The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) is pleased to announce a renewed commitment from the Oklahoma Auto Body Association (OKABA) to reestablish its affiliate association membership, as part of the national network.
OKABA originally joined SCRS as an affiliate association in 2002. Twenty years later, the Oklahoma-based association officially relaunched on Dec. 9, after a several-year hiatus and months of rebuilding efforts to create a reinvigorated association and board of directors.
OKABA’s objectives are to serve the small businesses and the motoring public in Oklahoma through leadership, education and initiatives that uplift the professionalism and business conditions of those engaged in our state’s collision industry.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with other auto body associations during their formation,” shared OKABA Executive Director Ementi Coary. “With every one of those efforts, the focus was on bringing much-needed education and training to the market. By affiliating with SCRS we’ve restored an important part of the history of the association that came before us, but also believe it places us in a better position to bring quality information to more repair facilities.
"We want to help inform our members on important industry topics with the goal of bettering their businesses and increasing their visibility of safe and proper repair considerations," Coary said. "We look forward to building a solid foundation with body shop owners, managers and technicians during our 2023 kickoff campaign.”
An important part of the OKABA mission is to provide an opportunity for those in the Oklahoma repair industry to meet and network with shop owners, technicians, business leaders, tool providers and industry affiliates to benefit the repair industry as an alliance.
“Our vision is to see OKABA help our shops focus on performing safe OE repairs,” added OKABA President Bryan Burdette. “We want to encourage continuous education and recruitment and being able to partner with tenured associations like SCRS helps us achieve that common goal.”
“The collaboration that occurs between the state, national and international associations within the SCRS Affiliate Network is really a special thing,” shared SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg. “It’s a sense of community, it’s a give and take, but most importantly I think it is a place for growth and development. We are grateful that we’ve been able to include so many associations, and in cases like this, to be able to include generational developments that earmark different phases of an association.
"You’ve got entities that were once tenured but losing momentum finding new leadership and rebuilding with this sense of youthful enthusiasm that can be exactly what is necessary to get people excited," Schulenburg said. "We are looking forward to supporting OKABA and their members as they work to achieve their goals.”
The OKABA kickoff event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 11, 2023, at Meridian Technology Center-South Campus in Guthrie, OK.
The event is sponsored by AkzoNobel and features industry-renowned speakers Mike Anderson of Collision Advice speaking on "Grow your Team, Grow Your Business and Change the way you Compete," and Tony Adams of AkzoNobel on “The Roadmap to Becoming the Employer of Choice.”
“I’m so excited to see OKABA get started again and rejoin SCRS as an affiliate,” added Adams, who also serves as an SCRS national director. “I’m looking forward to joining them in support of their first education day in February.”
Those wishing to attend may register at no cost prior to Feb. 1 by clicking here. After Feb. 1, registration is $35. OKABA membership is not required to attend the event.
For more information about SCRS, or to join as a member, visit www.scrs.com, call 1-877-841-0660 or email info@scrs.com.
Source: SCRS
