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Tornados in Florida and Mississippi Wreak Havoc On Feb. 15, suspected tornados tied to a vast storm system turned several homes to rubble in the northwest corner of Florida’s Panhandle and in Mississippi, according to wire reports. Authorities say more than a dozen homes were destroyed in both states. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries from the reported tornadoes, though witnesses said one 94-year-old woman had to be pulled from debris in Florida. One of three apparent twisters swept through Century, a rural town in the northwest Florida Panhandle, destroying or significantly damaging about 10 homes, Escambia County spokeswoman Joy Tsubooka said.
Donald Pugh was at home in Century when the funnel tore through his neighborhood of small woodframe houses and mobile homes, downing trees. Pugh told The Associated Press that he and other neighbors used a chain saw to free the 94-yearold woman, stuck under a twisted metal door and other debris of her home. “It took us quite a while,” he said. “She was telling us where she was and that she was OK,” Pugh added. The woman was taken to a hospital as a precaution, authorities said. In Mississippi, windows were blown out of cars and two gymnasiums
National Autobody Research (NABR) launched VRS Labor Rate Surveys in two more states; Arkansas and New Mexico. The Arkansas and New Mexico VRS Labor Rate Surveys were both
lease, the VRS Labor Rate Survey will provide collision repairers in Arkansas and New Mexico with an independent, third-party, trusted survey of state-wide labor rate data. The VRS reports the
See SE Tornados, Page 55
National AutoBody Research Launches VRS Labor Rate Surveys in Arkansas and New Mexico
true, market-based rate ranges throughout the states of Arkansas and New Mexico, based on shops’ actual prices, not on one artificially defined, singleprevailing rate for all repairers. See Labor Rate Survey, Page 21
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
15 total shops in Arkansas responding to date
sponsored by anonymous collision repairers in their respective states. The online survey is free for all Arkansas collision repair shops and can be found on the NABR website. According to a NABR press re-
VOL. 7 ISSUE 1 MARCH 2016
Historic Meeting Planned to Discuss Proposed Senate Bill to Cap Labor Rates in Mississippi by Stacey Phillips, Assistant Editor
For the first time in history, Mississippi body shops will sit down with representatives from the insurance coalition in that state to discuss the issues surrounding labor rates. This is in response to Mississippi State Senator Videt Carmichael’s recent introduction of Senate Bill 2187. If passed, the bill would prohibit collision repair shops from charging labor rates higher than the national average. It also stipulates that shops that seek to charge above the average must have the approval of the Commissioner of Insurance. John Morgan Hughes, the executive director of the Mississippi Collision Repair Association (MCRA), reached out to association members in
early February requesting they contact their legislators in opposition to the bill. Within 72 hours of that call to action, the MCRA met with Carmichael who proposed setting up a meeting to discuss the issues and work out an equitable solution for both sides. “This is the first time in Mississippi that has ever happened,” said Hughes, who has a background in governmental affairs and lobbying. “He [Carmichael] has agreed to work out a compromise with us. We think this is really positive.” When Autobody News went to print this month, the meeting was expected to take place in late February/early March. The ASA, which opposes House Bill 2187, also encouraged MissisSee Bill Would Cap Rates, Page 43
FTCC to Expand Auto Collision Repair Program Into Unused School Building in Spring Lake, NC Fayetteville Technical Community College and the Cumberland County school system may soon be trading spaces for some of their programs, according to reports by Catherine Pritchard in Fayetteville Observer. One move is certain: FTCC will expand its flourishing auto-collision repair program into an unused public school building in Spring Lake in early March. FTCC officials told the board of trustees Tuesday that the college will use the former Mae Rudd Williams school on N.C. 210 to teach beginning classes in collision repair. That will free up space for higher-level classes at the college’s high-tech collision repair center in Fayetteville’s Military Business Park off Santa Fe Drive. The collision repair classes in Spring Lake will start March 8. Larry Keen, FTCC’s president, said there’s a waiting list of students for the 18-month-old collision pro-
gram. The additional site means the college can open the popular program to more students. He said it will also be “a great addition” to Spring Lake. The building once housed an elementary school, then an alternative high school. It has been unused in recent years. It’s one of two public school properties being eyed for FTCC programs. If school officials agree, the college will move its adult education program next fall to the Pauline Jones school downtown, which now is home to an alternative program for troubled middle-school students. FTCC officials said the move would be one of several that would take place at the two educational systems. For example, the alternative program would move from Pauline Jones to the Camden Road site that’s now home to Howard Health and Life Sciences High School; and the Howard See FTCC Expands, Page 59
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