The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) held its fourth annual Affiliate Leadership Conference on Sept. 17, bringing together collision repair association leaders from throughout the U.S.
The conference, founded by SCRS in 2006, provides the society’s state and regional affiliates a forum for increased communication between the state and national level organizations and participants.
This year, the conference included the hallmark affiliate update, where affiliate associations discuss the means that each association has taken to either overcome challenges in their market or that have led to their successes. In addition to the affiliate updates, the conference also provided insight into the activities of SCRS, both over the past year and looking forward in 2010, an update from I-CAR and a presentation on market pricing dynamics and economic contributors.
SCRS also welcomed six new attendees to the conference this year.
"I’m pleased to see SCRS’ direction, with the collision repair professional as the absolute focus in driving its initiatives," said first-time attendee and president of the U.S. Alliance of Collision Professionals (USACP), Phil Mosley. "One of the biggest things that stood out for me was how encouraging it was to see the unified efforts taking place across the nation by other associations who are equally as passionate and driven to bring positive change to this industry."
"It’s always inspiring to see our membership come together to work in partnership at an event like this," said Aaron Schulenburg, SCRS executive director. "For many of these individuals, participating in the conference required significant effort and travel to attend, and SCRS is so fortunate to be working with a group of such dedicated repairer representatives that embrace the tremendous collaborative value that can come from an event such as this conference."
"SCRS recognizes that one of the most important resources a national trade association can offer is the network of its membership and the ideas and momentum that can be built when tapping into that pool of talent," added SCRS Chairman and co-moderator of the event Barry Dorn. "We were certainly pleased to have been joined by 16 of our affiliate associations from 19 different states, and privileged to receive their feedback on areas of importance to them as a collective body."
Participants of the conference included representatives from the following industry associations:
Alliance of Automotive Service Providers, Minnesota
Auto Body & Painting Association of Hawaii
Arkansas Collision Repair Association
Automotive Parts & Services Association
Automotive Service Association of Michigan
Automotive Service Council of Kentucky
Georgia Collision Industry Association
Indiana Auto Body Association
Iowa Collision Repair Association
Montana Collision Repair Specialists
Northwest Automotive Trades Association
Oregon Collision Repair Specialists
Oklahoma Auto Body Association
Missouri/Kansas Chapter of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists
US Alliance of Collision Professionals
Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association
For information about joining SCRS as a member or as an affiliate association, call Schulenburg at (302) 423-3537 or e-mail [email protected].
