The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) announced that it once again supported the 2019 SkillsUSA State Conference collision repair competition held on April 13 at the Somerset County Vocational and Technical School in Bridgewater, N.J.
Students competed throughout the day in plastic repair, estimating and structure, welding and sheet metal. Jerry McNee president of AASP/NJ and owner of Ultimate Collision Repair in Edison, N.J., spent the morning as a volunteer judge and was pleased to see some upper-level talent among the students.
“It’s good that we can give back to the industry, especially the young up-and-coming talent,” said McNee. “I’m glad we can donate to the cause, the winner and SkillsUSA. We all need talent in this industry, and this is one avenue where we can start.”
The event was made possible thanks to many sponsors including AASP/NJ, Auto Body Distributing Co., Inc., Bridgewater Collision Repair (Bridgewater), Britland Autobody (Greenbrook), Central Paint (Trenton), J&E Auto Body (Clark) and Ultimate Collision Repair (Edison).
Congratulations goes to Anibal Sierra (Passaic County Technical Institute), who finished in first place. Matt Brandner (Hunterdon County Polytech) finished second, and Nicholas Donnadio (Somerset County Vocational and Technical School) took third place.
Sierra, who took home a fully stocked toolbox, will move on to compete at the 55th Annual National Leadership and Skills Conference in June in Louisville, Ky.
In addition to McNee, the following volunteered their time as judges to support the SkillsUSA competition: Chuy Barrera (Johnny’s Auto Body), Glenn Morello (Bridgewater Collision), Pete Ritter (Ritter Full Service), Berrs Rocha (Bridgewater Collision) and Tyler Tallamy (Port Murray Auto Sales, Auto Body & Classic Restoration). Anthony Thompson served as donation coordinator and, for the second year in a row, Charity Ritter (Bridgewater Collision) served as event coordinator.
For more information on AASP/NJ, visit aaspnj.org.
