Dec. 20, 2011—The Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) on Monday announced John Palumbo of PartsChannel Inc. and Bill Brower of Liberty Mutual Insurance were elected to the organization’s board of directors.

CAPA said Palumbo has 15 years of experience in the collision repair industry. He is currently CEO of Parts Channel Inc., a distributor of aftermarket collision replacement parts. Previously, Palumbo served as chief financial officer at Keystone. His responsibilities included strategic planning, mergers, acquisitions, banking, insurance, benefits, finance, accounting, tax planning, compliance and investor relations.

Brower is a property and casualty claims management professional. He has served as assistant vice president and manager of auto physical damage for Liberty Mutual Insurance since 2004. Brower is a six-year member of CAPA’s Technical Committee, holds positions on the PCI Physical Damage Committee and is vice chairman of I-CAR’s board of directors, according to CAPA.

“CAPA is fortunate to have both of these gentlemen on the board. Their expertise and guidance will be invaluable in our effort to ensure the market has continued access to high quality alternative certified parts,” said Jack Gillis, executive director of CAPA.

In addition to Palumbo and Brower, CAPA’s board includes the following members:

• Bob Anderson, Anderson’s Automotive Services
• Bill Daly, Allstate Insurance
• Warren Farrar, State Farm Mutual Insurance
• Jackie Gillan, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
• Jack Gillis, CAPA
• Clark Plucinski, True2Form/Boyd’s Group
• Ed Salamy, K.S.I. Trading Corp.
• Ben Steinman, Ben's Auto Body
• Mike West, Southtowne Auto Rebuild

“Our board provides CAPA with a unique insight into issues facing the aftermarket parts industry, and has contributed enormously to the nation’s foremost part quality certification program,” Gillis said.