CARSTAR honored its top performing stores and representatives during its 20th anniversary celebration in Denver on Sept. 20. Four CARSTAR stores were honored, with one store taking home two top awards.
Franchisee of the Year, the highest award given in the CARSTAR system, went to Tom and Angie Martin, owner of Sidney Body CARSTAR in Sidney, Ohio. They were chosen on criteria including using all vendors possible, attending conference, being image-compliant, submitting reports on time online and delivering consistently high CSI in the Top Ten for the month and quarter periods. The past five quarters CSI scores were 98.8 percent, 98.6 percent, 98.9 percent, 98.3 percent and 97.9 percent.
Tom Martin has worked at the body shop since he was 16 years old. He started out cleaning the floor and painting the outside of the building. He began production work and painting and eventually worked his way to shop manager. When the owner decided to retire, he bought the business seven years ago. When he signed on with CARSTAR in late 2003, his annualized sales were about $650,000. The store is on track to do more than $1.5 million in sales this year.
Tom Martin is in his second year on the advisory board of CARSTAR, representing the Ohio stores and is vice chairman of the operations committee. Locally, he was named Freemason's Man of the Year for Darke, Miami and Shelby counties and received the Sidney/Shelby counties Chamber of Commerce Beautification Award.
The Rookie of the Year is George's CARSTAR Body Shop of Chicago, led by Brian Benakos and Jun Yang. To qualify for the award, a franchisee must have been with CARSTAR less than three years, be well underway of achieving Tier 1 compliance and enthusiastically embrace the CARSTAR culture with active participation. This year's winner joined CARSTAR in February 2007 and became a member of the Chicagoland Business Group. They have attended conference and the summits and have made positive contributions at each.
The award for Outstanding Facility Performance, the second highest franchisee award, went to Kurt's CARSTAR in Maryville, Ill., owned by Kurt and Terri Mueller. This award recognizes the facility that consistently shows high ratings in sales, gross profits, CSI, COS, tier compliance and is active in the community and within CARSTAR.
The Outstanding Technician Performance awarded went to West Valley CARSTAR in West Valley, Utah, owned by Bob and Linda Ellison. This award is given to the facility that produced the most hours and dollars per technician as indicated on the monthly flash reporting with all 12-months reporting.
The award for Outstanding Office Performance also went to West Valley CARSTAR. It is given to the facility that produces the most hours and dollars per front office personnel as indicated on the monthly flash reporting with all 12-months reporting.
"These CARSTAR owners and their teams have done a remarkable job building and managing their businesses in the last year, navigating a challenging economy and changing business environment to still deliver growth and success," says Dick Cross, CARSTAR CEO. "We're proud of their accomplishments, and look to learn from them how we can apply their knowledge and insights across our entire organization."
