Oct. 11, 2010, LAS VEGAS—Training and educational opportunities have played a strong role in the success of the NACE Expo over the last 28 years, and will continue to do so, Ron Pyle, president of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), said during the opening general session of NACE on Monday.
In addressing the controversial decision to separate NACE from the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show this year, Pyle said NACE wants to continue to focus on the collision repair industry.
“We are committed to keep in mind those that we serve,” he said. This is the first year since 2003 that NACE will be a stand-alone event, leaving many repairers, vendors, and others associated with collision repair industry to either attend two Las Vegas trade shows within a three-week period, or choose between the two.
SEMA will be held in Las Vegas Nov. 2-5, in three weeks.
Pyle adds that it’s important that the industry continues to support NACE because of the financial support it generates for the industry at large. NACE has supported many worthwhile efforts, Pyle says, like the I-CAR Education Foundation, Automotive Mangement Institue (AMI), ASE and the National Automotive Technician Education Foundation (NATEF).
Pyle noted that NACE has delivered 83,534 hours of training education to 47,764 students since 2004, the year it decided to co-locate with SEMA.
“This is a very important time in this industry; these are tough times for everybody,” Pyle says. “The show will go on.”
