Hoffman Estates, Ill. (April 10, 2025) –
There’s nothing like a collision repair industry event for bringing folks together…and when they can collaborate to support a good cause, the feeling of comradery and positivity is enhanced even more. And that’s exactly what happened at Sherwin-Williams Performance Coating Group’s 2025 Sales Meeting, held in February at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN, when vendors were invited to donate showcased products to a local collision repair education program.
“During our annual National Sales Meeting, we host a vendor showcase in a large exhibit hall, and through our partnership with the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), we’ve had this awesome opportunity for many years to identify a local school to donate supplies to, giving vendors the opportunity to avoid shipping those items back to their warehouses while simultaneously supporting a worthy cause by providing those products to a program training our industry’s future technicians,” explains Scott Walton of Sherwin-Williams. “Each year, CREF selects a different school to benefit, and it’s wonderful to see how they spread the wealth to impact the greatest possible number of students.”
Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) in Nashville was this year’s chosen program, receiving over $22,000 worth of in-kind donations. The generous contribution included everything from primer and clear coat to mixing cups, abrasives, masking products, cleaning supplies and even shelving and cabinets!
“We are so grateful to CREF, Sherwin-Williams, Enterprise and all the other donors for thinking of our program and giving us such a wonderful gift,” praises TCAT President Nathan Garrett. “It has already made a significant impact and been incredibly useful as these types of donations allow us to further stretch our programs funds to continue to help and support our students to ensure they have the best training equipment to enter the workforce as fully prepared as possible. We pride ourselves on the fact that our graduates are knowledgeable and have a strong work ethic when they leave us. This type of support helps ensure we’re able to do that.”
Enterprise Rent-A-Car collaborated with Sherwin-Williams to transport the massive donation – the philanthropic offering completely filled an Enterprise 26-foot box truck! Enterprise’s Abigale Moore and Chastity Westfall coordinated the delivery, loading the vehicle with assistance from several employees from Enterprise, one being Truck Rental Nashville Branch Manager Joshua Puryear, and Sherwin-Williams who volunteered their time and strength. Moore, Westfall and Puryear drove the gift to TCAT Nashville where they were met by Garret and a handful of collision technology students who helped relieve the vehicle of its joyful burden.
“It was very exciting and extremely rewarding to see the reactions from President Garret and the students who were on-site; they had no idea how much was coming their way! When we opened that truck, their faces were priceless,” Moore recalls. “It’s very valuable for students to have access to an abundance of tools, materials and supplies while furthering their education, and many schools’ collision programs rely on the industry to provide support through these types of donations due to their districts’ funding limitations. When they receive products or monetary contributions, they’re able to reinvest in their programs, creating a better learning experience for the students and enhancing the quality of collision professionals who graduate and enter the workforce.”
Walton agrees. “The technical skill and expertise required to repair a modern vehicle requires a great deal of training and understanding the process, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to help these young individuals develop their skills, grow professionally and learn as much as possible about the collision industry as they’re receiving their education. Being able to help make that experience better for the students and easier for the school and the instructors leading the curriculum is thrilling.”
The industry’s support also benefits the students and the donors in other ways. “The industry’s interest in our programs is such an advantage to recruiting, retaining and graduating students,” according to Garrett. “It gives them an overall confidence that they are being prepared in the right way for their future. Having collision repair professionals involved with the program at our college keeps us on the cutting edge of training and ensures our students are gaining the relative knowledge and skills to lead to a long and successful career. Our programs are strong because of our partnerships with business and industry, great instructors and students willing to learn.”
While the donation means a lot to the school, vendors also find their contributions to be meaningful. “Each time we do this, our vendors seem very excited at the opportunity to give back and help a local school that is working to bring new talent into our industry,” Walton observes, pointing out that there’s the added benefit for donors of “creating brand awareness amongst these young up-and-comers who will get to use their products in the classroom and get hands-on exposure” which may create an affinity for that company’s products when they enter the field. “What better opportunity to introduce your products to the future of the industry than to put them in the hands of the people who are going to be working in shops in the near future?”
“The amount of vendor contributions reinforces the fact that the industry understands the schools’ needs and wants to support them,” Moore adds. “I was impressed by the sheer volume of products that everyone contributed, and I particularly want to praise Sherwin-Williams’ efforts not only in coordinating the initiative but also in adding a significant amount of product to the donation.”
“It’s an absolute pleasure to work with CREF to bring materials, products and knowledge to the schools training our industry’s future employees,” Walton insists. “We all know the industry continues to face challenges bringing new blood into the pipeline as a large number of technicians are aging out. That’s why Sherwin-Williams believes it’s so important to help these schools provide the best possible experience for students, to help attract more young people to this field and keep our amazing industry going strong with talented individuals. We’re proud of our longstanding partnership with CREF to support the great work they do to help the industry benefit from putting forth the best possible employees who will be as prepared as possible for their first job – and hopefully a very long career – in collision repair.”
Moore offers a similar viewpoint. “It is very important to maintain relationships with our local schools that offer collision programs, to ensure they have everything they need to educate the next generation of collision repair engineers.
“This industry looks forward to a strong future, and in order to ensure we have that, we must be sure to give back and pay it forward to our local collision programs, and supporting CREF allows for this to happen,” Moore continues. “It is an absolute pleasure to work with CREF on a local level.”
“It’s amazing to see so many different industry organizations coming together to support collision schools and students,” shares CREF Executive Director Brandon Eckenrode. “CREF is very proud of our role in helping connect donors with programs in need of these types of donations, and we’re incredibly grateful to all the vendors who donated. We’d like to extend a special ‘thank you’ to Enterprise for providing the transportation to make sure the school received the donation and especially to Sherwin-Williams for not only contributing products but also for coordinating the donation. These supplies are going to make a huge difference in these students’ education!”
This support means a lot to TCAT and its students – but there are hundreds of other collision repair education programs that could benefit from in-kind donations of this nature! In-kind donations can come in the form of school equipment, tools, and supplies, software licenses and even vehicles, and those looking to support the next generation of collision repair professionals are encouraged to reach out to CREF to learn how to give back to their local programs!
Industry members interested in getting involved and supporting the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s efforts to assist high school and college collision repair training programs can Contact Us to learn about the many ways to get involved. Monetary donations can be made online.
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The Collision Repair Education Foundation, founded in 1991, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting collision repair educational programs, schools and students to create qualified, entry-level employees and connect them with an array of career opportunities. For information on how to donate to programs supported by the Education Foundation, visit us online at: www.CollisionRepairEducationFoundation.org.
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If you would like more information about this topic or any of CREF’s initiatives, please email info@ed-foundation.org.