Rick's Automotive GM tapped to lead state group

A group that serves businesses and individuals in the automotive industries of Missouri and Kansas has elected a Springfield member to lead its board for a two-year term that will end in 2011.

Tim Cummings, general manager of Rick's Automotive, 2121 S. Campbell Ave., was named state board president of the Automotive Service Association of Missouri/Kansas at the group's annual leadership retreat, held Sept. 18-20 in Branson.

The Kansas City-based nonprofit organization represents more than 12,000 businesses and roughly 65,000 professionals from all segments of the automotive service industry.

Cummings said the group's focus is to promote professionalism and excellence in the independent automotive service industry.

"They do that through education, training, mentoring and fellowship with other members," Cummings said. "In essence, our philosophy is that (members) are not really competing with each other. We're competing to make each other better."

One way the group pursues its mission is through offering support for shop owners.

"A lot of shop owners were technicians before they became shop owners. Through ASA, we have a lot of training to teach them the business end, because they know the mechanical end," Cummings said.

The group also gives insight on training shop employees, which is important because cars are constantly changing, he added.

Cummings has worked at Rick's Automotive for 22 years, 11 of those as general manager.

"I actually started running parts and cleaning floors here, and I just worked my way up," said Cummings, who is an accredited automotive manager through the Automotive Management Institute.

As board president, Cummings said his goal with ASA of Missouri/Kansas will be to continue to work on improving the automotive industry and the public's perception of those who work in it.

"Sometimes, TV doesn't make us out to look like we're the best people," he said. "There's a number of good, quality shops out there, and we always strive to improve (our image) and we always strive to better each other."

Local access

Having Cummings in place as the state group's leader will be beneficial to local ASA members, said Doug Aasby, owner of Aasby Automotive, 1022 S. Glenstone Ave., and president of the Springfield ASA chapter.

"He will be more accessible to us local members," said Aasby, who succeeded Cummings as local chapter president in September. "We can always e-mail Tim if we need something from him, and he has experience as a local chapter officer for several years."

Aasby said the local chapter's membership comprises roughly 20 independent area shops.

While not all states have ASA chapters - the organization's national headquarters is in Bedford, Texas - Aasby said he has benefited a great deal from his local and state group affiliation.

"It's truly a source for training," he said. "We've been in business for 26 years, and it's been very helpful to me to be a member of the ASA. It gives you someone to ask questions to, and you can find someone who has the same problems you do and bounce it off them and see what to do about it."

Supporting new technicians

Cummings said ASA Missouri/Kansas raises money for scholarships that can be used at Vision Hi-Tech, an annual training event and expo held in March in Overland Park, Kan.

"Last year ... we gave out five $1,000 scholarships to individuals who are getting into the field," he said.

"We want to continue to train those new technicians, students who are coming up through the system."

Cummings said the automotive industry is drawing in more technically savvy workers.

"A lot of the cars are operated by computers, so there's a lot of information (and) it's not as much the old, dirty, greasy work that it used to be, because cars are a lot cleaner," he said. "Sometimes, they take longer to repair, but it used to be that 80,000 to 100,000 miles and a car was worn out. Now, almost every car designed will hit 200,000 if you do the maintenance on it, and some run 250,000 to 300,000 miles."