All Company Meeting Notes

Last Wednesday, 87 Central Collision Center employees gathered in our new classroom at our Mokena location for our semi-annual all company meeting. The meeting gave us a chance to welcome new employees, learn more about our wellness program and hear about upcoming company events.

Patty Burke, human resources manager for Central Collision, first explained the success of our wellness program. In our inaugural year, 81% of Central Collision employees were fully engaged in our pedometer program through Virgin HealthMiles. We also had 94% of eligible employees participate in our health screenings, which is above the best in class benchmark of 90%.

Burke also announced the results from Central Collision’s Race to the Finish pedometer challenge.  Central Collision of Peotone won the challenge with 204,893 average steps per employee. Ten employees had more than 200,00 steps and the employee with the most steps had more than 300,00 steps.

Mike Caruso, president and owner of Central Collision, then took the floor to announce upcoming events at Central. Some Central’s favorite traditions take place in the fall, and the excitement among employees was clear when Caruso announced them. Our annual chili cook-off lets our employees showcase their cooking skills. Each location selects a winner from its individual chili cook-off to compete in the all company challenge. Employees sample all entries and vote for their favorite. Central Collision’s winner then submits their winning recipe in the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook-Off in January.

One of our most exciting days in the fall is our annual Halloween costume. Each location picks a group costume to dress up in and theme to decorate their office. Our management company travels to each location on Halloween to judge on the following categories:  originality of theme, creativity, effort, execution of overall theme, participation and office decorations. New to the contest this year is a fan favorite category. Our judges will pick an overall winner, but our Facebook fans will decide the fan favorite by liking one of the location’s pictures in our Halloween album. Visit our Facebook page to cast your vote later this month.

Our all company meeting helped us reconnect and refocus before the end of the year. We are excited for our upcoming wellness challenges and company events in the next few months. Thank you to all of the employees who helped make this meeting a great success.

Summer at Central

Can you believe it's September already? Summer flew by again! Summer is one of our favorite times at Central Collision Center. Here's how we stayed busy with summer fun:

We practiced for the upcoming baseball season:

Celebrated Cinco De Mayo:

                                                  

Brought the beach to work:

                               

 

 Made some special ice cream deliveries with the ice cream truck:

Practiced our grilling:

                          

Finally, we closed out our summer at Central Collision by walking in the Frankfort Fall Festival Parade Labor Day weekend. Thanks for another fun summer!

31 Years and Growing

            Central Collision Center's goal is to provide exceptional customer service at each of our locations, regardless of how many locations we develop. The key piece to providing a unique customer experience is culture. I have always placed a strong emphasis on company culture because I do not want to just be another business or a standard employer. I want Central employees to feel comfortable at work, enjoy their jobs, learn and have fun. As we grow, my goal is to introduce our company culture into our new locations while maintaining it at our existing locations. Our company culture is one aspect of Central Collision that will never change.

            Currently, we are revisiting what the Central brand means to us, and what we would like our name to mean to customers. Our goal is to be as transparent through this process as possible. We have asked our employees their opinions through a 3-part survey. Questions covered everything from company strengths/weaknesses to biggest challenges and needed improvements. It was very encouraging to read each employee's answers and realize just how much they care about our company.
           We will share our answers with you over the next few weeks on our Facebook page and Twitter. Now, we want to hear from you. Please feel free to comment on our posts or respond to our tweets about your image of and experience with Central Collision Center.

            One major aspect of updating our brand is creating consistency throughout our locations. Whether our processes, physical office space or communication tools, we would like everything to be consistent. As a result, we will develop our brand identity as an industry leader in quality, competitive pricing and customer care.
            I am extremely excited to share our branding experience with you, and look forward to revealing some much needed updates. 

Mike Caruso

Founder, President and Owner

Central Collision Center

 

Shaping Up at Central

            Central Collision Center has taken several steps to create a healthier workplace for our employees over the past year. Our employees are family to us, and we want to keep our family as healthy as possible. With the ever-increasing costs of health care in mind, our objective is to provide education and awareness that can lead to change in poor habits and a decline in healthcare expenses.

“Our goal and purpose is to gradually change habits that will result in our employees becoming healthier while having fun along the way,” said Patty Burke, human resources manager for Central Collision Center. “We have committed resources to make this happen and are confident that continuing on the path of workplace wellness will enhance the lives of employees.”

Here are some ways the Central team is improving its health:

Health Screenings:

            On July 17 and 18, 57 Central employees received health screenings through our wellness programs. Screenings alerted employees to potential health risks they may have, such as high cholesterol or blood pressure. Complete summaries of employees’ individual screenings were available online, allowing each employee to examine his or her results in depth. 

Pedometer Program:

Last September, Central Collision introduced the Virgin HealthMiles Pedometer Program in all of our locations. Each employee received a pedometer, which tracks his or her steps for the day. Number of steps correlate with HealthMiles. When employees accumulate a certain number of miles, they receive rewards. Prizes include free lunches, movie tickets, Visa gift cards, health club memberships, raffle tickets and more.

Employees can earn additional HealthMiles for completing their online Virgin HealthMiles profiles. On these profiles, employees can complete a health snapshot, add in their measurements, log exercise sessions and create personalized workout plans.

To celebrate one year of wellness, Central Collision employees will compete in the Race to the Finish Challenge. From Aug. 18 to 31, employees will race to accumulate as many steps as possible. The location with the highest average steps will win additional HealthMiles.

            We are making wellness a priority at Central Collision Center, and we encourage you to do the same. Look for us at the New Lenox Mind Over Miles 8K/1 mile run where many of our employees will be running! Come join us or cheer on our team!

Happy 5th Anniversary Central Collision of Oak Forest!

History

            Central Collision Center acquired Ted’s Auto Rebuilders in Oak Forest in the summer of 2007 and transformed the facility into its newest location. Central Collision Center of Oak Forest became the company’s fifth location in the Chicago suburbs.

            Also home to Central Express, the 20,000 square feet facility features 32 work bays, protected indoor vehicle delivery bays and multiple insurance company drive-ins. Services include courtesy valet pick-up and delivery service, on-site rental arrangements, written lifetime warranty, early morning/late evening key drop and 24-hour towing.

            Central Collision Center of Oak Forest is an active member of the Oak Forest community. Just yesterday, Central Collision participated in the annual Oak Forest Chamber of Commerce golf outing at George Dunne National Golf Course. We enjoyed meeting many of our business neighbors and members of the local chamber of commerce.

About

Address:  15232 S. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Forest, IL 60452

Phone:  708-429-0818

Hours:  Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday by appointment

Manager Spotlight

Manager:  Michael A. Caruso

Age:  26

Years in Position:  Michael will celebrate his 2-year anniversary as manager of Central Collision of Oak Forest this August. He began as manager of Central Express before being promoted to assisted manager of Central Collision of Oak Forest, then finally manager of Central Collision of Oak Forest.

Education:  Marquette University '07, Bachelor of Science in Finance and Entrepreneurship; Marian Catholic High School '04

Fun fact: For their rehearsal dinner this September, Michael and his fiancee will throw out the first pitch at the White Sox-Twins game.

Happy 4th Anniversary Central Express!

History

            Adjacent to Central Collision Center of Oak Forest, Central Express opened on July 10, 2008 after owner Mike Caruso saw an opportunity to better serve his customers. Creating a repair center specializing in small repairs would improve cycle time in both the traditional repair center and Express repair center, allowing customers to receive their vehicles more quickly.

            Central Express is a same-day collision repair center that commits itself to rapid, quality repairs. If Central Express confirms an estimate under $1,500 with up to 12 hours of labor without frame or mechanical damage and the correct parts are available, Central Express will repair your vehicle the same day. Vehicles in by 10 a.m. will be repaired by 5 p.m. Vehicles in by noon will be repaired by noon the following day. Ideal jobs for Central Express include the following:

•    Small hits
•   Minor dents or dings
•    Bumper work
•  Minor cosmetic fixes
•  Paintless Dent Removal
•   Off lease vehicles
•   New car prep

About

Address:  15232 S. Oak Park Avenue, Oak Forest, IL 60452

Phone:  708-429-0818

Hours:  Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday by appointment

Manager Spotlight

Manager:  Matt Caruso 

Age:  24

Years in Position:  2

Education:  Illinois Wesleyan University '10, Bachelor of Science in Business, concentration in marketing; Marian Catholic High School '06

Fun Fact:  Matt was part of the Illinois Wesleyan baseball team that won the Division III World Series in 2010

Summer Road Trip Solutions

            According to AAA, approximately 42.3 million Americans will travel 50 or more miles this Fourth of July holiday. The amount of travelers is expected to increase five percent from 2010 and 42% since 2009. AAA credits the increase to the mid-week holiday, allowing families to take a five-day vacation before or after the Fourth of July, and lowered gas prices (The Huntsville Times, 2012).

            Before your family packs up the car, take some time to organize. Extra planning before you leave the house will eliminate stress later in the trip. Understand the cities you plan to travel through and anticipate potential traffic problems. For example, do not try to drive through Chicago after 3 p.m. on Friday in the summer. Taking time to strategically map your route will save time, and eliminate stress, in the long run.

Once your route is planned, you can start getting your car ready. Even though your car will inevitably accumulate food wrappers, crumbs and other garbage throughout the trip, clean your car before you leave. Starting the trip with a clean car will set the tone for the rest of the trip. Bring extra garbage bags so you clean as you go.

If your road trip leaves your car a mess, enter our “Make Me #CentralClean” social media contest!

PB&J Bars from Disney's Family Fun

Pack easy-to-handle snacks to avoid multiple stops when children get hungry throughout the day. Snacks that travel well include trail mix, pre-cut vegetables, string cheese, rice cakes, dried fruit, hard-boiled eggs and yogurt in tubes. Packing snacks the whole family can enjoy will eliminate the temptation of stopping at unhealthy, fast food restaurants. Check out this recipe for PB & J Bars from Disney’s Family Fun for a great travel snack, which can even be prepared days in advance of your trip.

Children will also need fun activities to break up the boredom of being an a car for hours. Pack an extra map for each child to personalize (KidsHealth.Org, 2012). Show your kids the route you are taking and have them decorate each street as you drive. Bring plenty of markers and fun stickers. After the trip, you can make a scrapbook of all of the decorated maps or frame each map individually.

Finally, the most important part of any road trip is the music. According to Huffington Post, the top 10 road trip songs are:

1. Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf
2. Roadrunner by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
3. Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
4. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus
5. Runnin’ Down a Dream by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
6. Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne
7. Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts
8. Good Life by One Republic 
9. American Girl by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
10. The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band

Have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration from Central Collision Center!