Automotive Service Councils of California

ASCCA Headquarters - Your One Stop Resource Shop

Often times, we hear the old adage, “What has ASCCA Headquarters done for me lately?” Well, your professional staff thought we would take this opportunity to review exactly what we are about and give you a “behind the scenes” look at what services and resources we provide to you as a member of ASCCA. This is certainly not a complete list, but is a good representation of the things your ASCCA Staff does while working in partnership with the ASCCA Board of Directors on your behalf every day.

California Independent: The ASCCA Staff edits and publishes The California Independent, including coordination of all advertising, writing of articles, and promotional materials. This important and respected association publication is designed to keep you informed and educated about the latest industry trends, business tips and association benefits.
Board of Directors and Committees: The ASCCA Staff works very closely with your Board of Directors and committees including assisting the Board of Directors with the drafting of agendas and minutes for all meetings including the ASCCA Board of Directors, MBI Board and all committees including the Chapter Representatives Committee, Membership Committee, Endorsements Committee, Long Range Strategic Planning Committee, Government Affairs Committee, Education, Training and Information Committee, and Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Committee. We provide the board with research and data to assist them in making the policy decisions of the association while also acting as staff liaisons for each of your Committee Chairs assisting in coordination and achievement of objectives identified in the Long Range Strategic Plan. We are also responsible for the in-house coordination of all meetings including; scheduling of meetings, hotel site selection, contract negotiation with hotels, and coordination of travel.
Government Affairs: We here at the ASCCA Headquarters are your eyes and ears at the State Capitol, and serve as your industry lobbyists. We work each and every day here in Sacramento on legislation and regulations impacting the automotive repair business that directly affect the way you do business in this state. Just a few of the issues we had to tackle in 2004 included the prop 64 to reform B&P code 17200 to prevent future lawsuits like the ones done by the Trevor Law Group, and we are participating in the sunset review process in order to try and reform the Bureau of Automotive Repair. All of these activities involve our attendance at meetings, work with coalition partners, coordination of communications, and, most importantly, releasing information to you our members. Industry representation before the State government is a significant function of the ASCCA Staff.
Cost Saving Programs and Services: The ASCCA Staff handles all aspects of ASCCA endorsed programs. This includes negotiating contracts and coordinating marketing efforts such as website, fax and email broadcasting, advertising in the Independent and/or in independent mailers. We also service member requests for more information and track member interest in programs so we can report back to the Endorsements Committee on the success of various marketing campaigns. We are also responsible for relaying prospects to vendors and obtaining reports from vendors so we can track actual participation. This work is ongoing and very important.
Scholarships: The ASCCA Staff works hand in hand with the ASC Educational Foundation in coordinating the ASCCA Scholarship program. This work entails drafting the applications, sending them out to the public via different distribution mechanisms, handling all applications and evaluating them for completeness, sending applications to the Scholarship Committee and tabulating their individual votes, issuing the checks and disseminating them to the students, preparing press releases for the purposes of publicity, and preparing articles for the Independent and the website. We also assist in fundraising activities like coordination of the recent “Diagnostic Dice” campaign.
Website: This is a great and informative communication tool. The ASCCA Staff completely manages the editorial content in-house, including writing the html code and publishing the website on our own web server. We continually work on it in order to accomplish objectives outlined in the Long Range Strategic Plan. The website is your tool and we are committed to keeping it updated and fresh.
Communications: The ASCCA Staff manages communications for the association as a whole. This includes all written correspondence and special projects such as the drafting of promotional brochures for events, membership brochures, development and dissemination of the ASCCA Line Card and promotional flyers for events. We also draft all of the fax broadcasts you receive on programs, ASCCA news, our Government Relations Updates, workers' compensation renewals, etc., etc. We draft press releases that are sent out on behalf of ASCCA and the membership at large to both automotive related publications and entities and also to the general media at large. We have a full color HTML email broadcast that goes out on a regular basis to all members with email and keeps you informed about activities and things you should know about. ASCCA Staff works with the chapter representatives to provide information about industry news and events and provides it to chapter reps so they can pass along to their members.
Insurance: The ASCCA Staff works closely with our trusted insurance partners, ASC Insurance Services on continuing to monitor and market all of our insurance programs including worker’s compensation, liability, all employee benefit programs including health and dental, and personal lines. We monitor their financial statements and make adjustments and recommendations where necessary in order to make sure you are getting the greatest benefits you can.
Membership: As one of our larger functions, the ASCCA Staff handles all membership issues in-house. Some of our daily processes include; routing all prospects to their respective chapters, tracking whether members joined or not, and interviewing members who have dropped to see why that might be. We also develop membership recruitment and retention strategies in support of the Long Range Strategic Plan. We work hard on maintaining our membership database which in turn allows us to run lists for chapters on request, maintain a prospect database for use in the future, and ensures our Chapter billing is successful and accurate. Also, we send out new member packets, order and ship ASCCA signs to members.
Events: The ASCCA Staff coordinates all educational events and special events such as our Annual Meeting. Some of the processes associated with these meetings include booking and negotiation of contracts, marketing, planning and executing promotional activities, registration, name badges, handouts, promotional items, coordinating speakers, audio visual needs, menu selection and post-event evaluation.
Liaison with Other Associations: The ASCCA Staff works with industry partners like AAIA, AALC, NFIB and countless others. We cooperate on legislative efforts, and participating in campaigns like “Be Car Care Aware” which we bring to your attention and provide materials to you so you, our member, can participate in something that will benefit your industry. We also visit and take the ASC message to automotive parts groups like Riebe’s in order to advance the cause of ASCCA membership including attending trade shows and making sure that ASCCA is represented at Industry Week and other important industry events.
Member Inquiries: Whether our members are wondering about benefits, membership questions, legislative issues, something they saw in the Independent, a seminar they want to attend or something they saw on the website they call or email us. We are there to answer their questions, each and every day, to get them the information they need. We are your one stop resource Shop.
Surveys, Special Projects: The ASCCA Staff drafts and coordinates surveys which includes everything from the smaller surveys sent to Chapter Representatives regarding recent meetings they’ve had, to the monster of a survey we completed in the fall of 2004 including tabulating the results, projecting trends and providing our analysis of the results for the ASCCA Board of Directors to use as they planned ASC’s objectives for 2005.
Historical Documents: We coordinate all updates to all of our policy manuals to ensure accuracy. We keep and maintain association records including the all important bylaws and policies and procedures manuals. We also handle all association and Educational Foundation finances and provide many reports and detailed in-depth fiscal analysis to your Board of Directors so they stay informed and on top of things.
Chapter Relations: Last, but NOT LEAST, the ASCCA Staff takes their responsibility to the chapters seriously. We work daily to ensure your Chapter Representatives and Presidents are provided with the information they need. We do this via REPTalk and direct mail, so your Treasurers can have the latest membership rolls, and your newsletter editors have the most current information to print in your newsletter. Currently we are also expanding the Chapter section on the website to include your individual chapter events, training, and regular meeting information and soon will be offering you the opportunity to post your own information for your fellow chapter members to use as a resource. We continue to focus on positive and proactive ways to strengthen our ties with what we consider to be one of our most important assets, our chapters, and will continue to provide creative solutions for you and your most pressing issues.

So the next time you think or hear someone ask what the ASCCA Headquarters does for you, remember these 16 things to begin with (and believe us, this is only the beginning of it all). We are your partners and are here to serve the members, the chapters and the industry in the best way we can. We work hard with all the hours and the energy we have, so you can give your hours and energy to your customers, your family and yourselves.