By Donnie

The Butler Collision Repair students took a field trip to Extreme Motor Sports Inc. in El Dorado, KS to see first hand what the collision industry consists of. This allows the students to see how the industry operates, what to expect when they enter the “world of work” and makes connections between students and potential employers.

I would like to personally thank the business owners, Brian and Lisa Hollis for taking the time out of their schedule to allow us to tour their facility. They started their body shop business in a small nearby town; however, they decided to move the business to El Dorado about 3 or 4 months ago. Having a clean shop and one of the only air conditioned work areas makes his shop an ideal shop for a technician to go to work for. If you ever worked in a shop without air conditioning, you know what I’m talking about. The clean shop also contributes to a safer work environment and produces cleaner paint jobs.

Brian focuses on insurance job, but is also known for award winning restoration. He recently restores a 1956 Chevrolet from the ground up. The vehicle owner has taken this car to a number of big cars shows winning awards. Lisa is the office manger and performs the billing and all of the other necessary paperwork for the business. They currently are using CCC Pathways estimating system, which is the same system we have at the college. However, Brian is considering switching to Mitchell, which is another leading computerized estimating system. The shop uses PPG paints and will soon have their PPG Collision Repair Shop sign to proudly display to customers. PPG is one of the leading paint companies for automotive finishes. BCC also uses this same line of paint.

While we were touring the facility, Brian emphasized on his expectations of an employee. He said “motivation is the most important thing.” He needs employees that will show up ready to work, willing to learn, and with a good attitude. He said, “It’s hard to train a know-it-all.” So someone that is motivated with an open mind and willing to learn is the ideal employee.

The students interacted well and asked quite a few questions. There seemed to be an extra interest in the piece of equipment used to rotate cars on to work on the floor pan areas. We do not teach restoration at BCC Collision Repair, but this gave the students the opportunity to see what the skills learned at BCC can be used for. The core basic skills are needed to perform any type of collision work. The path in which the training leads a student to depends on each individual student.