The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP) has elected its executive committee for 2009-2010. AASP will be led by Massachusetts shop owner and educator, Rick Starbard. The election was held at AASP’s board of directors meeting on Nov. 7, in Las Vegas.

The following AASP board members will join Starbard on the Executive Committee:

Jeff Walter, Zimmerman’s Auto Service, Mechanicsburg, Pa.;
Steve White, White Auto Body, Florissant and O’Fallon, Mo.;
Nick Kostakis, Angelo’s Auto Body, Irvington, N.J.;
Jerry Schantz, AASP-Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pa.

Starbard is president of Rick’s Auto Collision in Revere, Mass., and also works as a collision repair instructor at Lynn Technical High School in Lynn, Mass. He currently serves as president of AASP-MA/RI and is a member of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) Database Task Force and Joint Operating Committee of the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG). Starbard holds I-CAR and ASE certifications.

Starbard stated, “I look forward to working with such a diverse group. One of my primary goals is to see AASP National grow further by seeking out more states to become AASP affiliates. By harnessing the numbers that state affiliates bring to the table, we should be able to seek out more national benefits that can be passed on to all of our members. States also need to know how sensitive AASP is to each affiliate’s need to operate as an independent organization. The makeup and needs of each state are so different that no national entity can dictate their operation and mission.”