The LoveTrades Foundation has appointed Brandon Eckenrode executive director, the Laramie, Wyo., nonprofit’s board of directors announced Sept. 14. LoveTrades raises money for students at WyoTech, whose Laramie campus runs a collision/refinishing technology program, and for students in Laramie County Community College and University of Wyoming career and technical education programs. “Brandon’s passion for technical […]
Collision Repair Education Foundation’s 24th Annual Golf Fundraiser Raises More Than $145,000
Total tops the 2025 event by roughly $25,000. The Collision Repair Education Foundation’s 24th Annual Golf Fundraiser, co-hosted by PPG Automotive Finishes, raised more than $145,000 for collision repair education programs. The event drew 125 golfers to Seven Bridges Golf Club in Woodridge, Ill., on July 21. CREF is the collision industry’s primary philanthropic channel […]
Collision Repair Education Foundation Adds PPG’s Amanda Valmonte to Board of Trustees
The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) has appointed Amanda Valmonte, business development manager for PPG Automotive Refinish, to its Board of Trustees. CREF is the collision industry’s primary philanthropic channel to high school and college repair training programs, and its scholarships, grants and in-kind donation programs supply much of the entry-level technician pipeline that collision […]
Collision Repair Education Foundation Awards Over $196,000 in 2026 Scholarships
More than 100 students benefit from industry support. The Collision Repair Education Foundation distributed $196,230 in scholarships to 102 collision repair students through its 2026 Student Scholarship program. Additionally, for the third consecutive year, the Women’s Industry Network (WIN) partnered with CREF to administer its U.S. scholarship program, awarding $29,500 in scholarships and 20 tool […]
Brandon Eckenrode Steps Down as Collision Repair Education Foundation Executive Director
Board working with staff on leadership transition. The Collision Repair Education Foundation announced July 17 that Brandon Eckenrode has stepped down as executive director. Eckenrode led the foundation since August 2021 when he was named managing director. He was promoted to executive director in June 2023. He joined the foundation in 2009 as associate director […]
CREF and Atlanta I-CAR Committee Grow a Georgia High School Collision Repair Program From 28 to 120 Students
A 15-year partnership among the school, the Collision Repair Education Foundation and a local I-CAR volunteer committee has turned a small shop class into a regional technician pipeline. Maxwell High School of Technology in Lawrenceville, Ga., has grown its collision repair program from about 28 students to roughly 120 across 15 years, an expansion its […]
CREF Support and Industry Partnerships Build a New York Collision Repair Pipeline
A New York City career and technical high school has turned more than a decade of Collision Repair Education Foundation support and a widening circle of industry partners into a pipeline that carries students from the classroom to SkillsUSA competition and into entry-level collision repair jobs. At Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High […]
IAA Increases Annual CREF Donation to $100,000
Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. (IAA) is raising its annual contribution to the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) from $75,000 to $100,000 in 2026, the foundation announced. “We increased our donation because the need has grown,” said Mark Helvenston, vice president at IAA and a former CREF board vice chair. “Schools are struggling to keep programs […]
Collision Repair Education Foundation Reports More Than $9 Million in 2025 In-Kind Donations
The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) said industry partners contributed more than $9 million in in-kind donations to collision repair training programs in 2025, with software providers accounting for the largest share of the support. The donations equipped schools across the country with the equipment, software and parts used in modern collision repair facilities. For […]
Fuji Spray Auto Becomes First Sponsor of CREF Art Meets Automotive Competition
The Collision Repair Education Foundation has signed Fuji Spray Auto as the first sponsor of its Art Meets Automotive Competition, with the spray equipment manufacturer donating 50 professional spray guns to the program and to collision repair schools as it returns for a fifth year in 2026. Of the 50 spray guns Fuji Spray Auto […]
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