AASP elects new national leaders

The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP) elected its executive committee for 2011-2012 at its board of directors meeting Nov. 3 in Las Vegas.

Massachusetts shop owner, Rick Starbard will serve a second term as president. The following AASP board members will join Starbard on the executive committee:

• Jeff Walter, Zimmerman's Auto Service, Mechanicsburg, Pa.
  
• A.C. Guarino, A.C. Automotive, Winston-Salem, N.C.
  
• Bruce Tschida, Lake Marion Collision, Lakeville, Minn.
  
• Reiling, AASP-Missouri, St. Charles, Mo.
  
• Nick Kostakis, Angelo's Auto Body, Irvington, N.J.

Starbard, the president of Rick's Auto Collision in Revere, Mass., is a former collision repair instructor. He currently serves as president of AASP-MA and is a member of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Database Task Force and joint operating committee of the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG). Starbard holds I-CAR and ASE certifications.

"I am proud to be part of a group that has so many unique ideas that come from each of our state affiliates," Starbard says. "We are truly driven to enhance our members' ability to do business, and I think that is evident in some of the initiatives that we have undertaken. I look forward to the possibility of more like-minded state associations becoming AASP affiliates. By harnessing the numbers that state affiliates bring to the table, we can provide additional national benefits to all of our members. States also need to know how sensitive AASP is to each affiliate's need to operate as an independent organization. AASP recognizes that the makeup and needs of each state are very different, and gives each affiliate the autonomy to determine its mission and operation."