In The News

SuperConference 2013 Attendees Dig Deep and Raise 34K+ for selected charity

Linthicum, MD - April 15, 2013 Combine several hundred hard working and successful independent auto shop owners, an organizational culture that encourages and celebrates philanthropy, a couple of oil painting horses (yes, really) and a lot of good intent - and you can do wonders. Just ask Amanda JS Moore, founder of Reigning Grace Ranch, a Scottsdale AZ based non-profit 501(c) 3 organization that exists to mentor at-risk children. Her organization had been selected as the charity for Baltimore-based Automotive Training Institute’s annual "SuperConference,” which was held March 14-17 at Scottsdale’s Camelback Inn.

Alicia Gillum, Jah'liah Burroughs, Amanda Moore, Christopher Moore, Joseph Burroughs, Chris Frederick

Amanda Moore helps 12-year-old miniature Pinto mare Bella paint.

Over the course of just three days, Moore watched as attendees fed more than $4,500 in cash and checks into a glass collection ball - and then generated a staggering $29,960 during two very entertaining auctions. Egged on by a gleeful Chris “Chubby” Frederick (ATI CEO), attendees at ATI’s annual SuperConference waged spirited bidding battles for works of art “created” by two of Reigning Grace Ranch’s resident horses. The amount of money offered for the paintings was substantial in itself. But perhaps the most impressive act of generosity was the donation of all bids offered during the final auction - winning and losing - to the general fund that made up the donation total. Read the entire story

Automotive Training Institute Expands into the Collision Industry

Linthicum, MD - October 3, 2012

Automotive Training Institute (ATI), the industry leader in automotive business training, coaching and consulting services, has announced plans to expand its training curriculum and coaching system into the collision repair industry.

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ATI Welcomes First Women's 20 Group!

Leading Ladies/Chubby's Angels, from left to right: Donna Grady, Michelle Long, Tammy Shoemaker, Janet Manning, Karen Donald, Megan Hines (in front of Karen Donald), CATI CEO Chris "Chubby" Frederick, Beth Ammazzalorso, Patty Carroll, Shelle Bennett, Sheila Kissane, Diane Steinback, Judi Haglan, Barbara Parise, Allison Brunovszky.

Pay attention gentlemen. The winds of change are blowing, and a force to be reckoned with is gathering on the distant horizon.

Fortunately, it's a force for good and its sole purpose is to help make your shop - and every other owner's - become better than ever!

Meet the Leading Ladies/Chubby's Angels: ATI's first - and many would say long overdue - women's 20 Group! These 16 shop owners/co-owners have arrived with the experience, insight, skills, determination, spit and gristle to tackle anything in their paths. And that's exactly what they intend to do.

To ATI's forward-thinking-credit, CEO Chris Frederick himself came up with the idea some years ago. But it wasn't until this year's SuperConference that the concept began to get traction. Judi Haglin brought up the subject at SuperConference, a sufficient number of women threw their hats in, ATI Coach Kim Hickey agreed to be facilitator and the ball was rolling.

To get the group started, an invitation was sent out to all the SuperConference attendees. For the initial group, everyone that responded was accepted - a mix of owners, owner spouses and managers whose involvement varies from doing the books at home to running the business. They will meet at ATI-HQ twice annually.

The moniker "Chubby's Angels" was originally conceived by Mike Haley as a placeholder name for the group. At its first meeting, the ladies decided the group's permanent name should reflect their roles as trendsetters and professionals - while still having a little fun. As they plan to take the lead in the industry as far as serving as good role models, as well as mentoring and educating other women, it was agreed that we would become "Leading Ladies" - under the Chubby's Angels umbrella.

Going forward, the women's 20 Group members will be chosen just like regular 20 Group members. They will need to fill out an application and will be placed in the most appropriate group for their skills and interest levels. It is hoped that two or three additional groups can be formed quickly and that each will include a good mix of people who will give as much as they take - a core 20 Group principle. Potential applicants should know that, for the most part, these groups will not be delving into numbers or KPI's during at least the first few meetings; allowing the focus to be on subjects that either are specific to women or are not being given the attention they might deserve - and, of course, supporting each other.

Kim Hickey mentioned some of them: "The ladies have agreed on a number of areas of interest - assisting other women in the automotive industry, humanitarian projects, community outreach and involvement, mom/wife/business owner life balance, learning to delegate, learning to NOT be a "Jill of all trades, master of none," establishing and implementing better shop policies and procedures and putting well-prepared disaster/tragedy contingency plans into place." And what about special skills that the Angels can bring to bear on the day-to day challenges facing every shop?

"That's easy," said Hickey: "Generally speaking, women are more in tune to appearances. This helps with making sure the shop, waiting area, rest rooms, uniforms, etc. are visually appealing and well maintained. More than half of the customers that bring in vehicles are women. It is a proven fact that female customers feel more comfortable dealing with a woman. Women often have a greater capacity for sensitivity and empathy toward both customers and employees. Those dynamics can provide an otherwise non-existent early warning system to management."

She concluded: "Women are not afraid to ask for help. They can multi-task and be different things to different people. And women are able to objectively put policies and procedures in place, without worrying about being able to stay 'buddies' with the techs."

What these ladies discover and recommend will be worth noting, as their observations come from a unique perspective. That's basically what an outside consultant provides - a fresh look at old problems and new ideas for solving them - or even preventing them in the first place.

The fact that ATI's collective industry-expert brain is going to grow a lot of unique new cells bodes well for all of us!

Email Facilitator Kim Hickey for more information.

Automotive Training Institute Senior Instructor George Zeeks Teaches Leadership - The ATI Way

MSFA Recruitment and Retention Committee members are pictured with ATI Senior Instructor George Zeeks at the Leadership Seminar. (Left to right; Bill Wagner, ATI's Julie Casey, George Zeeks, and Committee Chair Joe Chornock). Article & photo used with permission.

April 23, 2012 Balitimore MD

"Building Leadership for Organizational Success" was the title of the seminar put on by the MSFA's Recruitment and Retention Committee on Saturday, March 24, 2012 at MFRI.

The philosophy behind this day-long seminar was that if a department has good leadership – the members will follow. ATI Senior Instructor George Zeeks taught the participants, through interactive exercises, a method to better understand how to lead, keep members involved, and how to make them part of the "family."

Attendees were broken down into teams and worked through multiple exercises that helped them learn the qualities of good leaders. Mr. Zeeks has used this method as a proven process that helps build leaders that are then able to increase their organization membership and to create an Atmosphere of Excellence within their department.

The seminar was completely filled with a waiting list of attendees. It is the hope of the MSFA’s Recruitment and Retention Committee to offer this seminar again in the near future.

Visit the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) site

Automotive Training Institute Endorses Demandforce

Automotive Training Institute (ATI), the industry leader in automotive business coaching, has endorsed Demandforce as a preferred software communications vendor to help ATI repair facilities attract new customers, retain existing customers, and measure their performance.

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ATI Wins The 2009 AMI Annual Recognition Award

ATI wins The AMI (Automotive Management Institute) Annual Recognition Award, the highest honor the institute bestows on an organization or industry leader who has taken specific and significant action to encourage, enhance and support opportunities for automotive industry professionals to improve their business management skills.

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ATI Receives the 2008 Customer Value Leadership of the Year Award
from Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, renowned industry analysts and growth consultants, have named Automotive Training Institute (ATI) the 2008 recipient of the Customer Value Leadership of the Year Award.

Click here to see the story on Autonet TV video.

ATI Earns Rank as Automotive Preferred Supplier for AAA

ATI, the industry leader in automotive business consulting, will provide expert management and consulting services through a one-day Cash Profits Boot Camp which features program materials and content customized for AAA/CAA service providers. The Boot Camp is designed to help shop owners gain a better understanding of their business from a financial perspective in order to develop growth and marketing strategies and retain their existing customer base - while attracting new business and improving overall shop efficiency.

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TIA contracts with Automotive Training Institute to provide management and marketing programs

The Tire Industry Association (TIA) announced that it has contracted with the Automotive Training Institute (ATI) to develop a series of 2-day regional seminars for independent automotive repair shop owners and managers. The programs, which will take place during the last quarter of 2003, will promote proactive leadership as the key to improving a company's bottom line. The dynamic and highly-regarded automotive industry trainer Chris "Chubby" Frederick will lead the sessions.

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Frost & Sullivan Performance Measurement: The Key To Success For Automotive Training Institute

Research uncovered endless pages of articles and advertisements on training options for automotive technicians and service providers. Each article or advertisement claimed their program would provide a more educated employee that would broaden service capabilities and drive increased profitability. Yet, finding a company or customers that published results that quantitatively defined the impact of the training on the customer's bottom line proved to be extremely difficult.

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Sunoco Appoints ATI as Consultants to the ULTRA- Service Care Franchises

In March 2001, Sunoco's Ron Townsend & Mike Mercurio appointed the Automotive Training Institute (ATI) personally get involved with the USC dealers in US. It started with ATI CEO Chris "Chubby" Frederick presenting at the Sunoco Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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Meineke Endorses ATI as National Training & Consulting Company

Over 1000 store managers and franchisees attended the training with rave reviews. Over 75 franchisees representing near 500 Midas stores also became involved in ATI's One Year Consultation and training System. Many Franchisees have experienced huge increases in gross profit, net profit, sales and car count.

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