What does this have to do with collision repair? Quite a bit. On one level, our national obsession with sports, especially football, is a great part of the reason our nation always seems to be in so much political trouble. Most Americans tune in for major sporting events. Most don't vote. Fewer take part in the political system. Sound like a certain automotive industry to you? The one where most shops aren't members of associations and don't pursue I-CAR training or ASE certification?
This year's Super Bowl festivities for me (yeah, I tuned in as well) served as an occasion to talk to two very different people in the industry. I'll refer to them as Jen and Bill to protect their identities.
Jen is a 25 year-old single mother who has taken a second part-time job as a receptionist at a shop to help cover her college tuition. She doesn't envision a long-term career in the industry, not just yet, but she's taking every advantage she can to learn. She's signed up for I-CAR training with an eye to someday perhaps working as an estimator. She reads everything she can about the industry and has begun attending some local shop association meetings.
Oh, and she's very political. During the last presidential election, she actively campaigned for her favorite candidate, helped register voters and attended rallies. She plans to do the same this year, along with supporting some local issues.
Bill sits at the other side of the collision spectrum. He retired several years ago after spending four decades repairing cars at his shop in Northeast Ohio. So well did he do his job and tutor his employees on business operations that three eventually opened their own businesses. To show their appreciation, several years after Bill's retirement, these former workers threw him a big retirement bash.
However, Bill doesn't look back fondly on his ownership experience. When it came time to pass on his business, his children, seeing shrinking revenues and too many issues, decided to work elsewhere. With few interested buyers, he ended up selling the shop for far less than he hoped. Today Bill struggles to make ends meet and relies on a part-time job at his sons' home improvement business to pay the bills.
Unlike Jen, he was never political during his industry tenure. He attended a few association meetings, then stopped, he says, because he got tired of "hearing people complain." He rarely voted. Like many operators, he believed the only business that matters takes place in the confines of one's own shop. Bill and much of the rest of the industry is paying for that attitude now.
We talk all the time about getting involved in the future of collision work, yet many operators are content to sit on the sidelines and let others do the work.Many say they would do more but aren't content with association business and aren't sure what else they can do.
Look no further than this month's issue and Toby Chess's article on spot welding. On his own time, he sought out training and submitted an extensive, in-depth report to help others. Chess answered the call. Like many of the "heavy-lifters" in the industry, he does work like this with every opportunity. If there's one thing the collision industry offers its members, it's opportunity to contribute and make things better. There's no excuse not to.
Tim Sramcik
