Holidays mean travel and travel means collisions, which means plenty of work for body shops when holidays end. Drivers will see 80 million others on U.S. roadways this weekend -- a quarter of the country.
But by our tally, this industry will be closer to home kitchens, which even when crowded see fewer collisions.
Before things get cooking, we asked an uncomplicated yet perhaps complex question:
What are you thankful for?
Here’s what they said.
Big Night
Autobody News is honored by the gratitude sent our way for the work of telling your stories. It’s nice and all, but next year we hope to score an invite to Thanksgiving events hosted by the likes of Brian Patton or Beau Bennett.
They are, as the kids say, epic. Think “Big Night” -- the 1996 film wherein a 1950s-era Italian restaurant in New Jersey cooks all day when it hears impresario Louie Prima is headed there for dinner. It doesn’t go that way; in some ways it’s even better.
Brian Patton.
Patton and two partners this year bought and plan to expand American Collision and Hail Repair in Wichita, KS. He’s also planning on 120 people this weekend.
Every year’s big -- “my grandmother had 53 grandchildren and great-grandchildren when she passed away” -- but this one’s bigger than most, because 2024 is also his mom’s 70th birthday.
“We do a big fish fry on Friday, and on Saturday we do Thanksgiving,” Patton said. The shindig involves giant tents, heaters and cousins coming from as far as North Carolina and Florida. A weekend schedule lets family members go to spouses’ events.
Beau Bennett.
Meanwhile in Iowa, Bennett, who owns Kaious Kountry Auto Collision Center, doubles down on Patton’s plans, with 250 at a community dinner. This is Lansing, IA, population 950, the burg where Bennett grew up.
“They come from all over,” he said. “I’ve known some of them since grade school.”
TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall and City Lounge, owned by Jason Drape, hosts it. Drape also provides the staff. Bennett buys the food, and his family -- wife Terri, their daughters and grandkids -- also serve.
Donations flow. Last year, with 180 present, saw $2,200 raised for a local food bank.
“This is the right thing to do: it makes me happy, makes my wife happy.”
Thanksgiving Began as a Faith-Based Organization
The holiday, after all, started some centuries ago with faith-focused activities, not least of which was the early settlers’ belief they’d live through winter -- with help from the current residents.
Laura Gay, who runs a Florida-based body shop buying consultancy, emailed she’s thankful for her grown son’s health. He was sick nearly a year, with an illness she said could have killed him.
Laura Gay.
“I thank God every day for his blessing, and all the prayers my son received during that difficult and scary journey,” Gay wrote. “My son is gaining his life back now and it is wonderful to watch.”
Greg Solesbee, owner of CARSTAR Hayden in Idaho, said he more and more sees clear indications of someone rather bigger than himself handling issues of the moment -- from moving to the state, to business operations, to how it simply ebbs and flows.
“There are too many times things have happened completely outside of our control.”
Family-of-six logistics, finding workers in a tough market -- out of the blue, at the last minute or both -- and apparently random contacts by unconnected friends and neighbors calling to make sure everything’s OK -- he said it’s in there.
“Now I see it in everything,” he said, “and I try to let everything be in His hands.”
Tiffany Silva wrote Autobody News she’s “incredibly grateful I still have my parents,” who’ve had health struggles, “but by God’s grace are still here.” The co-owner of Accurate Auto Body in Northern California also tapped her team and being in “this amazing industry for the last 40 years. Lately we have seen more instability … but I am optimistic for the future.”
Family is Where When You Go There, You All Say ‘Thank You’
Mark Cardella Sr., of Eckhart Auto Body in SoCal is “thankful for my two fantastic grandsons, ages 13 and 16, who are more adult than most adults.” The boys live in NorCal and regularly text and talk with Grandpa.
Steve Hall also focused on his family. As with others, members of his have seen health issues in 2024. This includes his mother and father, and a nephew, who’s involved in a year-long journey of quarterly overseas visits for specialized health care. The family last year sold its four body shops to Joe Hudson Collision Centers, providing the means and free time to meet such challenges.
Thanksgiving will be “maybe a couple dozen people,” he said. “It’s nice to be with everyone.”
Toby Chess, a body shop long-timer now doing training for I-CAR, at first half-joked he’s grateful for waking each morning, stretching out his arms, “and I don’t feel wood.”
It’s only partly tongue-in-cheek, because three years ago daughter Stacy Torres gave him one of her kidneys.
Many in the industry stepped up to be tested but none were a match. Chess was a transplant longshot because of his age, 76 at the time. He’s known at least one other major organ donor recipient in the body shop industry.
Debra and Frank Hodulik.
“It’s a whole new appreciation of life,” he said. He added he now has two birthdays: the original, in 1925, and an October day in 2021.
“Family always comes first,” Frank Hodulik said. “I’m thankful for them, and having them around me.” Hodulik sold two shops to Brightpoint Auto Body Repair and is now retired after 50 collision center years, 40 as an owner. He’s “doing chores” -- long-delayed personal projects and “honey-do’s” -- and slowing down.
“I’m adjusting, working on my health, my wife’s health is getting better,” he said. The industry “has been a blessing to me and I don’t regret anything.”
The Business of Thanksgiving is Gratitude for the Business
Paul Williams, who heads Brightpoint, leads a series of comments on the “gratitude of business.” He cited “our employees, who believe in us, and the path we’re taking” in collision repair.
“We at ComplyAuto are thankful for our customers and the hard work they do every day to keep the American people on the road and safe,” company legal eagle Brad Miller emailed. “We are truly grateful to be a part of this wonderful industry!” The firm makes software that helps shop maintain legal and regulatory compliance.
“I'm thankful to be able to use this industry to help others … through tough situations,” Kurt Brunshwiler chimed in, also by email, from Laguna Auto Body in Milpitas, CA.
“I’m grateful to work with next-generation welding automation technology and share my knowledge with other welders,” Tommy Zoladz, a Trumpf Inc. advanced applications engineer, wrote via a spokesperson. Particularly gratifying is being involved in affordable innovation with shops and manufacturers.
Mike Spagnola.
SEMA President and Chief Executive Mike Spagnola is grateful for downtime with family, “between two of the auto industry's biggest shows” -- the just-concluded SEMA and fast-approaching PRI.
“I'm thankful for our thriving industry and the incredible people I get to work with every day, as together we continue to drive innovation and passion for our industry,” said Oscar Moreno, who owns Integrity Auto Collision Center in Northern California. He also offered tangible gratitude on the business side: he’s in thank-mode to his 14 employees, who get the full, four-day weekend off.
“We prepped ahead of time,” he said, working the Saturday morning before the holiday, for instance, to make this easier. “The gesture is highly appreciated.”
Mix Family and Business, Get an Integrated Family Business
“This Thanksgiving I am grateful for my family, especially my mom, Michelle,” emailed Keely Pampell, a communications coordinator with Driven Brands. A shout-out also went to “my best friend and boyfriend Alexander [for] constant love and support.”
Company colleagues get “grat-love” because “they make me look forward to my job, every day.” Kye Yeung has 49 years in the industry -- chasing Frank Hodulik on that -- and owns European Motor Car Works Inc. in Orange County in California.
Kye Yeung.
“I’m thankful for the friendships made [and] all the vendors that extended credit, gave great advice, and had faith in my business,” he emailed. “Most of all, I’m thankful for my daughters Nichole and Jennifer, for their conviction to proper repairs and continuing our legacy.”
Norberto Salas and Lorenzo Avila co-own Luxe Collision in Marin County in California. Salas’ son, a grad of the Contra Costa College Collision Engineering Program (CEP), works in the shop -- “he’s grown and learned a lot” -- and his daughter starts on the curriculum next semester. Salas’ family just had a vacation, is buying a house, and “I’m really happy.”
Meanwhile, Luxe doubled sales in 2024.
“Business is moving forward,” Avila said. “We’re wrapping up a very solid year.”
Matt Thornton, a former shop owner who also headed the Idaho Autobody Association, offers a “thanks Dad” on working with his father in the daily grind and paint.
“We were partners for about four years,” Thornton said, “and what it taught me to do, and what not to do -- then passing that wisdom along to other shop owners? I’m thankful for lessons learned.”
At Yoder Family of Cos. in Northern Colorado, Micah Elsom oversees collision ops. His wife is getting into the business at one of the Yoder sites, The Carriage Shop in Fort Collins.
“I’m thankful for her growth and care and involvement,” he said. “She’s stepping up, and putting time into getting things right, and it’s pretty exciting to watch.”
He’s “thankful also for the people we have in our business, helping us expand and watching growth happen.”
Elsom cited a tech preparing to leave, but when a slot “opened up closer to home, transferred and stayed with the company. We’ve established ourselves with our people, so they want to stay, saying ‘I feel like I belong.’”
Being Thankful This Year is Swell, But for Gratitude Going Forward…
A focused and understandable series of comments came on a subset of industry work: education
“I’m grateful in so many ways,” I-CAR President and CEO John Van Alstyne emailed via a spokesperson. “I’m especially thankful for the growing number of collision repair professionals who display their unwavering commitment to continuous technical education and apply it to performing repairs … for the ultimate benefit of the consumer. Thank you!”
Arianna Sherlock.
Arianna Sherlock, associate vice president of marketing, added she’s grateful for “the opportunity to work with expertly trained technicians whose passion ignites a spark -- showing future generations the hands-on skill, innovation, and success that a career in collision repair provides.”
Professor Andy Rogge of North Idaho College’s tech program said, “I’m thankful for my class this year.”
NIC enrolled its largest class in several years this fall: 12 students, with women outnumbering men, seven to five.
The “intense, nine-month program” is capped at 15 and Rogge already has high school students at NIC’s Kootenai Technical Education Campus signed up for next fall.
Gratitude runs both ways, he said.
“They’re working with me as I’m working with them,” said Jeff Solis, a Contra Costa alum now working at Walker’s Auto Body in Concord, CA. He is thankful education and an underway career. A SEMA rookie this year, he was bowled over by “the number of people in the industry” and getting more education in classes and seminars on “total loss vehicles, maximizing customer service, and body shop excellence.”
Many people knew CEP, which helps fund the Contra Costa College tech work.
Molly Mahoney.
Molly Mahoney, CEP national marketing and engagement director emailed on behalf of the program that CEP staff are “filled with gratitude for the incredible people and opportunities that make our work so meaningful.”
She shouted out dedicated instructors shaping “the next generation of technicians,” and employers and backers “who believe in our mission and help us create pathways for students to succeed.”
Those students, “remind us why we do what we do -- their hard work, resilience and drive to learn fuel our passion to keep moving forward.”
Moving forward in Chicagoland are three new techs at JDM Collision, for which owner John Melendez gives thanks. They came from two different area tech programs, one now defunct, as did an instructor from that latter one.
Melendez is grateful for “a passion for the industry, a positive outlook, [and] to see a smile on their faces, see they’re learning.”
He was recently named education chair at the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Illinois. “I’m looking forward to next year,” Melendez said.
And Another Thing …
Randy Kuntz, certified collision center manager at Bennett Automotive Group in Pennsylvania, emailed two dozen gratitude bullet-points, which he called “a short list.”
He namechecked a supportive family and spending time with them for the holidays.
Randy Kuntz, right, with Mike Anderson, left.
He cited his dealership principal, “too many to mention” mentors, colleagues at Bennett, and Toyota training programs. Apprentice techs and “vocational schools that have a collision program” get gratitude, too.
More humorously, he thanked insurers that offer “long wait times on the phone [and] take two weeks to come look at a car.”
He thanked “new and repeat customers” and appreciated teaching clients about proper repairs, and being able to “help anyone out who needs it” at the shop.
“At the end of day, I’m thankful we have the client back in their quality repaired vehicle,” he wrote.
Future Think … Maybe It’s What He Wants for Christmas
Give Joe Messina the last word here, because it’s the next one.
He owns Roseleno Inc., a custom shop in Fullerton, CA.
He’s “happy to be with family” including a nephew at the shop.
In an “industry that’s pretty crazy, you’re running and gunning all the time, it’s nice to slow down.”
And he’s speeding up -- working on a new project.
“I’m looking at the future, 10 years down the line,” he said. A longish-time dream is now in the works with a customer on something which, if it works, will be costly, scalable and unique.
“I’ve wanted to build it for a while,” he said, “but scale is difficult with as much custom as we do.” But, “we love it and want to do the work.”
So cheers to Thanksgiving 2024, and here’s to building a bank of thanks for 2025.
Paul Hughes