I have worked for 3M for 20 years in the collision market, with a strong focus on the Heavy-Duty Truck and Commercial Vehicle market. I am driven to provide solutions to increase efficiency and quality of repairs for my collision customers.
Working with the ASE Education Foundation to develop and implement an initiative for the automotive, medium/heavy truck and Collision industry to partner industry and education and open opportunities for student work-based learning and apprenticeships across the country. Since 2018, he has authored 5 articles annually for Fleet Maintenance Magazine. He also worked closely with U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration where he led the automotive strategic development team that advised the agency’s “High Growth Job Training Initiative”. He holds ASE certifications in Automotive & Medium/Heavy Duty Truck, Parts Specialist (Truck & Auto) and Service Consultant.
Tim Barnes has over 25 years of experience in the heavy duty commercial vehicle market; specializing in parts sales, distributors and dealers, and fleets. Most recently Tim was the Director of Parts Sales in the Central US for Volvo Trucks, followed by a General Manager role for a Mack Truck dealership, and now currently a Sales Director at NFI Parts. NFI Parts is the aftermarket parts division supporting the NFI Group OE heavy bus divisions; Motor Coach Industries (MCI), New Flyer, ARBOC, and the Alexander Dennis brands. In this role Tim’s regional sales and customer service teams support MCI private coach operators in North America.
Steve is recognized as an outstanding Keynote Speaker, Motivator, Instructor and Consultant. His seminars are lively, informative, funny and insightful. His knowledge stems from a 20-year career at Management and Vice President level. His core competencies are in: Motivating a Sales Group, Exceptional Customer Service, Motivational Leadership, Life-Work Balance, Goal Setting, and Generational Differences. All of Steve’s programs are certified by the AMi (Automotive Management Institute) and his Exceptional Customer Service training seminars are certified by the Customer Service Institute of America. He has an extensive client list spanning over 20 years. Some of Steve’s current and past clients include: I-Car, NACE/CARS, ACANW (Auto Care Alliance-Northwest & Midwest), Automotive Training Expo (ATE), ASA-Nebraska, ACE Hardware, United Airlines, U. S. District Court, First Interstate Bank, CDW, Cardinal Health, Hollywood Casino, and Motorola Dealerships.
Working in an industry I am passionate about! As an Aftersales Development Manager for ISUZU Commercial Truck, I am responsible for a program and team that oversees and supports our product once it leaves the dealership. From Service, parts and everything in between my team works directly with the customers including fleets and repair shops providing parts, technical and general support.
With 29 years in the industry, I have worked in almost every field. Starting as a bodybuilder in my family’s business and then joined the ARMY as a Light and Heavy-duty vehicle mechanic. Excelling as a technician for a Kenworth dealership I was promoted to Service Manager at the age of 25. The next step in my career was working for a large fleet as the maintenance director responsible for all repair facilities and maintenance of over 1000 units. Finally landing me at ISUZU for the last 11 years where I have held the positions of District Service and Parts Manager, LBM (Regional Service and Parts), and my current position of Aftersales Development Manager.
Growing up in Wasilla AK my interests have always been hunting, Fishing, and outdoor sports I also enjoy my very expensive hobby of restoring early 4×4 trucks and SUVs.
Michael Brown has been with Great American Insurance Group for seven years and work within the Rig Ready Group in the trucking division. Prior to Great American, he worked as a heavy equipment appraiser with PDA in South Carolina and Ohio. He has been in the collision repair industry since 1988 holding positions of technician up to General Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management.
Marc Brune is a business development manager at Mentor Mentee. As a former mentee himself, Marc speaks from experience to help businesses implement technical mentoring systems to counter the technician shortage.
Mark Claypool has worked in the fields of online web presence, marketing, occupational mentoring, training, workforce development and business education partnerships for 40 years. As an Automotive Management Institute (AMI) accredited master automotive manager (AMAM) he has founded four companies, two non-profits and one foundation in his career. He is currently the President and CEO of Optima Worldwide Limited/Optima Automotive (a web marketing agency). For 20 years Mark was a contributing editor for BodyShop Business magazine and a monthly columnist on web presence management. He was also named AMI’s 2018 Training Provider of the Year.
Billy Eddy is the Technical Claims Investigation Director for SPARK Underwriters. Billy has 40 years of experience in the Automotive Industry at the OE Manufacturer, Commercial Insurance, Automotive Dealership and Automotive College Instructor levels. 28 years of insurance claims experience with claim investigations involving vehicles, medium and heavy-duty truck, farm equipment and machinery, industrial equipment, marine, recreational products, motorcycle, HVAC, plumbing, residential electrical and solar power, commercial and residential structure fires, automotive and equipment fires, commercial and light automotive tires, product liability claims, crash data retrieval and accident reconstruction. Billy actively volunteers and participates with advisory boards for local High Schools and Colleges, NATEF Accreditation Committee, and is a SKILLS USA Judge at local, state, and national level events.
Billy has the following designations: ASE Master Certified Technician, GM Certified Technician, American Honda Certified Master Technician, and 1st Place Winner of 2-National Trouble Shooting Contest with a reputable Automotive Manufacturer. Billy started his automotive career while enrolled as a fulltime student with his own business that rebuilt and repaired automatic transmissions.
Billy earned an Associate Degree in Automotive Technology from Des Moines Area Community College.
Tom has been in the insurance industry for over 25 years. He has led claims operations in physical damage and casualty around the country. Tom currently oversees the physical damage program for specialty vehicles countrywide at National General Insurance, which includes RVs, heavy trucks, trailers, motorcycles, ATV’s/UTVs, and agricultural equipment and vehicles.
Dean Hancock is the former owner of Bob Johnson’s Body Shop in Cayce SC for 14 years. They specialized in heavy duty and automotive collision repair. He has spent the last 38 years in the collision industry. He spent 10 years as an automotive and commercial paint technician, 12 years as a paint manufacturer representative. He earned his Six Sigma black belt from Aveta Business Institute in October of 2012, I-Car Platinum certification in 2019, he also attended the University of Phoenix.
Dean was a founding member of the Axlta Coatings business council group for commercial collision repair. Dean saw a need for a business council for commercial vehicles and helped Axlta Coatings head up the formation of this group. After the group grew in numbers he was elected president of the business council group. He has been featured in Fender Bender and Body Shop Business news magazines.
He also serves on the advisory board for the H D Forum, facilitator for PPG Coatings Damage Analysis for commercial vehicles . His first-hand experience from years in commercial and automotive collision brings a unique approach to collision repair. He has a natural understanding of value and ability to process the critical thinking required in creating a lean organization.
“ It is my sincere goal to help collision repair owners and managers to be successful in their businesses. “
Jennifer King has had extensive formal training and experience in practical application of Six Sigma and Lean principles during her 25 years with PPG. Jennifer’s PPG career began as a bench chemist formulating industrial paints. In 2000, she joined the Refinish group and since has held leadership positions in technical, quality assurance, production, sales support, and marketing. Jennifer’s passion for others, entrepreneur spirit, and innate drive for continuous improvement has made “looking under the hood” of AdjustRite® fun!
A Montana native, Ron is an internationally known speaker, author, instructor, and business consultant with a passion for process improvement. After initially learning collision repair skills from his Grandfather as a young boy, Ron has held high-level positions with ICAR, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes, and ABRA Auto Body & Glass.
After a career of over 40 years in the Collision Repair Industry, Ron started Collision Business Solutions in 2007 and began sharing his problem solving principles with other business segments. Similar success is now experienced with clients in other industries including a growing list of automotive and transportation service companies. Ron is a facilitator for several Axalta Business Councils, including Heavy Duty Truck Collision, RV Collision, and Automotive.
Besides working with independent and dealer collision shops, Collision Business Solutions also consults many shop owners and also assists in acquisitions and sales of collision businesses.
I have worked for 3M for 34 years in a variety of R&D, Sales, and Application Engineering positions. I have spent the last 16 years in the collision market, focusing the last 6 years on Heavy-Duty Truck and Commercial Vehicle collision. My goal is to understand customer and market needs and bring 3M product and process solutions to the industry.
Tim McKinney started working for ITW Evercoat in 2003 as a Training Coordinator and worked his way up to the role as the Senior Applications Field Engineer. He started working in the automotive field back in 1984 in a salvage rebuilder shop and later worked for a local construction company as a painter repairing and painting trucks ranging in size from ½ tons up to heavy trucks. Prior to coming to ITW Evercoat worked as an technician and an estimator in local repair shops. While at ITW Evercoat Tim has worked with OEMs, Fire Truck and Ambulance manufacturers, Limousine / Hearse manufacturers, and Collision Repair Shops.
Matt Melbye has 17+ years of technical service expertise in application Engineering at 3M. He has 5 years of experience working with 3M Industrial Adhesives and Tapes. In addition, he specializes in industrial manufacturing, building construction, and box truck build and repair.
Born and raised on the farm in Central Minnesota Lakes Area. Moved to Rochester Minnesota to work in a Truck Equipment and Body Shop. Over the years, he worked his way up through multiple departments in the shop, including parts, service and sales, eventually taking on the General Manager role. Kelly later decided to leave the shop and pursue a career in the Insurance industry. Kelly started with Federated Insurance as a Material Damage Appraiser, handling all types of losses from individual passenger vehicles, heavy truck, trailer and equipment claims. Kelly has handled large Catastrophe Losses for auto dealers, farm equipment dealers, and construction equipment dealers. He was promoted into the Home Office as a Supervisor and Trainer, creating their Heavy Truck and Equipment Claims Group. Kelly is the Home Office Claims Manager for Material Damage and oversees all Truck and Equipment Claims nationwide.
Jeff began his career in the collision industry in 1984 in Automotive Branch Operations at Sherwin-Williams. He led teams in providing service to collision centers, developed employee training programs, and managed branch real estate issues. He continued to develop his background in operations and continuous improvement through management positions at Pella Windows & Doors and Chrysler Automotive Stamping Plant. Prior to joining AkzoNobel in 2012, Jeff was Director of Operations at a large, multi-shop collision center in Cleveland, Ohio. Jeff has a BA in Business Administration from Baldwin-Wallace University.
During nearly 27 years in the automotive field, Niel has developed a diverse skill set, both as a business owner and staff Subject Matter Expert, and currently is assisting with I-CAR’s plans for a second technical center. His diagnostics expertise and work in leading technologies like ADAS and electric vehicles provides him with a rich background to draw from for his other passions for technical training and speaking. He supports several technical committees; developed training curriculum and instructed 10,000 students annually for a Tier 1 Automotive supplier; holds a number of certifications, including High Voltage Technology Trainer; authored articles for the automotive trade press; and has spoken at automotive association events and international industry seminars.
David B Willett is the CUO and co-founder of SPARK Underwriters – committed to the automotive repair industry. He was a founder of the Universal Underwriters which insured close to 16,000 automotive businesses including about 6,000 Collision Repairers. An AMI Board Member and several industry committees including CIC and CIECA, David has shared his experience with shop owners at SEMA, CARS, World Tire Expo, NAPG, Vision, CollisionAdvice, CoyoteVision, GAAS and more including the newly formed Southeast Collision Conference. He holds several insurance designations – Commercial Property Casualty Underwriter CPCU, Cyber Risk Designation CYB, Associate Loss Control Management ALCM.
David earned an Economics Degree with a Concentration in Mathematics at the University of Texas in Austin where he also was a D1 basketball player. Recognized as one of the top leaders during his career, he has demonstrated the ability to develop leaders and teams.
