| Brian Blouch of Brandywine Coach Works and Jim Lamb, AkzoNobel Business Services Manager North America. Brandywine Coach Works was named Business of the Year at the recent Acoat Selected North American Performance Group meeting. |
Norcross, Georgia — October 8, 2014 — More than 200 members of AkzoNobel’s Acoat Selected North American Perfomance Group (NAPG) gathered in Washington, DC, September 17-19, at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Pentagon City, for their annual summer gathering.
The NAPG bi-annual meetings are held each winter and summer and are one of the longest running business services programs found within the collision repair today. The first gathering occured in 1993. The meetings have a strong reputation for providing industry-leading information and tools that enable member businesses to build sustainable futures.
This was again evidenced in the wealth of topics presented throughout the meeting, in addition to the traditional performance group format:
• Engaging the Digital Consumer (Marketing)
• Principles of Downdraft Technology (Technical / Facilities / Finance)
• “Your Business†2.0 – A Guide to Succession Planning (Operations / Finance)
• Impact of Technology on Future Vehicles (Technical / Sustainability)
• Is Your Way of Working, Working? (HR / Leadership)
• Super Vision, not Supervision! (HR / Leadership)
• The Impact of Aluminum Repair on Facility Design and Equipment (Technicl / Facility / Production)
• Mobile Estimating Technology by Mitchell (IT / Sales)
• OSHA Awareness by GMG EnviroSafe (HS&E)
In addition to the educational opportunities, Acoat Selected members, distributors and guests, attended Performance Group meetings with like-minded colleagues to exchange ideas, benchmark financial performance, discuss challenges and solutions, discover new processes, and celebrate successes.
A highlight of the summer meeting was the group team building “Capital Quest†scavenger hunt exercise, as well as the annual Awards presentation.
2014 Award recipients included:
Business of the Year
Brandywine Coach Works, Pennyslvania (Three locations)
Action Award
Collision Damage Experts (10 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan)
Pride Award
Pride Auto Body (Seven locations in Southern California)
Growth Award – Top Five Above the Median
Britland Autobody – Green Brook Township, New Jersey
Island Fender – Honolulu, Hawaii
Country Hills Toyota – Calgary, Canada
Collision Damage Experts – Chicago, Illinois
Westmont Body Werks – Westmont, Illinois
Growth Award – Top Five Below the Median
Collision Damage Experts – Lansing, Illinois
Collision Damage Experts – Lynwood, Illinois
Collision Damage Experts – Crown Point, Indiana
International Autocrafters – Lake Elsinore, California
Moody’s Collision Center – Lewiston, Maine
“For more than 20 years our members have looked forward to coming to these bi-annual meetings to see old colleagues and meet new ones, grapple with issues facing the collision repair industry, and work together in finding solutions,†says Barry Rinehart, AkzoNobel Commercial Services Leader North America. “The camaraderie is extraordinary and each member comes away with a fresh infusion of new ideas and tools for strengthening their businesses. We strongly encourage all of our customers to take advantage of this valuable resource.â€
For more information about the AkzoNobel Acoat Selected member program, contact Rick Rifer at richard.fifer@akzonobel.com.
