When Randy Bollander, President of Empire Auto Parts, one of the country’s largest aftermarket parts distributors, sat down to breakfast on the final day of the recent ABPA annual meeting, he was eager to learn more about parts certification and the legal wrangling with OEMs.

But after hearing Brandon Eckenrode of the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) make an impassioned speech on the need for industry support for educating and training the next generation of collision repairers, Randy was inspired to take action.

Randy went home from Chicago on a mission. He rallied his troops at Empire’s headquarters in New Jersey and has now instituted a regular program of parts donation to the collision repair programs at local high schools and vocational schools. The first donations went out this month to Thomas Edison High School, for use in the school’s collision repair training program.

The support of industry leaders like Randy Bollander and Empire Auto Parts is an important part of the CREF mission to develop the next generation of auto body repair professionals. For more information about this outstanding organization visit their website at http://collisioneducationfoundation.org.