I have worked for 3M for 20 years in the collision market, with a strong focus on the Heavy-Duty Truck and Commercial Vehicle market. I am driven to provide solutions to increase efficiency and quality of repairs for my collision customers.

John has over two decades of experience in the automotive industry, He began his career in collision repair in the year 2000 and worked to hone his skills and expertise in the collision repair industry. In 2010 he transitioned to the insurance sector where he further expanded his knowledge by working in various roles in Physical damage claims, Direct Repair Programs, heavy duty truck, watercraft, leadership, and development and collaboration with digital platforms. Currently John is an Application Engineer at 3M where he utilizes his experience training and educating within 3M’s digital programs and Refinish operations.

Stephen Boyd currently serves as a Deputy Regional Administrator for OSHA Region VI, a position that he has held since January 2017. As a Deputy Regional Administrator, Mr. Boyd is responsible for the oversight of six area offices (Baton Rouge, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston North, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio) and two regional programs (Enforcement Programs and Cooperative and State Programs). His career with OSHA began more than 29 years ago in the Cleveland Area Office where he was first hired as an industrial hygienist. In April 2000, Mr. Boyd was promoted to the Assistant Area Director of the Dallas Area Office where he led the construction team. As an Assistant Area Director, he received National recognition for his work with various construction industries including telecommunication tower construction, and highway, street, and bridge construction. In December 2007, Mr. Boyd was promoted to the Area Director of the Dallas Area Office.

As an Area Director, Mr. Boyd led both enforcement and cooperative programs for Federal OSHA in 30 counties in Northeast Texas. During his tenure, he was responsible for numerous significant enforcement actions in various industries within the Dallas Area Office jurisdiction including but not limited to food processing and manufacturing, petrochemical, steel fabrication, lumber, and construction. In 2016, just months prior to his promotion to Deputy Regional Administrator, Mr. Boyd served as the Assistant Regional Administrator for Administrative Programs where he was responsible for labor management relations, recruitment, office space, training, internal audits, budget, and information technology (IT).

Shane Carder has spent 29 years in the Heavy Duty Repair Industry. He has spent 11 of those years as a shop Foreman and Manager and the other 18 years as a Heavy Equipment Appraiser/Claims Adjuster/Claims Manager.

Tipu specializes in government guaranteed lending and small business finance, having financed deals for a wide array of industries including manufacturing, childcare, hospitality and petroleum among others. His projects have included franchise financing, acquisition of real estate and business assets, financing of equipment, providing working capital needs as well as business expansion funds. Prior to his current position at Byline, Tipu co-founded the commercial lending division for a boutique Chicago commercial brokerage firm, focusing on debt financing for his clients.

Lico has 32 years of experience in the Collison Industry. His career began inside an Automotive paint store in 1992. Throughout his career he has worked to learn many aspects of the collision industry. The roles include Customer service, Leadership, Damage Analysis, Body Shop management and Business Development Sales in the Automotive Paint Industry. Currently Lico is the Western Region Technical Specialist for Kent Automotive. Lico’s main objective is to train and give solutions to customers as to how repair versus replacement is beneficial to their facility as well as the Environment.

Kory Coffey is the Collision Center Manager for Premier Truck Group in OKC. He has been with Premier for 18 years. Starting his career as a Ford Technician before moving to PTG. Kory worked in the Parts Department and was an OPS for 12 years before moving to his current role four years ago. Kory has been married to his wife Heather for 23 years and has a 21-year-old daughter, Stori. In his free time Kory enjoys spending time with his girls and all forms of motorsport.

Brandon joined AkzoNobel as a Technical Service Representative in June 2023. His role involves training specific to the customer needs, cost savings projects, troubleshooting any paint-related or mixing equipment issues customers may have. During his time at AkzoNobel, he has completed various training courses to not only further his career, but to provide additional support to customers.
Prior to joining AkzoNobel, Brandon spent 15 years working for Pierce Manufacturing, making repairs on many commercial vehicles in all stages of the build process. In addition to running the paint shop for five years, he also held positions including welding, body work, paint work, and buffing/polishing. I started working for AkzoNobel in June of 2023.

Carl Dumele is the Founder and CEO of Aeromotive Services Inc. As the founder, with 40+ years of experience in electrical systems and wire harness assemblies, Carl played an integral role in creating and developing the startup of the automotive electrical field service market. As a result, there are over 100 companies providing this type of service.
As CEO, in 2005 he set out to diversify the company’s portfolio and began building manufacturing platforms that now include the Automotive, Commercial; On road and off-road equipment, and the Av/Aerospace markets. Today the company has a balanced mix of each of these primary sectors.
Over the course of 5 years, he successfully implemented quality control standards ISO9001-2015 and AS9100 Aerospace Standards throughout the organization. As result, today the company provides OEM Tier 1 manufacturers such as Ford, Navistar, Case IH and Case CE, Garmin, and others with quality “Build to Print” design, prototyping and manufacturing services.

In 2010, Carl innovated the industry once again. Aeromotive set out to be the 1st in the Nation to offer a sustainability program for wire assemblies. Today, the “Remanufactured Wire Assembly Program” has successfully provided “Cradle to Grave” manufacturing to many of the customers they currently manufacture for on a Tier 1 level. This program has extended the life of equipment, retained valuable resources, and reduced environmental waste. Additionally, it allows for the customer to retain their equipment that may be reaching the end of production, end of service life, backordered material, or obsolescence.

Today, Carl is positioning Aeromotive to stay ahead of the effect technological advances have on the architecture of the electrical system. For example, systems such as: ADAS, HVEV, communication and navigation, miniaturization of material and production tooling have led to a high impact/high probability of failure when it comes to service repairs and manufacturing operations.

Billy Eddy is the Technical Claims Investigation Director for SPARK Underwriters. Billy has 40 years of experience in the Automotive Industry at the OE Manufacturer, Commercial Insurance, Automotive Dealership and Automotive College Instructor levels. 28 years of insurance claims experience with claim investigations involving vehicles, medium and heavy-duty truck, farm equipment and machinery, industrial equipment, marine, recreational products, motorcycle, HVAC, plumbing, residential electrical and solar power, commercial and residential structure fires, automotive and equipment fires, commercial and light automotive tires, product liability claims, crash data retrieval and accident reconstruction. Billy actively volunteers and participates with advisory boards for local High Schools and Colleges, NATEF Accreditation Committee, and is a SKILLS USA Judge at local, state, and national level events.

Billy has the following designations: ASE Master Certified Technician, GM Certified Technician, American Honda Certified Master Technician, and 1st Place Winner of 2-National Trouble Shooting Contest with a reputable Automotive Manufacturer. Billy started his automotive career while enrolled as a fulltime student with his own business that rebuilt and repaired automatic transmissions. Billy earned an Associate Degree in Automotive Technology from Des Moines Area Community College.

Billy is determined to being part of the solution, today’s technician’s shortage. He is the adjunct Professor, active/currently teaching Automotive Technologies at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park Kansas. Finding the time and commitment, to instruct, mentor and share your experience for tomorrow’s technician.

Brandon Hadley is the Bendix® Regional Field Sales and Service Manager for the Southwest United States and currently resides in Texas. He has 20 years of experience in service and parts for class 1-8 Light, Medium, and Heavy-duty vehicles. He is an ASE® Certified Medium/Heavy Truck Technician and often provides technical training for fleets, dealers/distributors, and various industry organizations. Brandon and his field team support service, parts, and sales for all dealers and distributors within the region and also provide fleet support for training and technical assistance.

Dean has spent the last 40 years in the collision industry; 10 years as an automotive and commercial paint technician, 9 years as a paint manufacturer representative. 15 years as an owner of Heavy duty collision shop. The last 3 years as a facilitator and consultant.He earned his Six Sigma black belt, is I-Car Platinum certified, and attended the University of Phoenix. His first-hand experience brings a unique approach to collision repair, and he has a natural understanding of value and ability to process the critical thinking required in creating a lean organization.

Mark Jennings has 32+ years of experience working in 3M’s Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division. His roles include supporting industrial manufacturing customers, building construction, and box truck build and repair.

Bill Kahn is a Senior Principal Engineer at Peterbilt Motors and is the Manager of Advanced Concepts. An engineering graduate (BSME) of Texas A&M University, he has over 40 years of experience in the trucking and aerospace industry. His last 25 years while at Peterbilt have been dedicated to evaluating emerging technologies and developing timelines for their viability within the Peterbilt product. His Group’s work includes innovation in the areas of autonomous vehicles, next generation combustion engines, electrified vehicles, hybrid powertrains, alternative fuels, and lightweight materials. Mr. Kahn’s Group at Peterbilt has been responsible in the past for fielding an industry leading 200 L4/L5 Autonomous Vehicle Platforms for ADAS Development, and over 20 all-electric vehicles in support launching Peterbilt BEV Development Program. Of late, work is focusing on Hydrogen as a transportation fuel.

Mr. Kahn is a member of the University of North Texas Faculty Advisory Board, and the Society of Automotive Engineers among other groups. He also has six patents for innovation in automotive technology.

A Montana native, Ron is an internationally known speaker, author, instructor, and business consultant with a passion for process improvement. After initially learning collision repair skills from his Grandfather as a young boy, Ron has held high-level positions with I-CAR, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes, and ABRA Auto Body & Glass.

After a career of over 40 years in the Collision Repair Industry, Ron started Collision Business Solutions in 2007 and began sharing his problem solving principles with other business segments. Similar success is now experienced with clients in other industries including a growing list of automotive and transportation service companies.

Ron is a facilitator for several Axalta Business Councils, including Heavy Duty Truck Collision, RV Collision, and Automotive. Besides working with independent and dealer collision shops, Collision Business Solutions also consults many shop owners and also assists in acquisitions and sales of collision businesses.

Mark started his career in the body repair industry with Kenworth and Peterbilt in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mark has worked over 30 years in the Commercial Insurance industry. His carrier includes Commercial Lines Field Specialist, Manager of heavy equipment claims operations and currently, Director of Commercial Property Damage Process responsible for organizational development and alignment, business results, implementation of process and technology.

Steve Leal is the president & CEO of Fix Network, the global automotive aftermarket network with more than 2,000 points of service worldwide in more than 20 countries. He is recognized in the industry for his strategic business approach and extensive automotive experience.

Steve first joined Fix Network in 2004 as a franchisee and owner of Fix Auto Cambridge (Ontario, Canada). In 2013, he orchestrated a buyout to become the largest shareholder of Fix Auto Canada and one year later, led the effort to purchase the global rights of the Fix Auto brand. In 2015, he took majority control of both Fix Auto Canada Inc. and the global master franchisor, Mondofix Inc., bringing in the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of North America’s largest institutional investors, as a minority stakeholder.

Under Steve’s direction, the companies have acquired the Canadian rights to Speedy Auto Service and Minute Muffler & Brake (2016); as well as NOVUS Glass Canada (2016); global rights to NOVUS Glass, NOVUS Plastic Polish, TAG Network and Speedy Glass USA (2017); and ProColor Collision (2019).

In 2023, Fix Network entered a partnership with Stake F1® Team KICK Sauber. This
exciting partnership offers Fix Network a substantial opportunity for worldwide visibility and brand establishment – unlocking new avenues for the company’s products, brands and services while facilitating innovative connections with consumers. With Steve’s leadership, Fix Network is transforming the aftermarket franchise business, aligning global operations with lean, customer-focused processes that deliver greater efficiencies for operators and insurance partners, while consistently surpassing customer expectations.

Kelly Logan is the Director of the Collision Repair Programs at Rivian. He is responsible for managing all collision related activities in the Service Organization which includes Rivian’s Third Party Repair Network. Kelly has played an active role in the collision industry for over 25 years, starting his career as a body repair technician. Using his experience as a technician, Kelly participated in the BMW Service Technician Education Program after postsecondary technical school. In addition to his impressive technical background, Kelly worked for Car-O-Liner equipment at the corporate level collecting vehicle data, training and technical support on all of Car-O-Liner’s equipment.

He owned his own collision center for a brief period and in 2012, Kelly was on the team that started and built Tesla’s Approved Body Shop Program from the ground up. Kelly enjoys the challenges of working in the fast-paced environment of an electric vehicle startup and building teams to create an exceptional service experience for their customers.

Stephane Lord has worked with Prevost for over 30 years. His current position as the network collision manager of the Prevost division of Volvo Bus provides him the opportunity to support all of the collision service centers within the Prevost network, including providing training on new collision repair tools and processes. Prior to this position, Stephane worked as a service manager, supervisor of prototype department, and as a welding technician.

Stephane enjoys badminton, mountain biking, and skiing in his free time. He also likes to give back to his community through fundraising and public service.

– Over 40 years in the HD transportation industry
– HD Diesel Technican 12 years
– Director of Maintenance 10 years
– Customer Sales, Service and Warranty Manager 15 years
– Director of Business Development, Field Service and Warranty 2 years
– Product Support Specialist – Steering 3 years

I have worked for 3M for 34 years in a variety of R&D, Sales, and Application Engineering positions. I have spent the last 16 years in the collision market, focusing the last 6 years on Heavy-Duty Truck and Commercial Vehicle collision. My goal is to understand customer and market needs and bring 3M product and process solutions to the industry.

Matt Melbye has 17+ years of application engineering expertise at 3M in the fields of industrial manufacturing, building construction, and box truck build and repair. He has over 7 years of experience working in the 3M Industrial Adhesives and Tapes division.

Rick Melcher started in the trucking industry as a Heavy-Duty Diesel Technician in Omaha Nebraska, moving to Colorado in 1980 where he served as a line Technician and later as Foreman and Assistant Service Manager for Denver Peterbilt. In 1994 he left the trucking industry briefly to pursue a real estate career in a rapidly growing Denver market. Rick was a real estate Managing Broker in Colorado for 8 years before coming to Rush. Throughout this period, he acted as a consultant for the heavy-duty repair industry, assisting various companies in establishing web-based truck service scheduling systems during the growing online era of the late 1990s. Additionally, Rick was occasionally called upon to serve as an expert witness in municipal, county, and federal court cases related to truck repair protocols and practices.

In 2001 Rick began his now 23 years with Rush Enterprises. Over the years, he has occupied diverse roles such as Denver Service Manager and Colorado Regional Service Manager. In 2011, Rick moved to Rush corporate headquarters in New Braunfels, Texas, where he initially served as the National Service Trainer and subsequently advanced to the position of Corporate Director of Service. Additionally, he dedicated 3 years as a startup lead for RushCare Telematics, establishing sales of components and airtime, managing accounting, and addressing customers’ telematics requirements while implementing cost controls.

Rick currently serves as the Collision Center Director for 32 locations, a position he has held for 5 years. “I take pride in working closely with our dealer managers and teams to address our customers’ needs, uphold our corporate responsibilities, and support all our service and body shop employees.”

Rick Melcher currently serves as Director of Service Body Shops for Rush Enterprises.

Marisol Monge is a Product Director at PACCAR Parts. In her role, Marisol leads the Cab and Frame business unit within Product Marketing, she oversees strategy and execution of PACCAR aftermarket transportation solutions, including market requirements, product management, dealers and internal communication, and supplier relationships. Additionally, Marisol drives strategies determining product distribution, pricing, and develops creative promotion and advertising plans to help achieve established sales objectives.

Marisol has been with PACCAR for thirteen years. During her career, she has held positions of increasing responsibility at PACCAR, Kenworth and Peterbilt, including Autonomous Vehicle Collaboration Manager, Product Planning Manager, Engineering Supervisor, and Electrical Design Engineer.

Marisol earned her undergraduate degree from Hermosillo Institute of Technology (B.S. – Electronics Engineering) in Mexico, and her graduate degree (Masters – Automation Engineering) from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. Marisol holds a Professional Engineer License in Mexico and a PMP (Project Management Professional) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

In her free time, Marisol enjoys hiking, biking, traveling to new places, playing musical instruments (mandolin, guitar) and reading books.

Leonardas grew up in the HD repair and collision business. He’s seen many changes within the industry over the last 40+ years. He spent the first 10 years as a technician, starting as a Mechanics Apprentice, on to Painters Prepper and eventually a Combo Technician where he learned the trade from the bottom up.

The next 10+ years he spent as an Independent Shop owner, specializing in Automotive/Medium Duty repair. Being in Collision repair allowed for experience in the Automotive side of the industry. The last 22 years have been spent with Penske Truck Collision. The first 16 years as a Collision Center Manager in Phoenix and the remaining 6 years with the corporate team, growing and supporting the field locations.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in business management at Hodges University, Doug learned the family business of commercial estimating. Co-developing the system back in the early 2000’s, he grew from a database developer to now managing the AdjustRite website and resources.
Doug resides in northern Florida with his wife and two sons. Outside of work, he enjoys golfing, fishing, and billiards.

Tony Passwater, President of AEII, has been in the collision repair industry full time since 1972. AEII is a leading international consulting, training, and system development organization specializing primarily in for profit service businesses such as Collision Repair and Auto Services.

Tony has been a certified QuickBooks Advisor, Trainer, and Consultant since 1999. He is certified in all QuickBooks versions since 1999.

Mark Polzin was born in 1963 in Fort Atkinson, WI and started working in the family business at Budget Truck and Auto in 1981. He started his career in detail and worked in every department to learn the business and now holds the position of President and owner. He has served on several advisory boards over the years including: Wisconsin Auto Technicians Association LTD, a local township board and youth baseball league, and the South Side Business Association in Janesville, WI. He currently sits on the Wisconsin Motor Coach Association, Minnesota Motorcoach Association, and the HD Repair Forum. When Mark is not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife of 39 years, his two children, and four grandchildren. Mark loves the outdoors and spends his free time camping, grilling out, fishing, snowmobiling, and gardening.

George Prokos has worked in the Heavy Duty/Commercial Truck Industry for the past 35 plus years in field service, product support, and sales & marketing. He also has worked for tire 1 component suppliers such as Eaton Truck Components (steer, drive and trailer axle, brake systems, drivelines, and clutches) Detroit Diesel (diesel engines) and TRW/ZF (complete commercial truck steering system from power steering pumps to the steering wheel down to the road wheels and everything in between). He has also worked for truck OEM’s, large and small. Companies such as Navistar, Azure Dynamics (EV and Hybrid trucks), IMPCO Automotive (commercial truck LPG and CNG systems) and Isuzu Motors (Diesel Engines).

George is a graduate of The Ohio State University and the Wisconsin School of Business. He is a Member of the National Association of Service Managers, SAE (society of automotive engineers) and TMC (truck maintenance council). He still maintains a CDL (commercial driver’s license) with all endorsements. In his free time George enjoys building traditional hot rods, motorcycles of all makes, and restoring wood boats.

Residing in West Michigan Bob has over 40 years in the HD truck collision repair industry.
Starting as a janitor in high school Bob has held positions as a refinisher, truck collision technician, frame and alignment technician as well as a ASE master certified truck equipment installer.

Bob has been a member of trade associations through the years including a past president of the Truck Frame and Axle Repair association.

Born and raised on the farm in Central Minnesota Lakes Area. Moved to Rochester Minnesota to work in a Truck Equipment and Body Shop. Over the years, he worked his way up through multiple departments in the shop, including parts, service and sales, eventually taking on the General Manager role. Kelly later decided to leave the shop and pursue a career in the Insurance industry.

Kelly started with Federated Insurance as a Material Damage Appraiser, handling all types of losses from individual passenger vehicles, heavy truck, trailer and equipment claims. Kelly has handled large Catastrophe Losses for auto dealers, farm equipment dealers, and construction equipment dealers. He was promoted into the Home Office as a Supervisor and Trainer, creating their Heavy Truck and Equipment Claims Group. Kelly is the Home Office Claims Manager for Material Damage and oversees all Truck and Equipment Claims nationwide. Kelly has currently been with Federated Insurance for 35 years. He has also served on the NTHECC (National Truck and Heavy Equipment Claims Council) Board of Directors, as the Treasurer, President Elect and President, as well as being on several other committees

Chris Schutt is a seasoned Technical Training Specialist at Bee Line Company, boasting over 30 years of industry-related experience. With his wealth of expertise, Chris delivers comprehensive training in heavy-duty wheel alignment and frame correction, ensuring optimal performance and safety standards in the field.

John Walcher is the President of Veritas Advisors, Inc., an M&A, capital raising and strategic advisory firm that works with automotive aftermarket companies to help them achieve their growth objectives through acquisitions and real estate developments, or representing them in their pursuit of the ultimate milestone: the sale of their businesses.

Mr. Walcher brings a wealth of knowledge to every engagement. During his more than 25 years in M&A, he has been involved in numerous collision repair transactions, including many MSO deals on both the buy side and the sell side. He also has led multiple deals in other segments of the aftermarket, including automotive service, paint distribution, equipment manufacturing, software and professional services. His background is supplemented by dozens of deals in health care, engineering & construction, manufacturing and various service industries, as well as transactions in China, Brazil, England and Canada. He provides expert witness testimony and valuation opinions, speaks on M&A trends and strategies, and has advised several large private equity groups on consolidation strategies.

Prior to starting Veritas Advisors in 2009, Mr. Walcher spent many years in corporate M&A, doing deals for two Fortune© 500 corporations, as well as spending seven years at Caliber Collision Centers, departing in 2007 as its Vice President of Corporate Development and Governmental Affairs (during which time the company was ranked #9 on the INC. 500© list of Fastest Growing Private Companies).

Before attending graduate school and commencing his M&A career, Mr. Walcher was a senior staff economist performing econometric analysis as a U.S. Department of Defense contractor. Mr. Walcher holds a Master of Science in Finance from the London Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Economics cum laude from the University of California.

David B Willett is the CUO and co-founder of SPARK Underwriters – committed to the automotive repair industry. He was a founder of the Universal Underwriters ASM Program which insured close to 16,000 automotive businesses including about 6,000 Collision Repairers. An AMI Board Member and several industry committees including CIC and CIECA, David has shared his experience with shop owners at SEMA, CARS, World Tire Expo, NAPG, Vision, CollisionAdvice, CoyoteVision, GAAS and more including the newly formed HD Repair Forum. He holds several insurance designations – Commercial Property Casualty Underwriter CPCU, Cyber Risk Designation CYB, Associate Loss Control Management ALCM.

David earned an Economics Degree with a Concentration in Mathematics at the University of Texas in Austin where he also was a D1 basketball player. Recognized as one of the top leaders during his career, he has demonstrated the ability to develop leaders and teams.