Two new members and one incumbent have joined the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) board.

Michael Giarrizzo Jr., president and CEO of DCR Systems, Andrew Batenhorst, body shop manager at Pacific BMW Collision Center, and incumbent Tony Adams, Akzo Nobel business services consultant, were chosen by SCRS members during this year’s election held on April 11 in Richmond, Virginia.

Tony Adams

“It’s very important to the folks around this table [the board] that we always give our membership a choice,” SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg said. “We never want it to be just that we decide who’s going to be on the board and you’re ratifying our decision. We want to make sure that there are enough candidates where you have the option to pick and choose who you think will represent you best. But our objective is always to find people who are going to serve the society well, who have been involved in the society, who have a history of bringing new ideas to the industry, who have articulation, and who are going to serve on committees well, and things along those lines. And so even if they aren’t elected the goal is that they remain involved.”

Prior to working at Akzo Nobel, Adams worked at Weavers Auto Center in Kansas after growing up watching his father work there as a body technician. Adams eventually became partner in the late 1990s then sold the business in 2021. He called his time at Akzo Nobel enlightening and rewarding.

“It’s amazing —  the knowledge that I get to help share and spread with a lot of the shops that just don’t know what they don’t know,” Adams said. “And I think that’s one of the things that really led me to uwanting to help carry the water. We’ve got this obligation, I think, in the industry to help bring those around us up, to help share the message, to help, like I said, to carry the water. For me, it’s been extremely rewarding to do that.  SCRS was very beneficial to me.”

Andrew Batenhorst

Adams has served one previous terms. Board member terms are three years. Adams has also previously served as vice president of the Kansas Auto Body Association, which is an SCRS affiliate association.

“I’ve sat on a lot of boards and served on a lot of boards, but this one actually gets stuff done,” he said. “They bring really great solutions to the industry and help solve problems.”

He added that he’s looking forward to serving another three years.

Batenhorst said he wants to serve on the board to give back to the industry and “show that the evolution of collision repair is here and it can make it a very attractive industry for people to want to work in.”

“I see a lot of managers getting burnt out and suffering from waste in their organizations that are preventing them from developing people and retaining people. I think as a manager, I can demonstrate to not just our group here but to the rest of the industry that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. …My shop is actively running right now and it’s filled with Gen Z and Millennials and all the things that everybody says that you can’t do in a shop,” he said. “I’m really excited to be here because I’m tired of being the only one doing what I do.”

He added that he’s worked with the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Estimating Committee and the California Autobody Association and has learned a lot from sending in inquiries to the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG).

Giarrizzo shared that his family started in the automotive business in 1942 and he started his collision repair career at his family’s shop in 1984. He helped grow the shop from one location to 65 after an acquisition. Giarrizzo moved up in the ranks to COO and later moved on to create DCR Systems, which currently has seven locations.

Andrew Suggs

“A lot of my job today is to give back to our teams and so the opportunity to even be considered to be a part of this is just an honor beyond belief for me,” he said. “This room is not only a room of great thinkers, it’s even better doers, which has been really absent in our industry. To say that the voice of the industry is represented through SCRS is an understatement. To have the opportunity to affect that and to help really change and pave the way for the future of the industry is something I look forward to.”

Andrew Suggs, with ABS Equipment Co., also ran for a seat on the board. He has spent his entire life in and around shops because his father was an owner for 42 years. Suggs told Repairer Driven News his passion for the industry was instilled in him from the beginning. Prior to his current job, he owned European Collision Repair.

“I know a lot of the people that are sitting with this group right here is some of the best in the entire business so it’s really just an honor for me to be mentioned in the same name,” Suggs said.

To learn more about the new members’ professional backgrounds check out this previous Repairer Driven News article.

Images

Featured image: The new SCRS Board of Directors is sworn in during the board’s open meeting on April 12, 2023. (Lurah Lowery/Repairer Driven News)