NASHVILLE, April 18, 2019--A new committee led off the second day of presentations at CIC in Nashville, on Thursday.

There was also an air of youthful exuberance in the audience, due to the fact that a group of collision repair students sat in the back of the room for the day’s meeting.

Dave Luehr, founder of Elite Body Shop Solutions, is chairing a new committee called Talent Pool, to identify the challenges around recruitment and retention in the industry.

Luehr assumes the industry is unattractive to young talent because the shop owner’s values and beliefs are at often at odds with younger generations,  business owners don’t explain enough how hard work can advance a technician’s career and make them work in something greater than themselves, and the industry right now is fragmented in approaching a solution to this problem.

He also outlined possible projects going forward, including targeting social media marketing, helping shops build better work environments, raise money for schools, and formalized apprenticeship programs that are not made by the government.

During the Nashville I-CAR Committee Presentation, Kyle Medeiros, chairman, brought every committee member onto the stage as well as a student from Lincoln Tech and his instructors. The student received a check for $14,000 to cover his student loans, Medeiros said.

Toby Chess also presented six tool boxes to collision repair students. The donations are part of the Taylor March Memorial Fund.

“Let’s make a big deal about those companies and shops mentoring the next generation,” said Kyle Holt, president of S/P2.

Holt shared a goal to have a mentor/mentee competition in 2019. This would be a one-day event at a technical college and would have mentor/mentee teams compete on skills the industry has deemed necessary for an entry-level technician.