Central Collision Named One Of The Top Ten Shops In The Country By ABRN Magazine

Central Collision Center, headquartered in Mokena, Ill., has been selected as one of the top 10 shops in the country through Auto Body Repair Network (ABRN) Magazine’s annual Top Shop competition.

According to ABRN Magazine, multiple generations of employees and customers make Central Collision a Top Shop. 

Thirteen percent of the company’s 84 employees are second-generation; 27 percent of employees have been with the company for more than 10 years.

“Our culture is the main reason for our success,” Caruso says. “We hire good people and we treat them right.”

ABRN Magazine’s Top Shop winners are chosen based on company profiles submitted by each shop. Areas of consideration include:  number, size and visual appearance of facilities; number of employees and employee certifications; commitment to training and education; management practices and community involvement.

Central Collision operates six traditional repair facilities in Peotone, Mokena, Crete, New Lenox Oak Forest and Tinley Park, Ill. and one same-day, 24-hour repair facility in Oak Forest, Ill.

To read ABRN Magazine's full article on Central Collision, visit the magazine's December 2013 issue online.

For more information about Central Collision, visit www.centralcollision.com. 

To apply for a career with Central Collision Center, visit the employment page on our website.

Tinley Park Sign Named "Best of Best" at State Competition

Central Collision Center of Tinley Park's sign recently received the “Best of the Best” Sign Design Award at the Illinois Sign Association’s (ISA) Fall Conference.

Central Collision's Tinley Park store, located at 18040 Oak Park Ave., opened on April 12, 2012.

The sign, designed by Bill Van Bruggen and Bill Stonis of Van Bruggen Signs, Inc., was installed in late April 2013 as part of Central Collision's renovations to its property. 

The company's sign at its Tinley Park location.
Picture provided by Van Bruggen Signs,  Inc.

Since opening its doors in Downtown Tinley, Central Collision has dedicated itself to updating its property to align with the Village of Tinley Park’s Legacy Code. Property enhancements include new signage, updated landscape and new windows. The company plans to renovate its building in 2014.

“We are working to update our entire facility to the standard this sign has created,” said Mike Caruso, president and owner of Central Collision Center. “We have had a great partnership with Van Bruggen Signs for over 20 years. Their design and quality always exceed our expectations.”

Van Bruggen Signs’ design also won first place in the Illuminated Signage category during the Sign Design Awards at the annual ISA Fall Conference.

The ISA has been holding the Sign Design Contest for the past 29 years to showcase creativity in design, medium and execution in eight categories.

For more information about Central Collision Center, visit www.centralcollision.com. For more information about Van Bruggen Signs, Inc., visit www.vanbruggensigns.com.

Central Collision's Thanksgiving Food Drive Brings Over 5,000 Items To Local Food Pantry

Central Collision Center delivered 5,413 items to Alicia’s House Food Pantry Monday morning as a result of the company’s annual Thanksgiving food drive.

Mike & Nancy Caruso, owners of Central Collision Center, delivered 5,413 items to Alicia's House
Food Pantry with the help of Central Collision employees and Alicia's House volunteers.

The company asked employees, customers and business partners to donate non-perishable food items and unopened toiletries from Nov. 1 to Nov. 21. In those three weeks, the company collected 2,572 items. Central Collision provided a 100 percent match on all donations plus additional food items, bringing the donation total to 5,413 items.

“I’m so impressed that our team was able to nearly double our donation total from last year’s food drive,” said Mike Caruso, president and owner of Central Collision. “ That just shows you the type of people they are – caring and committed whether it’s at work or working to help others.”

Alicia’sHouse Food Pantry, a 501c3 non-profit, works to alleviate hunger by providing food at no cost to low income residents of Peotone, Monee, Beecher, Crete, Steger, University Park and South Chicago Heights. Located at 17 Paulsen Avenue in South Chicago Heights, Alicia’s House Food Pantry accepts food, clothing and toiletry donations year-round.

For more information, visit Central Collision Center’s blog at www.centralcollision.com.

2013 Halloween Costume Contest Results

What a great showing at Central Collision Center's annual Halloween Costume Contest! Once again, our shops truly outdid themselves. From Misfit Toys to Duck Dynasty, we saw a bit of everything this year.

Congratulations to Central Collision of Crete as The Island of Misfit Toys - our 2013 Halloween Costume Contest winner and 2013 Fan Favorite winner!

The team at our Crete location was inspired the story of The Island of Misfit Toys, which tells the story of unwanted toys that are sent to an island sanctuary.

The Island of Misfit Toys as portrayed by our team at
Central CollisionCenter of Crete.

The Island of Misfit Toys won our judges votes based on their original theme, creative costume construction and office transformation into a complete winter wonderland. Here is how our judges scores broke down:

1. Central Collision Center of Crete as The Island of Misfit Toys - 192 points
2. Central Collision Center of Mokena as Gilligan's Island - 182 points
3. Central Collision Center of Peotone as The Wizard of Oz - 177 points
4. Central Collision Center of Oak Forest as Duck Dynasty - 140 points
5. Central Collision Center of Tinley Park as Central Prison - 119 points
6. Central Collision Center of New Lenox as Bumblebees - 110 points

In our Facebook Fan Favorite voting contest, The Island of Misfit Toys took first place again. Here is how our fans voted:

1. Central Collision Center of Crete as The Island of Misfit Toys - 75 votes
2. Central Collision Center of Peotone as The Wizard of Oz - 63 votes
3. Central Collision Center of Mokena as Gilligan's Island - 48 votes
4. Central Collision Center of Oak Forest as Duck Dynasty - 41 votes
5. Central Collision Center of New Lenox as Bumblebess - 31 votes
6. Central Collision Center of Tinley Park as Central Prison - 22 votes

Thank you to all of our team members for participating and all of our fans for voting! Be sure to check in next year at Halloween to see what our teams have in store for you! To see each shops complete entry, visit our Facebook page.

Help Central Collision Collect 3,000 Items for Alicia's House Food Pantry

In an attempt to beat our 2012 donation total, Central Collision Center aims to collect 3,000 items from Nov. 1st  to Nov. 20th in our annual Thanksgiving food drive benefitting Alicia’s House Food Pantry.

Last year, Central Collision collected 1,365 donations from employees, customers and business partners. After the company’s 100% match, Central Collision donated 2,730 items to Alicia’s House. The company will provide a 100% match again this year.

Donations can be dropped off at Central Collision’s offices in Peotone, Mokena, Crete, New Lenox, Oak Forest and Tinley Park, Ill. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. In addition to non-perishable food items, the company is also requesting unopened toiletry donations.

Alicia’s House Food Pantry, a 501c3 non-profit, works to alleviate hunger by providing food at no cost to low income residents of Crete, Beecher, Steger, Monee, Peotone, University Park and South Chicago Heights. Located at 17 Paulsen Avenue in South Chicago Heights, Alicia’s House Food Pantry accepts food, clothing and toiletry donations year-round.

To learn more about how you can help Alicia's House, visit the food pantry's website at www.aliciashouse.org. For updates throughout the food drive, visit Central Collision's Facebook page.

Mike Caruso Named FenderBender Magazine's Executive of the Year

At the young age of 23, Mike Caruso and his wife, Nancy, purchased a small auto body shop in Peotone, Ill. The two lived and breathed for their new business, operating the body shop, a tow truck and even a hot dog stand at the front of the shop's property to make ends meet. Many nights, Caruso slept at his desk in between tow calls. His wife, Nancy, worked a full-time job at a nearby hospital. When her shift at the hospital was over, Nancy drove straight to the shop to continue working.

Fast forward 32 years.

Caruso now runs six-location, 85 employee Central Collision Center and has been named
FenderBender Magazine's Executive of the Year. 

Caruso is known for his hard work, business development and commitment to family culture.

Serving the collision repair industry nationally, FenderBender Magazine celebrates the success stories of driven, dedicated and benevolent collision repair professionals each year with the FenderBender Awards.

Caruso credits his company's culture and dedicated employees for the company's success.

"Out of our 85 employees, 16 percent have been here 15 years or more and 11 percent are second generation employees," Caruso said. "We've built a family culture at Central and that is one thing that will never change, even as we expand our business."

Caruso and his team have expanded Central Collision Center throughout the Chicago southland with facilities in Peotone, Mokena, Crete, New Lenox, Oak Forest and Tinley Park, Ill. and one same-day, 24-hour repair facility, Central Express, in Oak Forest, Ill. The company prides itself on customer service, quality and timely repairs, and family culture. 

Read FenderBender's article on Caruso here.

Take the Pledge to Never Text and Drive

Grab your phone and check the last text message you sent. Imagine typing that text at 60 miles per hour. Is that text worth potentially injuring yourself or others? It can wait.

As a member of the National Auto Body Council (NABC), Central Collision Center is proud to support AT&T’s “Texting and Driving…It Can Wait” campaign as it aligns with the NABC’s Distracted Driving initiative. AT&T’s goal through this campaign is to save lives and make texting and driving as unacceptable as drinking and driving.

Tag us on Instagram 
(centralcollisioncenter) and use 
the hashtag #ItCanWait to show 
your support.

Our industry too often sees the devastating impact of texting and driving. We may be able to repair vehicles, but we cannot repair the physical harm that results from texting and driving collisions.

The statistics surrounding this epidemic are startling:

• Those who read and send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash
• 100,000 crashes per year involve drivers who are texting
• 49% of commuters admitted to texting while driving - a higher rate than reported by teens
• 75% of teens say texting and driving is "common" among their friends
• 97% of teens say texting while driving is dangerous - but 43% admit to doing so
• 9 in 10 teens expect a reply to a text/email within 5 minutes, which puts pressure on them to respond while driving
• 77% of teens say adults tell kids not to text/email while driving - yet adults do it "all the time"

  

* Results from AT&T Commuter Survey and AT&T Teen Driver Survey

Thursday, September 19 is Drive 4 Pledges Day. We are asking you to take the pledge to never text and drive by visiting www.go-att.us/NABC. After you take the pledge to never text and drive, share this information with your loved ones. Your voice can save a life, and together we can make our roads safer.