The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP/NJ) inducted Jerry McNee (Ultimate Collision Repair; Edison, New Jersey) into the association’s Hall of Fame during its recent Annual Meeting, according to a news release.
A longtime active member of the association, McNee served three terms as president from 2017 to 2023. The immediate past president currently serves as Collision Chairman of AASP/NJ.
“There is not a guy out there who is more passionate about this industry than Jerry,” AASP/NJ President Ken Miller said during the Annual Meeting. Miller noted Jerry’s commitment to the industry which includes national-level outreach and his willingness to help others.
“I was honestly flattered,” McNee said. “I was just happy to see what was happening in the industry,” he says of the early days of working with the Board. “I really didn’t think I had anything to add, but I guess others felt I offered something that would benefit the members and the association. I’m grateful someone somewhere thought enough of me to think ‘we need a guy like this on the Board.’ I’m happy to help out in any way shape or form that I can or to offer any suggestion I may have based on my own personal experience to help the industry overall.”
Being involved at the board level helped McNee see the challenges that exist out there. He strongly believes a lack of knowledge is the problem, and that’s why he is so focused on education. “My goal has always been to help educate the industry. I know what shops need. I am a shop owner; I have been living, eating and breathing this stuff my whole life.
“We’ve all heard ‘you’re the only one,’ but I know I’m not the only one,” he said about the common pushback from insurers. “I don’t make the repair procedures. I’m not an engineer, so who am I to question what the OEM says needs to be done? If eight out of 10 shops are not doing things properly because they are uneducated and don’t understand that proper repairs need to be done, why should those two shops doing things correctly be treated and looked at as the ‘big bad wolf?’ That is a problem.”
