PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Jan. 16, 2014—John Van Alstyne, I-CAR CEO and president, announced the organization’s leading initiatives for 2014 during a speech at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) planning meeting in Palm Springs, Calif., on Thursday.

The 2014 initiatives will deliver on I-CAR’s commitment to education, knowledge and collision-repair solutions, Van Alstyne said. I-CAR will also continue to focus on its Welding Training and Certification program and the newly launched Repairability Technical Support initiative.

“Today, as the major provider of welding training to the collision repair industry, I-CAR estimates that at least two-thirds of technicians who weld lack formal welding training,” Van Alstyne said. “I-CAR has beefed up its welding programs and significantly reduced pricing to encourage repairers to more broadly invest in the training that makes perhaps the biggest difference in complete, safe and quality repairs for the ultimate benefit of the consumer. To effectively navigate the vehicle technology tsunami our industry is facing, repairers today need technicians that are trained and certified with up-to-date welding skills in order to perform the complex structural repairs that are now required.”

Van Alstyne said several major insurers, such as State Farm, and OEMs, including GM, have already committed to partnering with I-CAR in 2014 to encourage their networks to participate in the program.

Van Alstyne also provided an update on the Repairability Technical Support initiative, which launched in a beta version Sunday. This initiative launched in 2013 and is designed to provide technical repair knowledge, address gaps in repair procedures and enhance industry technical communication with OEMs.