New Carolinas Collision Association director aspires to inspire youth interest in collision repair

The Carolinas Collision Association has hired a new executive director, Kaitlyn George.

George spent 10 years as an educator, and the last two in a new career within the high-performance custom car building and NASCAR industries, working at Petty’s Garage in North Carolina. Her interest in cars stems from her husband Rowland’s car hobby.

“I just really loved it,” George said. “I loved working with the sponsors. I loved talking to the guys in the shop. I loved the culture of it.”

Her love of car culture continued when she went to events with her husband, and everyone “adopted” her into the family.

“That was really what drew me to the car world,” George said. “I just felt like it was a big family of people who all wanted to help each other, and so I wanted to jump in and help, too.”

So far, George said her biggest takeaway about the collision repair industry is that more workers are needed.

“I think that’s where my heart and my connection come in as well, because I was a school counselor, so I was helping kids try to figure out what jobs they wanted to do when they got older,” she said. “There’s always been a big push towards college, but I was really fortunate to work at a school that did have a lot of trade options. That did help kids who kind of needed a different path or wanted a different path.

“Being on the other side, working at Petty’s Garage, we saw the industry is aging out a little bit and not as many people are picking these jobs. We really wanted to focus, and I know a lot of our sponsors were also focused, on trying to get more kids into the industry; trying to make the industry a place where people want to be. I think that’s where my passion comes in, and the main thing that I saw that I really want to focus on.”

During her time at Petty’s, George also worked with the Petty Family Foundation, which partnered with Operative Talent — an organization that formed from one of the shops Petty’s was close with, she said.

“They just really had a heart to bring kids into the industry, and they were doing internship programs and things like that,” George said. “That’s something that I feel passionate about, and I think it would help as a whole.”

Starting out as director, George said she wants to focus on the experiences of CCA members and sponsors to ensure everyone is getting as much value as possible from their memberships.

She also wants to continue the Tool Grant Program, and see if CCA can do more through that, and in general, to support growing interest in collision repair careers.

Kyle Bradshaw, CCA president, said when the association began the idea behind it was to champion safe and proper repairs and to provide resources to independent repairers in the Carolinas.

“Our mission’s certainly still the same, but really our vision is to elevate that and to do it with excellence,” he said. “Kaitlyn hit on it — making sure that we’re really providing value and benefits to our members who have entrusted us with the mission, and no differently with our sponsors as well, making sure that they’re getting value out of it.

“I think the collision repair community is really special, from everyone wanting to pitch in and help… We want to continue to bring the community together and foster an environment where people can learn and can grow, whether that’s individually or collectively as their business.”

George said she hopes seeing her in a leadership position will inspire women and young girls to find their place in the collision repair industry.

“I have a special place in my heart for the women in the industry,” she said. “It is one big family, definitely, but even more so, I feel like the women have become their own family because they all want to support each other.

“A lot of kids and young girls don’t even consider this industry at all; they also don’t realize all the different jobs that are available in the industry. They think you’re just a mechanic or you just fix cars. They don’t realize that there’s marketing positions, executive director positions, office manager positions, and all these other positions in the industry that they may really love to do… I want to be inspiring across the board. …I’ve gotten a lot of support, and I hope that I can be that support to others as well.”

Bradshaw added that it’s up to collision repairers to shift that perspective.

“There’s a lot that we can do to really shift that perspective, and it’s certainly something that we’re focused on doing,” he said. “We want people to understand that what we do is absolutely a professional environment… It really starts with how you do the little things. It starts with walking through the lobby, walking into a business, and things being clean and organized. And typically, customers are going to see that and know that that’s going to carry over into the shop as well.

“From a technician or a student that’s coming into the industry, I think there’s been a lack of awareness and a lack of education from us as repairers getting into secondary education and getting people involved in shops. A lot of trade programs are siloed… and are doing the best that they know how to do. They’re not really taking those students and placing them in shops, even if it’s for a day, just to see how things are actually being done.”

He added that trade schools, shops, and associations working together to make sure the most up-to-date collision repair procedures and methods are taught have become even more important.

“You may get dirty from time to time, but it’s certainly not 30 years ago, where there was 3 inches of dust on everything that you walked by,” Bradshaw said. “The complexity and the development of technology, the development of the repairability of vehicles, and also the repair methods — all that’s completely changed. In my opinion, it’s going to continue to rapidly change, so it’s our job to make sure that local trade schools affiliated with our association also understand just how vastly that’s changed.

“If we can be a stepping stone or supporter of those programs to help get kids back involved in the trades, that’s really something that is near and dear to us as an association and certainly something that we want to focus on. We want to be a part of that change for the next generation.”

Images

Featured image: Kaitlyn George/Provided by Kaitlyn George

Kaitlyn George with Thad Moffitt, Richard Petty’s grandson. (Credit: Phillip Dotson)

Kaitlyn George and others dance as part of Autofest for Talent, an event with Operative Talent aimed at bringing more students into the industry. (Credit: Crystal Lawrance)

Kaitlyn George stands outside the house that Richard Petty grew up in, next to his 1957 Oldsmobile from his 1959 season. (Credit: Rowland George)