came in from George Mantzaris and oth- ourselves: Strength in numbers!” Piero ers from the Tampa Bay area. FACA vice says. He adds that this year’s chapter goals president Mantzaris, collision center man- are to grow membership awareness about ager of Toyota of Tampa Bay, is today also FACA and to promote regulations that will the Tampa Bay chapter president. David protect consumers when filing a claim. Representing consumers is also imHesser, owner of Gulf Coast Collision in Port Richey, is the chapter’s vice president. portant at the Mid-State chapter, where In 2008, after contacting Risley at Michael Meisner serves as president. SCRS, McBroom invited the other two Coming together as a group helps them, groups to meet in Ocala; they incorporated, the chapter members and the industry, he wrote bylaws, elected a says. board, chose the FACA “FACA has opened up communi“This is the name and joined the na- cation between shops that never best way for a tional organization. customer to get existed before in our area ...” “It has been fantastic the best repair —Ray Gunder to watch their growth and possible,” says development throughout Meisner, whose the state in a very short period of time,” Meisner Paint and Body in Lakeland is a saidSCRS’ Schulenberg. third-generation collision-repair business. “I am continually astounded by how In 1942, his grandfather started repairing well they have done to bring together such vehicles on the same street the business is meaningful and well-attended meetings, now on. with members who are so driven to moti“If shop owners are not ‘back-stabvate positive change within the industry.” bing enemies’ but are instead associates, SCRS has more than 39 affiliate asso- they are less likely to undercut each other ciations across the U.S. and Canada, rep- for the job and do inferior work on the conresenting 6,000-plus collision repair sumer’s vehicle,” Meisner says. businesses and 58,500-plus individuals The shopowners benefit in various employed within the industry. ways as well. For example, if the owner “Our chapter decided to join FACA believes that an insurance company is not because we felt we would have greater treating him or her correctly, the shop can success being a part of a much larger state call fellow members to see if they are association rather than trying to go at it being similarly handled. “This closes the
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gap that the insurance companies hold between shops,” he says. “There is still competition in our association, but healthy competition.” Ray Gunder, owner of Gunder’s Auto Center in Lakeland (see cover story), agrees. “FACA has opened up communication between shops that never existed before in our area. The amount of ‘knowledge’ that is shared with a phone call or email is tremendous. We are no longer on an ‘island by itself,’” explains Gunder, who started what is now a full-service col-
lision and mechanical auto center 41 years ago. He is the sergeant at arms for the Lakeland chapter and, what McBroom calls, the “conscience of FACA.” “We can now visit each other’s shops and be welcomed—instead of being leery —looking at a demo of new equipment together,” Gunder adds, noting that the chapter holds monthly lunch meetings at different shops. “We have all gained a new respect for each other’s business and have been able to ‘bury the hatchet.’”
Senate Committee Passes ‘Restoring Financial Stability Act,’ Creates National Insurance Office
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs quickly passed on March 22 Chairman Christopher Dodd’s, D-Conn., “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010” along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate floor where the bill is expected to be challenged with amendments by Senate Republicans. Highlights of the new bill reported by the committee include: ● Consumer Protections with Authority and Independence: A Consumer Financial Protection bureau will be housed at the Federal Reserve, where it will have the power to write and enforce the rules. ● Ends too Big to Fail: Ends the possibility that taxpayers will be asked to write a check to bail out financial firms that threaten the economy. ● Advanced Warning System: Creates a council to identify and address systemic risks posed by large, complex companies, products and activities before they threaten the stability of the economy. ● Transparency and Accountability for Exotic Instruments: Eliminates loopholes that allow risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated. ● Federal Bank Supervision: Streamlines bank supervision to create clarity and accountability and protects the dual banking system that supports community banks. ● Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance: Provides shareholders with a say on pay and corporate affairs with a non-binding vote on executive compensation. ● Protects Investors: Provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for credit rating agencies to protect investors and businesses. ● Enforces Regulations on the Books: Strengthens oversight and empowers regulators to aggressively pursue financial fraud conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefit special interests at the expense of American families and business. ● Office of National Insurance: Creates a new office within the Treasury Department to monitor the insurance in-
dustry, coordinate international insurance issues, and requires a study on ways to modernize insurance regulation and provide Congress with recommendations. Considerations shall be based on and guided by the following: ● Systemic risk regulation with respect to insurance ● Capital standards and the relationship between capital allocation and liabilities, including standards relating to liquidity and duration risk. ● Consumer protection for insurance products and practices, including gaps in state. ● The degree of national uniformity of state regulation. ● The regulation of insurance companies and affiliates on a consolidated basis. ● International coordination of insurance regulation. ● Costs and benefits of potential federal regulation of insurance across various lines of insurance (except health insurance). ● The feasibility of regulating only certain lines of insurance at the federal level, while leaving other lines of insurance to be regulated at the state level. ● The potential consequences of subjecting insurance companies to a federal resolution authority, including the effects of any federal resolution authority. ● Streamlining the regulation of surplus lines of insurance and reinsurance through state-based reforms. To view a summary of the legislation and the complete text, visit the Automotive Service Association’s legislative Web site at www.TakingTheHill.com. The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-for-profit trade association of its kind dedicated to and governed by independent automotive service and repair professionals. ASA serves an international membership base that includes numerous affiliate, state and chapter groups from both the mechanical and collision repair segments of the automotive service industry. ASA’s headquarters is in Bedford, Texas. See http://www.TakingTheHill.com.
www.autobodynews.com | APRIL 2010 AUTOBODY NEWS 11