AkzoNobel’s National Performance Titanium
Group made a $1,000 donation in 2011 to the
Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG) to support a
contest that rewards three repairers who
submitted inquiries to the DEG that resulted in
a positive response.
The three winners are:
1. Matt Hurta of Westmont Bodywerks in
Westmont, Illinois - $500
2. Brady Jansen of World Toyota in Atlanta, GA
- $300
3. Mike Ferrucci of Ray’s Carstar Autobody in
Bristol, Connecticut - $200
The contest was open to the entire collision
industry and the three individuals above
demonstrated a passion to help the collision
industry by correcting issues or concerns
within the estimating systems’
databases.
With the support of the
Titanium Group, the DEG was able to give back
to three individuals who took
time out of their busy schedule to spend a few
minutes to submit DEG inquiries. “I would like
to thank everyone in the Titanium Group for
making this contest possible”, said Arthur
Harris the administrator for the DEG.
This is the first contest the DEG has done and
the goal was to
increase the awareness of the DEG and to give
back to three individuals who submitted the
most inquiries.
Currently the DEG
processes more than 1,000 inquiries a year, but since
January 1, 2012 the DEG has processed 137
inquiries, a 178 percent increase over the same time
in 2011.
“To say I was excited to call the winners is an
understatement” said Harris. The DEG called the
owner or manager of the shop before speaking
with the winners and explained what their
employee had accomplished but also to thank
them for dedicating the time to the DEG. The
first call was to Westmont Bodywerks in
Westmont Ill., with the owner Rodney. He was
excited to hear Matt had won the contest and
the $500 prize. Rodney said he
is a passionate DEG supporter and recognizes
the effort that the DEG puts into helping the collision repair industry. He said that he will pay Matt
from his own pocket and donate the prize of
$500 back to the DEG.
Harris said the DEG looks forward to more creative and
innovative ideas in 2012 with the help of the
Titanium group or possibly other organizations.
Along with the contest, the Titanium group also
donated an additional $2,000 to support the DEG
and the March Taylor Education Foundation.
The Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG) is an
initiative that was developed to help improve
the quality and accuracy of collision repair
estimates, through proactive feedback from the
collision repair industry and other "end users"
to the Information Providers (IPs) that supply
the databases for the various estimating
products. The DEG is created, equally funded
and maintained by the Automotive Service
Association (ASA), the Alliance of Automotive
Service Providers (AASP) and the Society of
Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS).
