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.

Meet Chris Cooling Racing at Downtown Tinley Cruise Nights

On Tuesday, June 25th, Chris Cooling Racing will visit Downtown Tinley at its weekly Cruise Night. Cooling will be available for pictures and autographs from 5-9 p.m. in front of Subway, located at 17217 Oak Park Avenue in Tinley Park.

Chris Cooling Racing competes every Friday at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill. In his most recent race on Friday, June 21st, Cooling finished 6th overall. Chris Cooling Racing is sponsored by Central Collision Center, Shorewood Animal Hospital, T&D Bowling & Awards, Carhart Vinyl Lettering, Blast Off and Jones Soda. For more information, visit the team's Facebook page. For race schedules, results and more, visit Grundy County Speedway's website.

Downtown Tinley's Cruise Nights take place every Tuesday through August from 5-9 p.m. Enjoy this classic car show with no entry fee. Music provided co-sponsored by the VFW Post 2791 and the Village of Tinley Park Mainstreet Commission. For more upcoming events, business information and specials, visit www.downtowntinley.com. 

Central Collision Center Named Autochex Premier Achiever For Excellence In Customer Service

Central Collision Center of Oak Forest, located at 15232 S. Oak Park Avenue, has been recognized as a winner of the 2012 AutocheX Premier Achiever for outstanding customer service and satisfaction.

Now in its 11^th year, the annual Premier Achiever Awards honor auto body shops that consistently achieve extremely high customer satisfaction scores as measured by AutocheX either independently or as part of an insurance-sponsored repair program. In 2012, participating insurance programs included seven of the top 25 carriers in North America.

“For the 11^th year in a row, we are delighted to sponsor the Premier Achiever Awards and to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of Central Collision and all the 2012 winners,” said Jim O’Leary, Vice President of Mitchell Repair Solutions. “The high satisfaction scores of these elite collision repair facilities in North America clearly demonstrate their ongoing commitment to their customers, and set the bar very high for customer experience management in our industry.”

In an industry of nearly 50,000 shops in North America, Central Collision is one of only 400 Premier Achiever Award winners in 2012 — placing the shop in highly exclusive company.

“Receiving this honor reflects our company’s core values of outstanding customer service and repair quality above all else,” said Michael A. Caruso, facility manager of Central Collision Center of Oak Forest. “We are proud to be considered among the elite in this category and we will continue to improve our processes in order to remain an industry leader.”

AutocheX, Mitchell International’s customer experience management group, is a leading provider of customer satisfaction measurement and customer experience management solutions to the collision repair industry. AutocheX and the participating insurance companies present the Premier Achiever Awards each year as a way of honoring collision repair facilities that have proven their devotion to quality, service, and customer satisfaction.

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

5 Tips For Small Business Owners

Caruso managed and worked out
of the Peotone location.

When Mike Caruso returned from U.S. Military service on a Friday night, he expected to start school shortly after to become a dentist. Little did he know a phone call from a family friend asking for temporary help would change everything. 

After working in his friend's shop for three years, Caruso learned about a body shop in Peotone going out of business when the owners contacted him to purchase equipment. When he drove to the shop on a Saturday morning, Caruso had a strong feeling that's where he belonged. 

At just 23 years old, Caruso and his wife, Nancy, bought the Peotone shop for $40,000. 

"It might as well have been $40 million," Caruso said. "I didn't have 40 cents to my name then."

The couple closed on the property on May 12, 1981. A few weeks later, a hailstorm hit, damaging nearly every car in Will County. 

Thirty-two years later, Mike and Nancy Caruso have created a successful, family owned and operated six-shop collision repair business.

We sat down with Central Collision Center President and Owner Mike Caruso to learn how he created a successful business at such a young age. Here are his top 5 tips for small business owners:

1. Be honest and loyal to your employees, customers, business partners and yourself  

   

   Caruso addresses employees at the company's 
   annual Christmas party.

   My favorite part of what I do is spending time with our employees, most of which have been with us long enough I consider them my extended family. Having an open relationship with the people you work with – whether its employees, customers, vendors, etc. – makes work enjoyable. I want our employees to be proud to work at Central Collision, and that can’t happen unless I’m honest with them.         
                       
2. Deliver a product better than your competitors  
   We will continue to invest in continuing education and training for our employees to make sure we are delivering the highest quality product and service. If you’re not providing a quality service, you’re setting yourself up for failure. I stand behind our technicians’ work 110% because I know the type of quality they produce on every vehicle.
   
   
3. Always work to improve your process 
   Our team meets regularly to discuss ways to improve. Between monthly planning, management, CSR and manager meetings and daily production meetings, we are constantly troubleshooting ways to be more efficient. You can never sit back and say “things are going great.” There is always room for improvement.
   
   
4. Be open to change

   

   Mike and Nancy Caruso matched all employee
   donations at the company's annual food drive
   benefitting Alicia's House Food Pantry.

   One challenge we face is staying up to date with changes from auto manufacturers, insurance companies and general regulations. But we work extremely hard to make sure we are on top of the changes and execute procedures properly. Embracing these changes instead of fighting them has been one of our biggest keys to success.
   
   
5. Give back to the communities that support you  
   Without the local communities’ support, Central Collision would not have made it 32 years. I can’t thank everyone enough who has supported our business. We will always give back to our communities because of what they have done for us. Even as Central continues to grow to serve our expanding customer base and insurance partners, we will never be too big that we can’t service each individual customer properly.

From the entire Central Collision Center team and the Caruso family, thank you for your continued support. We could not have made it 32 years without you!

From left: Michael, Marissa, Mike, Nancy and Matt Caruso

17 Years and Counting

Today marks Central Collision Center of Mokena's 17 year anniversary. Central Collision of Mokena opened on December 12, 1995 and was originally located at 8501 W. 191st Street in Mokena. We moved to our current location, 9646 W. 196th Street, in 2000. This spring, we expanded our facility with a marketing office and training center that holds 100 people.

To celebrate our anniversary today, we shared some of our favorites memories and traditions (over cake, of course). Here's what some of our team had to say:

Mike Caruso, Owner/President of Central Collision Center:

Central Collision of Mokena was a huge step for our organization. It is our second location. Our team had to learn together how to run more than one location at a time and communicate well between the two. Our biggest goal was to make sure we still treated our customers as friends, even though we were dealing with many more.

My favorite memory was when Fitz (Mike Fitzpatrick, Central Collision's Chief Operations Officer) dressed up as Santa and Jill, our office manager at the time, dressed up as Mrs. Claus in 1995. Fitz still can't believe he did that!

Sandi White, Bookkeeper:

My favorite tradition at Central Collision of Mokena is Donut Day. Every Thursday, we have donuts from Fleckenstein's Bakery in Mokena. It's a tradition that started at Central Collision of Peotone and came with when we opened Central Collision of Mokena. Now, several of our locations have Donut Day.

Kristie Cooper, Customer Service Representative Manager:

I have a few favorites. One of my favorite memories is when Fitz received his official parking space on his 25th anniversary with Central Collision. 

Another is the demolition derbies we used to compete in. Every summer, some of our employees participated in the Will County Fair Demolition Derby in Peotone. We would stay after work to work on the cars together and then we would have a big family party the day of the derby before we went to the fairgrounds.

Our new classroom is also very special because it shows how far we've come since Central Collision of Mokena opened 17 years ago.

Jen as the Queen of Hearts in this
year's Halloween costume contest.

Jen Perales, Office Manager:

I have two favorites memories. First, we had a Cinco de Mayo celebration and George, facility manager at the time, rode around on our pinata.

My other favorite is this year's Halloween costume contest when we dressed up as Alice in Wonderland. 



Marissa Caruso, Public Relations:

My favorite memory has to be participating in the Frankfort Fall Festival Parade this year. We weren't completely sure what to expect because it was our first parade. But it was so much fun decorating the truck and throwing out candy to all the kids. The best part was watching my dad play "baseball" with some kids in the parking lot while we were waiting for our turn to start walking.







Thank you to all of our employees and customers who have supported us through 17 years of business. We couldn't have made it this far without you. We're looking forward to being a part of the Mokena community for many years to come!

Central Collision Center Verifies Use of OEM Airbag Components

In response to the recent concerns about counterfeit airbags, Central Collision Center would like to ensure its customers, insurance partners and local communities that vehicles repaired at any of our six locations under Central Collision ownership are not at risk.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a statement today alerting vehicle owners and repair professionals to the danger of counterfeit air bags. Consumers who purchased their vehicles new or know their entire vehicle’s history, including if an airbag was replaced, are not at risk.

Vehicles repaired at any of the six Central Collision Center locations are not risk. Our company installs strictly OEM, original equipment manufacturer, airbags during repairs. Central Collision Center also strictly uses OEM parts relating to the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS), which includes seatbelts, seatbelt buckles and seatbelt retractors.

For more information on the advisory, visit www.safecar.gov. For more information about Central Collision Center, visit our website.