The Collision Industry Conference fostered spirited discussions of some of the hottest topics in the industry for its spring 2025 conference in Richmond, Virginia.

CIC Chairman Dan Risley opened the conference by encouraging the assembled collision repair industry professionals to use the open mic to make sure their questions, concerns, and voices are heard. He also emphasized the most important reason for why everyone was in Richmond and reveleaed a new consumer picture to occupy the formerly Empty Chair.

"The consumer is why we're here," he said.

The packed schedule of panel discussions sparked many spirited questions and comments from the audience. StoredTech's Allan Polak and Aleks Pavlinik conducted a simulated phishing scam to highlight the dangers every business faces each day.

"As a small business owner, this is terrifying, " said Brian Burbridge, senior vice president, strategic accounts at Caliber Collision.

The panel discussion of whether shops should be licensed showed the contrast between current California, Ohio, Texas, and Washington laws with differing opinions in the audience of whether more regulation is better for collision repair businesses.

The human element was a constant theme throughout the two days. Multiple discussions were held about how to build a winning shop culture to attain and keep top talent and how to train and develop repair planners. Ben Chesterfield, general manager of Car Craft QLD, traveled from Australia to speak about the importance of mental health in the collision repair industry. 

"Parents want their kids to go into an industry where they know they will be looked after," he said. "It's a real burning issue that we need to address."

Editor's note: Please check out our article on mental health challenges in collision repair in the May issue.