HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL – September 8, 2016 – The Collision Repair Education Foundation and the Atlanta I-CAR Committee will be hosting back-to-back events this October that the industry is invited to attend, participate, and support. On Wednesday, October 19th a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at Athens Technical College (Athens, GA) in recognition of the school’s collision program receiving a $50,000 Makeover grant, made possible through the Atlanta I-CAR Committee’s local fundraising efforts. The event will take place from 2-4pm and will showcase how through the local committee the school was able to transform their collision program with new tools, equipment, and supplies. On Thursday, October 20th the Collision Repair Education Foundation will then host a high school and college collision career fair at Maxwell High School of Technology (Lawrenceville, GA) where an anticipated 200+ students will be attending from all over the state of Georgia who will be looking to meet industry employers. Maxwell High School of Technology was a past recipient of a Makeover grant, also funded by the Atlanta I-CAR Committee. Shortly after the grant was completed at Maxwell, the schools collision program saw their collision enrollment double and their students winning the state SkillsUSA collision repair competitions.
Georgia I-CAR State Chairman and Farmers Insurance National APD Strategy Manager Gerry Poirier noted, “The ability to showcase one of the schools the Atlanta Committee has worked with to the industry, as well as other school programs, is critical to improving our industry’s vision and need for qualified collision technicians. The Career Fair is vital to showing support for the students electing to go to a Technical Program as they will have numerous opportunities in a vibrant and growing collision career. I would like to thank the members of the Atlanta Committee for their dedication to helping our local schools become a great source for future collision technicians in the Georgia market. It would not be possible without that team and the support from our local industry partners.”
Collision Repair Education Foundation Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode noted, “While these two events are focused around celebrating a newly equipped Georgia school and showcasing career opportunities to students at another, the common factor with both of these events is the incredible group of industry volunteers that make up the Atlanta I-CAR Committee. This group regularly comes together, puts aside any corporate competitive differences, and work towards assisting the local collision students, instructors, and school programs. They are quickly approaching over $200,000 raised over the past several years and these funds are being reinvested into their local collision programs. I would like to invite the industry to attend these events and come see what this group has made possible for these schools. I cannot thank and recognize this group enough for their collective efforts.”
Industry members interested in attending the Athens Technical College ribbon cutting event can RSVP online and companies looking to participate in the career fair are asked to contact Director of Development, Brandon Eckenrode at Brandon.Eckenrode@ed-foundation.org or 847.463.5244.
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The Collision Repair Education Foundation, founded in 1991, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting collision repair educational programs, schools, and students to create qualified, entry-level employees and connect them with an array of career opportunities. For information on how to donate to programs supported by the Education Foundation visit us online at: www.CollisionEducationFoundation.org.
