A pair of collision repair programs have been gifted new repair sets and training from KECO Body Repair Products to help educate the next generation of repairers.

Stanly Community College and Prosser Career Education Center received Level 2 glue pull repair systems with onsite training valued at about $7,600 during the latest round of donations from KECO and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS).

Billy Huneycutt, Stanly’s collision repair and refinishing technology program head, said although colleges in the industry had previously recommended he purchase the system for his students, budget restraints prevented him from doing so.

“Now with the KECO donation, I can make this hope and dream a reality for my students,” Huneycutt told Repairer Driven News. “I have always wanted to be taught how to use this system and return that knowledge back to my students.

“In turn, this donation will only benefit the collision industry by putting that knowledge in the hands of our future technicians.  As we see the changes in vehicle construction, we see changes in vehicle repair and one of those is a less invasive repair to the vehicle and the KECO system does exactly that. This translates into time and money, saved and earned for the collision industries shops and technicians.”

Huneycutt said he received the equipment last week and plans to assemble it before the fall semester begins next month.

The glue pull system allows technicians to glue special tabs to exterior panels to remove dents. It’s a modern alternative to a “more invasive” repair technique of welding studs onto body panels and is considered safer for electric vehicles.

Huneycutt said donations such as this one are “crucial” to the industry as well as the training of technicians.

“Any donation to the educational system for Collision Repair or any industry is a donation into the future of that industry which is a donation to our country and the betterment of mankind,” he said. “With budget constraints today in the educational system it is between difficult to impossible to train our future technicians the proper techniques and manufactures requirements on how to repair today’s vehicles.”

The school was nominated by Kyle Bradshaw, president of Carolina’s Collision Association (CCA). He said in his nomination submission that Stanley has been an active member of CCA for the past four years.

“Their commitment to our industry, and ultimately bettering our industry, is evident through their dedication to pouring into and training tomorrow’s technicians,” Bradshaw said. “Billy has done a phenomenal job in getting his students involved in our association by putting together an apprentice program with local shops to ensure students are actively engaged in modern collision repair. Not only is Billy invested in their craft/trade but it is apparent to everyone that he truly cares about the relationships and the impact he has on his students as well.”

During an SCRS board meeting last month, SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg detailed how the program developed with KECO strives to support schools that are, in turn, benefiting their local market.

“It’s important that they’re a school that’s doing what the industry needs to produce technicians that will then become employees in the future,” Schulenburg said. “Affiliates nominated through SCRS a school that’s really standing out in their area that’s done a great job of delivering.”

Chris White, KECO’s president, during last month’s SCRS meeting, encouraged other manufacturers to follow suit in donating tools and equipment to schools.

He said the “small donation” he helped facilitate has prompted numerous people to thank him for contributing to the industry.

“Honestly, maybe the bar is too low,” he said. “Because if what little we’re doing causes so much reaction from the industry to say: “You guys are doing a lot,” then I guess I would just challenge some of the other manufacturers to do likewise.”

Kyle Lanoue, Prosser’s career technical education program director, said during the SCRS meeting that he was grateful to receive the donation.

“The workforce is there,” he said. “They need training, they need support, and this is one very nice example of how we do that. So many students will benefit from [this] donation.”

The schools were the latest to receive the donations, with the Collin College Technical Campus gifted a glue pull system earlier this year.

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