DEG, AkzoNobel reward three repairers who made a difference

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).