I-CAR announced that Kurt Money of Shotwell’s Auto Body in Santa Rosa, Calif., is the I-CAR Platinum/ASE Master Collision Repair & Refinish Technician of the Year.

Money has more than 42 years of experience as a collision repair technician. He was selected from hundreds of individuals who hold both I-CAR Platinum recognition and ASE Master Collision Repair and Refinish certification for demonstrating superior commitment to the industry and the importance of training.

Money received the award on Nov. 15 at the annual ASE Technician Awards banquet in San Diego.

Money has been an I-CAR live and hands-on instructor for more than 25 years and won two Instructor of the Year awards during that time. He was recognized in 1998 as 3M/ASE Collision Repair Technician of the Year. He currently is a technician at Shotwell’s Auto Body and is Platinum Recognized as a Steel Structural, Electrical and Mechanical, Refinish, Aluminum Structural and Non-Structural technician.

Money always enjoyed working on cars. He opened up the Utah Valley Trade Tech class catalog and auto body was the first thing he saw. He hasn’t looked back in more than 40 years.

“No two accidents are the same, the work is different every day,” Money said. “The cars are changing with new metals and materials and I love coming to work every day and doing the work.”

Learning has been important to Money his entire career.

“When I started, I just learned from the guy next to me. I would ask ask why things worked a certain way and couldn’t get an answer. I don’t want to do work just because I’m told that’s the way, I want to know the reason. Training and education have given me those answers. It’s what people need.”

I-CAR CEO and President John Van Alstyne added: “I-CAR is thrilled to recognize the value Mr. Money places on continuing education and technical knowledge, along with his unwavering commitment to the industry and to I-CAR. It is a testament to the quality of his work and his ability to pass knowledge and skills along to other technicians.”