“There’s something for everyone and there’s diversity in the class, so everyone can get something out of the classes,” said Crosby, who owns Crosby Automotive in Elkhorn, Wis. “And I always believe I’m put in a spot for a reason. Currently, we are rewriting our accounting program, and (Financial Best Practices by Mike Anderson of Collision Advice) was a great class.”

Classes covered financial topics, customer service, advanced vehicle technology, electrical and scope techniques, diagnostics, estimating and 

welding. Industry-leading instructors led two sessions of classes following Anderson’s keynote address. Attendees also were invited to tour the Fox Valley Transportation Center.

“Fox Valley Technical College provided us a fantastic location for our second Commitment to Training Event,” said Pete Meier, director of training

for the Commitment to Training. “Our attendees had great opportunities to learn more about the processes they need to be able to use in the shop today to solve a variety of problems, and even were able to gain hands-on experience.”

That hands-on experience really shone in Aluminum and Attachment Welding, taught by Fox Valley Instructor Jerry Goodson, which provided attendees lucky enough to reserve a spot in the small class the chance to learn new techniques and sharpen their welding skills.

“The class was mostly hands-on, which is what I loved,” said Rafael Godinez, a collision technician from Chicago. “I came today because I have to get better at what I do.”

Helping techs like Godinez is the goal of the Commitment to Training, which is hosting three no-cost training events around the Midwest this year. The third event will be Nov. 19, at Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill., while the first event was at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., in May.

Several Fox Valley attendees also attended the event in Ann Arbor and say they plan to attend the November event as well. Mike Felicioni, owner of Great Lakes Auto Body in Nunica, Mich., made the trip to his second

Commitment to Training event because he recognized the value in getting training from top-educators. “I came because getting the new technology on vehicles, you have to get all of the information you can. And if it’s free, even better,” he said.

Along with Anderson, Meier and Goodson, the slate of instructors included G. Jerry Truglia of TST, Greg Marchand of CARQUEST Technical Institute, Mel Schampers of Fox Valley and Jason Bartanen of I-CAR. With each three-hour session they taught, students learned hands-on experiences, practical applications and went home with books full of examples they can work to improve upon.“The stuff in the book – I can go back and play around and do hands-on work. Now I’ll have stuff to train myself,” said Chris Meyer, a technician at Crosby Automotive.

That was great for Meyer’s employer, Crosby, to hear. That reiterated his feeling that attending the Commitment to Training event was the right decision.

“I was going through the motions from 2009 until really about four months ago. I said I need to get excited about this or put the key in the door and leave,” Crosby said. With that well-timed email, Crosby and his crew have more resources in place to improve their business, their service and their stake in the community.

For more information about the Commitment to Training and its Nov. 19 event at Joliet Junior College, click here.

The Commitment to Training is made possible by support from manufacturer sponsors Carquest Technical Institute, Delphi, Abaris Training, Mitchell 1, PPG, Polyvance, Pico Technology, Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket, Mitchell International, Motor Age Training, Axalta, Garmat USA and GFS.