AGRSS News, AGRR, July/August 2010

Volume 12, Issue 4 - July/August 2010

AGRSS News
the latest in safety

EVENT NEWS
AGRSS Conference and Consumer Awareness Program Slated for Chicago

The Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards (AGRSS) Council Inc. will hold its annual International Auto Glass Safety Conference October 27-28 in suburban Chicago. The event will be held in conjunction with an AGRSS Consumer Awareness Program (CAP), both of which will be held at the Drury Lane Conference Center in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.

The AGRSS CAP brings together local officials, community members and insurance company representatives to learn about the importance of proper windshield installations done in accordance with the AGRSS Standard.

“CAP events give AGRSS-registered companies the chance to work together to show their communities, including legislators and insurance agents, why a safe windshield installation is important,” says AGRSS Council president Debra Levy.

Levy says the group decided to group the events this year so that all in attendance could see what goes into a CAP.

“This is a unique opportunity for AGRSS-registered companies to see a consumer awareness event, so we thought it would be beneficial to combine the two this year,” says AGRSS Council Inc. president Debra Levy. “Attendees at the conference can stay for the Consumer Awareness Program on the second day at no additional charge. They can see what’s involved with a CAP and evaluate whether or not they’d like to bring one to their communities.”

AGRSS Begins Interviews for Business Development Director Position
The Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards (AGRSS) Council Inc. has begun interviewing for the position of business development director. The business development director’s would be responsible for expanding the AGRSS brand with the ultimate goal of making AGRSS compliance a requirement for all installations.

The business development director also will be responsible for increasing the AGRSS registered-company pool and working with insurance companies to use AGRSS registered companies.

COUNCIL NEWS
AGRSS Council Considers Foreign Language Program
The Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards (AGRSS) Council Inc. recently decided to assess the possible development of a foreign language program, in an effort to make the AGRSS Standard and other tools available to those for whom English is not their first language.

Though the Council recently began working on this, the importance of this program was brought to the forefront recently when a Texas business with a Spanish-only-speaking technician came up for a third-party validation review and Equalizer Industries’ Gilbert Gutierrez stepped in to help.

Gutierrez, a fluent Spanish speaker, volunteered his time to translate and also drove five hours from his home of Round Rock, Texas, to Harlingen, Texas, near the Texas-Mexico border, to help out with the validation review. Just three days later, he helped out with a second validation in San Antonio.

“The challenge is, you can’t use a translator from the company being validated for obvious reasons, and you can’t use a translator from a local university, because they’re not going to know how to say things like ‘pinchweld’ in Spanish,” says AGRSS Council Inc. president Debra Levy. “We really appreciate both Gilbert and Equalizer’s willingness to help out with this effort as we work toward a more permanent solution.”