News Briefs
ASA Member Gives Family A Van
Dale Brown, president and owner of Brown & Brown Body Shop in Denton, Texas, and an Automotive Service Association (ASA) member, recently gave a Ford van to a family of eight. Brown’s meeting with a local couple who cares for six children, three of whom require wheelchairs, led to the generous act.Brown learned of the family through a church where his son, a seminary student, is pastor. The family had outgrown their prior vehicle and travel was difficult without the help of a chair lift.
"It broke my heart to see them working so hard," said Brown. He looked for a reasonably priced van with relatively low mileage. After finding what he felt was a good deal, he offered the family a 1994 Ford van. A chair lift has been ordered to further accommodate the family’s needs.
"The most interesting part of this story is the people who are caring for these children on a daily basis and are willing to dedicate their time to help these kids," Brown said. Of the six children, one is adopted and two are foster children. Brown said that because of the parents, the children with special needs are leading a better quality life than they would have otherwise.
Brown served as ASA national president in 1978 and 1979.
ADP And ARA Settle Lawsuit
The Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) and ADP Claims Solution Group (ADP) have jointly announced the settlement of a lawsuit relating to the ARA International Database. Both parties have dismissed claims and counterclaims, and under the terms of the settlement, ADP will continue in its role as the official "data collector" for the ARA International Database. ADP’s insurance and collision repair salvage parts data base (the PXS data base) will be combined with the ARA data base and will be called ARA International Electronic Database, resulting in the largest available data base for salvage parts information. The information in the data base will be available to other information providers. ARA’s suit against ADP was filed in October 1995 and regarded a contention related to ADP’s purchase of AutoInfo, which had previously been the data collector for the ARA International Database. In other news involving ADP’s purchase of AutoInfo, but that is separate from the ARA-ADP settlement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has negotiated a settlement with ADP in which ADP will pay a penalty of $2.97 million for failure to turn over vital documents to the government in ADP’s "premerger" filing during the AutoInfo acquisition last year.JENDHAM Acquires Mitchell Seminar Business
Mitchell International Repair Division has sold their training seminar business to JENDHAM, Inc. Mitchell started the seminar training operation in 1986. Many members of the JENDHAM team were involved in the development and marketing of Mitchell training seminar products over the years and will assist in developing new courses and maintaining the quality of the acquired products. JENDHAM resumed the acquired technical seminars in mid-March.New-car Driving Costs Increase
The average cost of owning and operating a new car is 42.6 cents per mile, up 1.4 cents from a year ago, according the American Automobile Association (AAA). AAA’s "Your Driving Costs" reports motorists will spend an average of $6,389 annually--an increase of $204, or 3.3 percent, over 1995. The largest contributors to this increase are vehicle ownership costs including depreciation, insurance and financial charges. Total costs for gas, oil, tires and maintenance were unchanged.AAIW Sets Show Dates
Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week 1996 (AAIW ’96) will be Nov. 5-8 in Las Vegas and will feature the SEMA/AI and the APAA/ASIA/MEMA shows.Spraybake Commits $250,000 To EXCEL 2000
Spraybake Inc. joins the Automotive Service Association Management Institute’s (ASAMI’s) industry partnership, EXCEL 2000, with a Charter Founder commitment of $250,000. The commitment expands aftermarket support of ASAMI’s ongoing management education program to more than $5.3 million in multiyear pledges. Income from these commitments, combined with other resources dedicated to ASAMI, supports the development and implementation of timely management education programs for automotive service professionals.ASA Main Page || AutoInc. Main Page
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AutoInc. Magazine ®, Vol. XLIV No. 5, May 1996