Paving the Path to Success: Southeast Collision Conference Recap
by Alana Quartuccio
It was an unforgettable weekend! The 2025 Southeast Collision Conference (SCC) provided crowds from the WMABA and Carolina Collision Association (CCA) regions an opportunity to connect, collaborate, grow and learn from some of the collision repair industry’s best educators and innovators at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, VA.
For the third year in a row, WMABA hit it out of the park with its trademark Collision P.R.E.P. (Professional Repairer Education Program) series featuring national-level speakers like Mike Anderson (Collision Advice), Danny Gredinberg (Database Enhancement Gateway) and Mike Jones (Discover Leadership Training). (Our full education recap begins on page 14).
“The Southeast Collision Conference was a tremendous success – bringing together the latest innovations and a powerful sense of community,” relayed CCA Executive Director Josh Kent. “It’s clear that our industry is not only evolving but thriving, and this event proved that when we collaborate, we elevate.”
SCC alternates between the WMABA and CCA regions year after year to serve as many shops as possible. This year’s Richmond event was even more enlightening as it was preceded by the Collision Industry Conference (recap on page 12) and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) Open Board Meeting (recap on page 10).
In the classroom on day one, CCA President Kyle Bradshaw (K&M Collision; Hickory, NC) inspired all to think about something “you aspire to do but lack the drive and determination to do. This business takes work. It doesn’t matter what you are doing; you have to get in and grind day in and day out. Let that resonate with you this weekend. You get out what you put in.”
On the trade show floor, attendees perused the various innovations and offerings on display.
The 2025 show marked the fifth year Platinum Sponsor Lombard Equipment has been a part of SCC. “We have a lot of customers in this area, so it’s great to come down and see them,” shared Kevin Lombard. “We had a great turn out. It’s important for us to be here to support the associations. They are a big part of us, and we are a big part of them.”
“The biggest thing that brings us back year after year is that we like to have a presence at this show as all the major companies are here,” stated Drew Holdren, a service consultant for AkzoNobel (Gold Sponsor). “I’ve always felt that it gives good information back to the body shop community. We are involved. We want to help and train and show our offerings and be a part of the community, not just on the national level, but on the local level as well. The show gets better each year, and the folks who run it are really trying to make a difference in this industry.”
“This is my third year coming to the Southeast Collision Conference,” relayed Robert Gruskos of Reliable Automotive Equipment. “The main reason we come to this is to support the local industry here, to support WMABA and CCA. It’s also great that CIC and the SCRS Open Board Meeting was held right before the show as it was an opportunity to see what the industry is doing and all the trends, and we’re here to sell some equipment.”
“It’s an amazing opportunity to see other industry professionals, see what is new and meet other shops in the market for possible opportunities for additional business,” Jill Michaels of Gold Sponsor BASF said of her third consecutive year at the show. “It’s a really good time.”
It was the first time at SCC for Carmen Stockard of BAPS. “We are a Gold Sponsor this year. We were excited to come and get set up. There’s good customers and vendors here. We’ll see what next year in North Carolina brings.”
“We have good coverage in the southeast area, so we wanted to come to the show and show our support for our franchisees and corporate offices,” reported Jeff Gross of Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists (Silver Sponsor) of the company’s second year at the show. “We met a lot of great people and made some great connections.”
“It’s been great telling the shops about our new list shop price model for repairers working with Allstate, GEICO and Progressive, and the parts estimating platforms and maneuvering our services onto those as well,” added Dale Huckabee of Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists.
CCA and WMABA extend their gratitude to all the sponsors who made the 2025 show possible, including Platinum Sponsors: Autotality, Blue Ride Color Company, I-CAR, Lombard Equipment, National Coatings and Supplies/Single Source and PPG; Gold Sponsors: AkzoNobel, All Clear Diagnostics and Calibration, BAPS, BASF, Enterprise Mobility, KECO and Reliable Automotive Equipment; and Silver Sponsors: Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists, Car-Rep Automotive Products, Intrepid Direct, Milwaukee Tool, OEConnection, REVV, Spanesi and Symach.
Want more? Check out the June 2025 issue of Hammer & Dolly!