Two collision repairer managers receive SkillsUSA Volunteer of the Year awards
Longtime SkillsUSA volunteers, both of whom are involved daily in the collision repair industry, were recipients of the Ernie Gray SkillsUSA Championships Award at this year’s nationals, which recently wrapped up in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jessica Crowley, SkillsUSA Automotive Refinish co-chair, and Jason Bartanen, SkillsUSA Collision Repair Technology (CRT) Committee technology, were the recipients. Crowley has volunteered with SkillsUSA for 13 years and Bartanen for nearly 30. Bartanen also has volunteered at the state level in Wisconsin for over 30 years.
SkillsUSA is a volunteer-driven organization, and thousands of individuals donate more than 70,000 hours each year to make the national conference happen, according to SkillsUSA.
Before becoming volunteers for the organization, Crowley and Bartanen placed in national competitions. Crowley won bronze in the 2012 refinish competition. The highest place Bartanen earned at nationals was seventh, in refinish, as a high school sophomore.
In a 2025 article on the College of Western Idaho’s website, PPG’s Jessica Crowley talks about what led her to collision repair and her experience competing in SkillsUSA. She helps run the spot repair portion of the Idaho competition, in addition to volunteering at the national championships.
“There’s a huge skills gap,” she said in the article. “Our industry is aging, and if we don’t have support — from donors, from companies, from people willing to share what they know — we won’t have the workforce we need.
“We need community support. Without it, students miss out on opportunities, and our industry continues to shrink. The people who helped me along the way gave freely of their time and knowledge. Now it’s my turn.”
While she loved her two years at CWI, Crowley said SkillsUSA “changed my life in this industry, period.”
Crowley has since noted the rising number of female collision repair technicians and SkillsUSA winners.
Emma Uhler, 20, is this year’s SkillsUSA Automotive Refinishing Technology college/postsecondary gold medalist, one of three female winners for the second time in recent years. Uhler’s sister, Autumn Harvey, was this year’s only female high school medalist in Automotive Service Technology (ART).
Repairer Driven News spoke with Crowley in 2023 following the nationals results. At the time, she said history had been made: all three Automotive Refinishing Technology medalists at the high school level were female.
Former SkillsUSA volunteer Ernie Gary attended 48 national conferences and helped manage the SkillsUSA Championships in many areas, including the collection and distribution of industry prizes for students.
Gary’s family established the annual Volunteer of the Year award in his honor and memory, typically given to one individual at a time, who makes a difference in the SkillsUSA Championships and is “a true champion for students,” SkillsUSA said.
“Ernie was always a ray of sunshine,” Crowley said. “I would visit Ernieville to drop off my prizes each year, and he would give me a hug and thank me for my dedication to the students. He was a wonderful man that made everyone feel special.”
“Ernieville” was an area within the SkillsUSA competition floor where award recipients would drop off their prizes for delivery to the awards area. Gary would organize them all to make sure they got from the SkillsUSA competition floor to the arena.
Crowley said receiving an award meant to honor Gary for her volunteer work was unexpected and really cool.
Bartanen added that he’s honored to be one of the award recipients.
“It was unexpected, and I was quite taken aback, and then to have Jessica go up there with me too was even better because she’s been even a bit of a mentor toward me,” he said. “She was doing the co-chair stuff before I was, so she really helped me get things organized… I think we make a pretty good team up there on the stage together. It’s pretty cool to stand and be recognized alongside her.”
Images
Featured photo: Jessica Crowley and Jason Bartanen pose for a photo after winning the 2026 Ernie Gray SkillsUSA Championships Award. (Provided by Jason Bartanen)
Jason Bartanen poses for a photo with SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis (left) and SkillsUSA Director of Workforce Development Brandon Hudson.
Jessica Crowley poses for a photo with SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis (left) and SkillsUSA Director of Workforce Development Brandon Hudson.
(From left) Jessica Crowley, Lily Williams (2023 gold medalist), Aleah Sauder (2023 silver medalist), and Madysen Smith (2023 bronze medalist). (Provided by Jessica Crowley)