LAS VEGAS, Oct. 30, 2018—Guy Bargnes, the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) chairman, on Tuesday led his last meeting for the organization, at a gathering in Las Vegas.
But the topic that dominated the conversation on the first day of the quarterly collision repair industry gathering, held at the Renaissance Hotel in Las Vegas, was several shops' efforts to raise funds for disaster relief efforts.
Jordan Hendler of Admin Concepts, kicked off a presentation by explaining the efforts of the Canadian Collision Industry Foundation to raise funds to build a technical school in Haiti. The proposed school would have a collision repair program. The CCIF is the Canadian counterpart to CIC.
On Jan. 26-29, 2019, a team will begin building the aforementioned technical school. So far, $100,000 has been raised with regard to those Haiti disaster relief efforts.
Bill Shaw, president of the Collision Industry Foundation, presented next on the efforts to raise funds to help people who have recently been impacted by hurricanes in the southern U.S. The CIF's 2019 fundraising gala will be held on Jan. 17 in Palm Springs, Calif.
Additionally, the CIF noted that it has launched a new website that includes an application for those in need.
The meeting wrapped up with presentations on data sharing and open systems, and a presentation by Gary Ledoux on his new book, YesterWreck: A History of the Collision Repair Industry in America.
Ledoux's book includes 13 chapters, each on a decade in the history of the collision repair industry. Besides facts like the oldest body shop in America and founding and history of supporting and supplying companies, the book covers the evolution of vehicle building technology and the attendant repair technology.
And, of course, the meeting offered a chance to acknowledge Bargnes, who has participated in CIC meetings for over a quarter century. The outgoing CIC chair is also a past chair of the PBES executive committee. And, in 2005, Bargnes was inducted into the collision industry's Hall of Eagles for his professional accomplishments.
At the end of the meeting, Bargnes ceremoniously passed the gavel to Jeff Peevy. He said that in the role, chairman "need to leave the role better than they found it."
