longer with us. For me, I'll remember the fact March e-mailed me on a Saturday, the day before he died. He reviewed this month's Metal Shop feature on sectioning just hours before his passing. It's his last editorial contribution to ABRN, if not the industry.
Most of the people reading this never met March because most of you don't attend industry events such as NACE, Collision Industry Conference (CIC) and meetings of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS). Nevertheless, all of you have benefitted from March's passion.
"March has touched every collision repairer in the country and they don't even know it," recalls his long-time friend and ABRN contributor Toby Chess. "He was tenacious about the databases and was always going after them. He had an army that fed him information to give the three database providers."
Chuck Sulkala, executive director of the National Auto Body Council, agreed that few shop owners truly understood March's impact. "He was the conscience of the repair industry when it came to data providers. The providers had a special appreciation of what he wrote because they knew the man knew his stuff and had worked through the problem. Respect begot respect."
It would be easy for me to use this as a way to plea for your involvement in industry associations and events, but I'm not going to do that. What I am going to ask is that you evaluate your place in the collision repair market. And in the next month find a way to help one other shop owner, or one other person affiliated with the collision repair community. Afterall, this is a community.
Out of respect for the industry and the people like March who work behind the scenes to make your business better, it's time some of you give back to the community in which you make a living.
Michael Willins
