by Chasidy Rae Sisk

At 6:30PM on November 18, theAuto Body Association of Connecti-cut (ABAC) held a member meetingat the Chowder Pot IV in Hartford.During the meeting, Ron Perrettapresented several updates on the col-lision repair industry and discussedcommon trends within the industry.According to Tony Ferraiolo, Presi-dent of ABAC, “the event went great.Our membership wants educationalcontent, and we are providing it atevery meeting.”

Ferraiolo began the meeting bywelcoming attendees and thankingthe evening’s sponsors which wereBald Hill Dodge – Chrysler – Jeep &Kia, Albert Kemperle Inc., EnterpriseRent-A-Car, and Midstate Insuranceand Financial Services. Ferraiolo alsoexpressed gratitude for the support ofthe ABAC News Supporting Adver-tisers and Corporate Sponsors beforeannouncing ABAC’s new memberswhich are as follows: Premiere Sub-aru – Volvo in Watertown, BMW ofWatertown, Woodbury Chevrolet,United Auto Parts in Colchester, Rte25 Auto Collision in Monroe, GilletteAuto Body of New Haven, andWallingford’s Barberino’s Nissan.

The meeting’s first guest speakerwas Jay Forgione, Financial Profes-sor for Midstate Insurance and Finan-cial Services, who was joined byDirector of Sales, Toni Litrenta. Thepair explained that their primary ob-jective is to help independent businessowners, such as the shop owners in at-tendance, achieve financial freedom ina complex and constantly changingworld by designing strategies to help

them achieve what is most importantto them. Forgione can be reached at860-678-2933 or via email:JForgione@financialguide.com

Next, Gerard Carbonaro of Se-curity First Insurance discussed thenew rules for 2015 which concern au-tomotive service businesses, includ-ing how those new rules will impactthe designation of technicians in boththe collision repair and mechanicalindustries.

Chuck Sulkala of the NationalAuto Body Council (NABC) was alsopresent at ABAC’s meeting to presentNABC’s Award of Distinction to oneof Albert Kemperle’s employees inrecognition of his successful efforts tosave an accident victim. Mike Startzwas honored for his selfless and heroicaction of rescuing a young woman andher two small children from a burningcar earlier in 2014. Sulkala also dis-cussed NABC’s recently introducedprogram, “Texting and Driving: It CanWait,” and distributed window clingsto attendees in support of this initia-tive.

Next, Ferraiolo introduced thefeatured speaker of the evening, RonPerretta. With over 29 years of expe-rience in the collision repair industry,Perretta has been a certified MVPBusiness Development Instructorsince 1997, and he also holds an MVPGreen Belt Certification for Through-put Performance Solutions. As theowner of two collision repair facilitiesin Central PA, Perretta is active inlocal trade associations and holdsmany trade certifications and accredi-tations.

At the beginning of his presenta-tion, Perretta stated, “I’ve been in

business for 35 years. My locationswere built around ‘lean’ processes.Here’s what’s interesting about leanprocesses in our businesses today; it’snot working. People still aren’t lean.The touch times and cycle times in ourindustry have actually gotten worse.There’s a lot of people out there thattalk lean but aren’t lean. And some ofthe reasons that I think that it’s likethat is that it’s too complicated. So Iwant to take you through my process.Use what you can, or don’t use anyanything at all. The only thing that Iknow is the body shop business. Istarted when I was 19 years old. Allwe’ve ever done is body shop stuff soI’ve honed these processes very well.”

Continuing his presentation, Per-retta provided details about hisprocesses as well as facts to supporttheir effectiveness. Anyone with ques-tions is invited to contact him viaemail at RonPerretta@aol.com.

Although attendance was slightlydown from the association’s last twomeetings, a factor Ferraiolo attributesto the Thanksgiving holiday, he states“mostly everyone in attendance stayeduntil the end and hung around to ask

questions of the speakers… the con-tent was good, and Ron Perretta gavea great presentation.”

The evening concluded with araffle for gift certificates, donated bythe event’s sponsors. Bald Hill Dodge– Chrysler – Jeep & Kia also donateda Mopar winter coat which was wonby TJ’s Auto Body in Wallingfordwho was also recognized as ABAC’sShop of the Month.

As with all of ABAC’s meetings,“the purpose was to educate memberson industry trends, better their officeand shop efficiency, provide updateson proper documentation, and net-work them with businesses that theycan profit from,” Ferraiolo explains.

Ferraiolo believes that associationmeetings and other events are impor-tant because they “keep our membersup to date on what is happening intheir industry, such as new equipmentand training as well as OEM state-ments and procedures that are impor-tant to them in making informed repairdecisions.”

ABACwww.abaconn.com

24 JANUARY 2015 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Branch Location - MA142 Chandler St.

Worcester, MA508.752.9700

Main Store - RI1155 Park Ave.

Cranston, RI401.943.1700

Branch Location - CT485 N. Main St.

Norwich, CT860.885.0700

wwwwwwwwww.w.w.PrPrPrPrProvovovovovidididididenenenenencececececeLaLaLaLaLacqcqcqcqcqqqueueueueuerrr.r.r.cococococommmmmwww.ProvidenceLacquer.com

PPROVIDENCEROVIDENCELLACQUERACQUER &&

Supply Centre

4444440000000111111--99999994444443333333--111111777777777777000000000000401-943-1700

The Smart Choice for Auto BodyCoatings and Supplies!

CCCCCCaaaaallllllllllll UUUUUUsssss aaaaatttttt:::::Call Us at:

ABAC Hosts Ron Perretta at November 18 Meeting

Allstate Insurance Company an-nounced on Dec. 3 a contribution of$100,000 to the Collision RepairEducation Foundation. The dona-tion will help support high schooland technical college school pro-grams, instructors and students na-tionwide.

The money will be allocated tothe foundation’s Collision RepairEducation Campaign fund that pro-vides annual student scholarships,school grants, and the annual Ulti-mate Collision Education Makeoverschool grant, which is $50,000. “Ed-ucation is a vital step in preparingthe next generation of great techni-

cians needed to repair vehicles thatare becoming more complex by theday,” says Allstate’s Claims VicePresident Pam Overton. “Contribut-ing to the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation is an investment inthe future and something we takegreat pride in at Allstate.” CollisionRepair Education Foundation Exec-utive Director Clark Plucinski said,“Allstate’s continued support has al-lowed the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation to help collisionschool programs graduate studentswho are productive, efficient, andcapable staff members day one onthe job within the collision industry.

Allstate Gives $100,000 to Collision Repair Education