March 3, 2023–The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) has been taking steps to help promote collision students’ success, announcing a newly-appointed executive committee and helping provide tens of thousands of dollars worth of supplies to schools, according to a press release.
CREF’s new executive committee has the goal of “supporting the future of the industry through engagement with collision schools and students.” Seven industry professionals have been appointed: Chair Steve Schmidt of State Farm; Vice Chair Brenda Hogen of Parts Trader; Treasurer Stacy Bartnik of Intertek; Secretary Doug Irish of Fayetteville Technical Community College; Trustee-at-Large Ryan West of GEICO; Trustee-at-Large Mark Helvenston of IAA, Inc.; and Immediate Past Chair Tom Wolf of PPG Industries.
CREF has also partnered with Chief Automotive to provide $75,000 worth of rivet guns and subscriptions to collision schools.
The rivet guns provide access to the “latest technology being used to repair late-model vehicles,” with software subscriptions allowing students access to “the latest vehicle specifications on the market” without putting financial burdens on the school, director of product management for Chief Collision Technology, Mike Croker, noted.
CREF’s director of marketing and project management, Amber Ritter, stated that “in-kind donations are often mentioned as one of the most relevant ways to help collision programs across the U.S.”
