An Addition to The Team Up until now the company’s growth was slow and steady. By the mid ninety’s, a decade that had seen technology become a driving force in the world economy, all that was about to change. Frank Brigidi, III was asked to join the partnership. Frank was about to purchase National Collision in Sicklerville, NJ when his aunt Claudia and cousin Jim Tornetta invited Frank to join the partnership bringing the purchase of National into the fold as the fifth shop. “He became totally responsible for bringing new business into the shops by developing relationships with insurance agents. “Frank kept the shops filled with work,” says Rich.
By 1995, on his 10th anniversary with the company, Pat Beavers was the first non-family member invited into the partnership. Claudia described Pat as “an entrepreneur at heart.” “We knew he was the type of person to go out and eventually work for himself,” she added. By this time Pat had taken on the responsibilities of district manager for multiple locations.
With all eight owners in place, it was time to get serious about growing the business. The short period between 1997 and 1998 was marked by addition of four more service centers: John’s in Westmont, NJ; Tom’s in Marlton, NJ; Collex in Oxford Valley, PA; and Cornell’s in Egg Harbor City, NJ.
“In order to make more of an impact with insurance carriers and consumers, and to leverage the growing number of locations [which were operating under separate names at the time] a branding strategy was developed. Part of that was creating a strong brand identity. In 1998 CollisionMax, Auto Body & Glass Centers become the official federally registered trademarked name of this growing enterprise, along with that came a multi-million dollar renovation of five of the existing service centers.
