A core part of MABA’s mission is protecting against legislation that creates unnecessary friction between service professionals and the customers
Kalamazoo, Mich.—The Michigan Auto Body Association (MABA) announced on Monday its official founding as a statewide professional association representing collision repair shops across Michigan.
It also announced its affiliation with the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) as an Affiliate Association.
MABA was formed to fill a void its founders say has existed in Michigan for years. When the state’s last collision repair association ceased operating, the industry lost what founding board members describe as the “eyes and ears of the industry” — a loss felt most acutely on legislative issues affecting shops and the consumers they serve.
That gap became increasingly clear to MABA’s founders through conversations with peers at industry events across the country, where the value of a unified, organized voice at the state capitol was reinforced again and again.
“For a long time, Michigan didn’t have anyone watching the legislature on behalf of collision repairers,” said Jason Taylor, Chair of the MABA Board of Directors. “Every time we talked with shop owners and association leaders in other states, the message was the same — you need eyes and ears in your capitol, or decisions get made without you in the room.
“We felt that loss firsthand, and we knew it was time for Michigan shops to have that voice again.”
A core part of MABA’s mission is protecting against legislation that creates unnecessary friction between service professionals and the customers they’re trying to take care of, through advocacy and relationship-building rather than red tape.
“Our job isn’t to make things harder for anyone,” Taylor said. “It’s to make sure the people writing the laws understand what it actually takes to fix a car safely and take care of a customer. When we build relationships instead of battle lines, we can find common ground without piling on red tape that doesn’t serve the shop or the customer.”
Early priorities
MABA’s early legislative priorities include fair and transparent practices, stronger anti-steering protections for consumers, proper reimbursement for OEM-required repair procedures, and enforcement mechanisms for unfair claims practices.
They are priorities modeled in part on laws already in place in Rhode Island, home to one of the country’s most effective state-level collision repair associations.
Beyond legislative advocacy, MABA is also focused on bringing Michigan’s collision repair industry together as a community through statewide and regional events, shared technical training and knowledge-sharing as vehicle repair technology evolves, and access to business tools and resources that help shops of every size operate more effectively.
Additional details on member programming will be announced in the coming months.
“The board is made up of some very passionate people from our industry, and we’re all glad to be a part of building it,” said Brian Johnson, Vice Chair. “We’ve worked through a lot to get to this point, and there are some learning curves ahead, but the direction and focus is about making sure our colleagues are respected in their fields of expertise.
“Here in Michigan, from the estimator to the technician, they have to be educated enough to achieve a professional license to repair vehicles — they ARE the experts.”
SCRS affiliation
As MABA builds this foundation, it has also partnered with SCRS as an Affiliate Association, citing SCRS’s active representation of collision repairers and the member benefits it offers.
“We didn’t want to build this in a vacuum,” Taylor said. “SCRS has a proven track record of standing up for collision repairers, and they have a structure that brings real value to our members from day one. Aligning with an organization already doing this work nationally, while we focus on Michigan, made sense for everyone.”
Through its affiliation with SCRS, MABA members will also gain access to SCRS’s education programming, healthcare and 401(k) benefit programs, and play a part in accessing and supporting important industry programs like Repairer Driven News and the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG), among other resources.
“Strong state associations are incredibly important because the issues affecting collision repair businesses and their customers are often shaped close to home,” said Aaron Schulenburg, Executive Director of SCRS. “What’s exciting about MABA is that this is being built by Michigan repairers who recognized a need, stepped forward and decided to create the voice they wanted their industry to have.”
MABA is currently welcoming founding members and inviting Michigan collision repair shops, technicians, and industry suppliers to get involved as the association builds its presence across the state.
“Jason and I are working on upcoming events, and we’re excited about what we have coming at our Annual Meeting in May, which we’re both working diligently on,” Johnson added. “It takes a village, and we’re looking forward to members engaging and volunteering at a committee level in the coming months.”
Save the Dates
• October 23, 2026, Open House with “Meet the Board” for members and member candidates at American Most Wanted 4×4, Burton, Mich. Register here.
• April/May 2027 MABA Annual Meeting – Location TBA, with Special Keynote Speaker, Educational Opportunities, Networking and Connecting with Schools
MABA Board Members
• Jason Taylor, Chair
• Brian Johnson, Vice Chair
• Joe Townsend, Treasurer
• Scott Webster, Secretary
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