One Team

The power of teamwork was celebrated as ARA gathered auto recyclers from across the globe in Birmingham, Alabama, to celebrate that every member matters toward industry success. 

By Caryn Smith

Birmingham, Alabama, as a location for the ARA 82nd Annual Convention & Expo, leveraged the area’s deep roots in sports at all levels, particularly as the headquarters of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Within an hour's drive are rivals Auburn and Alabama, as well. This inspired the convention theme, “Game On, Winning Together.”

Over 700 attendees, with 90+ exhibiting companies, enjoyed ARA committee meetings, two keynotes, three days of exposition hours, four social gatherings, and over 35 sessions in which auto recyclers learned about AI and customer service, employee retention, accounting, self-service insights, leadership, and more.

Tech Talks from Car-Part, Hollander, Power DB/eBay, URG, Auto Value AI, EZ-Suite, VIN Match Pro, and Buddy Automotive brought next-level data to improve day-to-day operations for tech users.

Retaining Your People

After ARA’s Committee Meetings—which are open to all attendees—and prior to the President’s Reception and Exposition Ribbon Cutting, always a highlight, Keynote Lisa Ryan spoke about Revving Up Retention: Keeping Your Best People from Becoming Someone Else’s. She spent the hour emphasizing the importance of creating a positive workplace culture to retain employees. Gallup’s research shows that employees need recognition and praise every 7 days to feel valued, akin to a dopamine hit, and that this is a key factor in maintaining employee motivation and satisfaction.

Ryan advocates for ‘stay interviews’ to understand what keeps employees and suggests proactive measures to improve retention. In an average company, Gallup noted that 30% of employees are actively engaged, 20% are disengaged, and 50% are neither engaged nor disengaged. The 50% is where there is room for improvement, and stay interviews can help determine how to positively engage the 50%.

She also notes:

• Employees are more likely to stay if they have a close relationship with a colleague.
• The dopamine effect is highlighted as a key factor in maintaining employee motivation and satisfaction.
• Engaging employees includes lunch-and-learns, training sessions, and interactive exhibits.
• The goal is to provide employees with the tools they need to become rock stars within the organization, and celebrate the unsung heroes of the business. The importance of listening to employees and providing opportunities for growth and development is emphasized.

The second keynote was a recycler interview with JC and Holly Cahill, who have built multiple successful automotive recycling industry businesses as a power couple, with the most recent being VIN Match Pro. Starting as automotive recyclers, they are applying their knowledge to help recyclers. In the session, they discussed Family Business strategies.

The basis of all their business dealings is a healthy perspective on decision-making: “We made decisions that were good or bad,” said JC. “You can have all the rights. You can do all the research, do all the planning, and you say, this is going to win and right and the reverse of that, and you can just make a quick decision. We never went backwards and said, Boy, we really messed that one up. It’s like driving the car backwards. We just worked on what was needed to fix the problem.” Furthermore, he said, “We both weren’t afraid to try something different and literally change a whole department up and turned things around backwards, and I mean literally upside down and backwards. And sometimes that created some really cool things.” (You can read more of their interview on page 33.)

Special Recognition

At the Annual Awards Dinner, with a fun sports-themed event, industry members were honored for their excellence in playing their part in industry success.

ARA President Eric Wilbert, of Wilbert’s U-Pull-It, LLC in Williamson, NY, announced Bill Tolpa as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Tolpa is the owner of Tolpa's Auto Parts in Remsen, NY. His accomplishments are many, and include being an ARA Past President and Co-Founder of the United Recyclers Group (URG).

“This year, we felt it was not only appropriate, but absolutely necessary, to recognize someone who has done more for this association and the automotive recycling industry than most could accomplish in a lifetime,” said Wilbert. “Bill Tolpa has worn many hats within ARA throughout their career, serving in advising and leading in numerous capacities over the years. His influence continues to shape our Association’s direction and inspire its leadership, even from afar. Their vision, dedication, and wisdom have left an undeniable mark on all of us, many of whom have benefited directly or indirectly.”

The 2025 Presidential Award was given to Lance Thomas. This award is selected each year by the ARA president for an individual who is significant to them. “Lance is dedicated to the self-service sector and has contributed through the years to the greater automotive recycling industry. He is a trusted resource for me and many others in the self-service community, continually demonstrating his passion, leadership, and commitment to advancing this industry. Earlier this year, he joined us in Washington, DC, through Hill days for the very first time, and truly made an impact to the event. His dedication and drive truly embody the spirit of what this award represents.”

The ARA CAR Award was presented to U-Pull-It Auto Parts, a family-owned business in the
Pacific Northwest region, by incoming ARA President and CAR Committee Chairperson Shannon Nordstrom, Nordstrom’s Automotive. The CAR Winner receives the Randy Reitman Memorial traveling trophy to display in their business for one year. Owner Mark Forcum and his son, Mitchell, who is General Manager, accepted the award.

“U-Pull-It Auto Parts is a family-owned business that recently opened its third location in Washington State, with locations in Pasco, Yakima, and Kennewick,” said Nordstrom. “Owner Mark Forcum has been in the salvage business for over four decades, and has u-pull-it auto parts, currently has locations in Pasco, Yakima, and Kennewick in Washington State. Mark opened the self-service business in 2013 in Yakima, in Pasco in 2016, and now in Kennewick.

“Mark is a member of the ARA Certification Committee and was recently appointed to the ARA Board of Directors,” he continued. “Mark and his son have unique operations that combine elements of full-service and self-service. Their operations are beautiful and a superb example of the best in our industry.”

ARA Member of the Year was presented to Amber Kendrick, Pete’s Auto Parts in Jenison, Michigan. The Member of the Year is not only an active participant in ARA meetings but also someone who engages deeply with the organization—offering valuable feedback, constructive insights, and thoughtful ideas before, during, and after discussions. This level of dedication requires significant time, energy, and heart—a true reflection of one’s passion for both the association and the broader industry we serve. Amber serves as an active member of the ARA Board of Directors and, this year, stepped into the role of Chair of the Awareness Committee, elevating the committee’s work through her leadership, creativity, and unwavering commitment to collaboration and progress. Anyone who has served in a volunteer capacity with Amber, or in any collaborative capacity, knows that she comes prepared and takes the Association's work seriously. Her ability to lead, inspire, and bring out the best in others is truly remarkable.

In his acceptance speech as the next ARA President, Shannon Nordstrom made a special comment about DJ Harrington, who is battling an illness: “DJ has been like a second father to me, and he’s called me his second son. Maybe he does it to a lot of people. He’s got a special place in our hearts for his service and dedication to this industry.”

Session Highlights

ARA is known for the recycler to recycler and expert to recycler information it presents across all its platforms. This year was no different, and every session room was packed, some with standing room only. Here are nuggets to know.

EV Fuel Cell Battery Safety

The panel focused on the challenges and opportunities in recycling electric vehicles (EVs) and fuel cell vehicles. The need for comprehensive training beyond battery safety, covering the entire process from receiving vehicles to packaging components, was emphasized. Now is the time to future-proof training, considering 5 million EVs and 7-8 million hybrids on U.S. roads today, and with 20,000 fuel cell vehicles sold since 2015. Safety, efficient dismantling processes, and the need for specialized tools and training were stressed. There is real potential for insurance discounts for properly trained facilities, and this also contributes to the continued professionalization of the industry.

One speaker emphasized training, “The risk is not having the knowledge or the prior information to know what to do in case something goes wrong. As a former military, we trained for that; we had scenarios. It became ‘muscle memory’ for how you deal with a certain situation, particularly any dangerous one. Every recycler should know what it looks like when one of these battery packs exhibits unusual activity that could present a danger.”
ARA offers many resources for EV Safety, including EV CAR Certification and an Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technology Manual. Visit https://aracertification.com/high-voltage-hev-vehicles.

Maximizing the Profitability of the Sales You Already Have

This session focused on amplifying the low-hanging fruit of a business. With economic issues as a main concern, the decrease in scrap values, problems with employee retention, and shrinking customer segments, it is essential to focus on strengths and leverage all profitable opportunities. The main discussion was on getting the most out of your inventory.

In a scrap-driven business, one panelist suggested taking a second look at how long to hold a car in a spot that could be available for a better car to part out. Even with scrap prices, it is still profitable to scrap it if you paid a few hundred dollars for it, and the labor to set the car in the yard is saved. The key is to make sure that any process is as efficient as possible. “It doesn’t matter what year, make, or model we’re buying; we know we’re going to make a profit on that car, even if we don’t sell any parts.” All panelists agreed not to hold a car waiting for parts pricing to go up and to keep inventory moving toward scrap.

One panelist noted, “I had a very smart set scrap seller tell me one time that those who live by the crystal ball often eat glass. Meaning, if you are trying to plan your business based on what you think is going to happen, it’s going to come back and bite you. Keep the cars rolling, cars in, cars out. If you have maximized the efficiency of how you process those cars, you’re going to make a profit on every car you buy. Squeeze every drop of blood out of it before it goes into the crusher. Evaluate how much aluminum is worth? How much is copper worth? If it is higher than the price per scrap pound, anything that is not steel, and you leave it in the car, you lose money.”

In general, recyclers are seeing their customer base decline, especially among Hispanics. Another panelist noted, “Year over year, the numbers are slowly starting to trickle down. However, our profits are increasing. We are focused on selling more per customer with fewer customers, so we’re achieving a higher close rate, a higher per-customer average, and a higher per-ticket rate. We are not having to deal with as much foot traffic, which theoretically is saving money. So, if our customer counts go down to a factor, I only need four people on the sales counter than the six I had prior.”

Ransom & Recovery: How to Prepare and How to Recover

In this timely session, the experts discuss the importance of having a Managed Service Provider (MSP) for system management, including network surveys and service monitoring.
They emphasize the necessity of insurance to cover various cyberattacks and the role of cloud technology. Additionally, they highlight the risks of manual email processes and the potential issues with deleting critical data. They stressed the importance of MSPs in maintaining system integrity and suggested that MSPs should handle tasks such as backups and network surveys to prevent operational disruptions.

Independent Auto Recyclers

Every year, this draws standing-room-only crowds as recyclers come together to discuss trends and challenges they face and to praise the resilience of independent recyclers. The session underscored the need to stay the course, lean into bringing independent, family-owned businesses, and find support in associations, trading partners, and owner groups.

Some highlights discussed, especially in today’s economy, were:

• Keeping employees engaged in team building was highlighted as a priority.
• Engaging with outside salespeople, as well, who are not local—a trend that has accelerated by the 2020 pandemic. It is also important to keep them engaged and meet with them personally where they live, if possible.
• Staying nimble, which is a positive of being independent, and keeps an organization moving and reacting quickly.
• Being diligent about knowing your numbers, making the necessary sacrifices, increasing your leadership, and not getting caught up in minutia.
• Ensuring you have the right people in the right place, and you are providing them the proper support to thrive.

Recyclers Roundtable Discussion

This annual gathering of the industry is to discuss disruptors in the evolving landscape of automotive recycling. Jonathan Morrow, M&M Auto Parts, and Scott Robertson, Robertson’s Auto Salvage, both past ARA presidents, led the discussions. In the past, issues like consolidation, anti-collision software, and high-strength steel were top of mind.

This year, the challenges and opportunities are technological, especially with the rise of anti-collision software and vehicle software that controls car parts, i.e., self-driving cars, which is a new challenge.

Here are some things to think about based on comments from the roundtable:

• What if these new technology-based components cannot be reprogrammed?
• How is our industry going to evolve with the evolving anti-collision software?
• AI’s role in buying cars, enhancing sales, efficiency, and safety. One suggested it is likely the industry might see the ability to buy salvage through AI directly from the insurance companies.
• AI in the role of accidents and insurance claims is very automated now; how will that impact a recycler’s ability to provide parts with the current “language” of the industry?
• The role of AI in customer service and sales moving forward is a challenge to understand. How will that be implemented in businesses and the industry?
• Auto recyclers are still not fully embracing the emergence of high-voltage batteries in hybrids and EVs, and the need, for safety alone, for specialized training and safety protocols.
• U-Pull facilities and EV batteries were discussed, as well as sending scrap to metal recyclers that may contain scrap from EV vehicles. Several recyclers report loads being rejected due to suspicions of EV materials in the scrap (not batteries, just materials).
• Creating a buzz around the show, AI’s role in enhancing sales, efficiency, and safety was discussed, along with its potential to complement human expertise.

These led to an in-depth discussion of a new industry-wide (sponsored by ARA and URG) quality assurance program that certifies a recycler’s excellence in delivery to customers, internal processes, return and recall policies, handling, complaint responses, and customer service.

One recycler shared that they have good relationships with the shredders in their area, for example. They invited them to their facility, showed them the facility’s certifications, process control, and clean organization as a facility.

As a cornerstone of the ARA, the importance of certification and collaboration, especially between industry associations, was highlighted to ensure best practices and adaptability.

The spirit of the industry is more unified as one team than ever. Professional automotive recyclers are invited to continue the discussions at the next gathering in Atlanta, from October 14-17, 2026, at the Cobb Galleria Centre, Two Galleria Parkway, Atlanta, GA. The theme is Driving Connections, Fueling Growth.