AGRSS Council Celebrates Ten Years

The Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standard (AGRSS) Council celebrates its tenth year in existence this year. The AGRSS Standard, which was accepted by ANSI in February 2000, was first conceived in 1997 by then Independent Glass Association president Carl Jolliff, who came together with others to form a committee to write the standard and seek ANSI acceptance. Since that time, the Council has added a registration program and recently launched a consumer awareness program (CLICK HERE to read more).

AGRSS Council chairperson Cindy Ketcherside of JC's Glass in Phoenix says the group has made great progress in the past ten years toward its goals.

"Over the past ten years, AGRSS has made a significant difference in the auto glass industry," she says. "Glass companies, as well as their technicians, are now conscious that this industry is not just in the glass business, but in the safety business. AGRSS has taken any guesswork out of how a windshield should be in stalled to protect the occupant of a car."

Carl Tompkins, chair of the AGRSS credentialing committee and Western sales manager for the Sika Corp., echoed Ketcherside on this occasion.

"We have made an incredible amount of progress in establishing a new foundation built around the concept of safe auto glass installations," Tompkins says. "While I'm extremely grateful with all of the hard work and accomplishments we have made, I'm certainly not nearly satisfied, because my view is that all parties involved with auto glass must do everything possible to make sure that every auto glass replacement is done in a safe manner, and what that has turned out to mean is that all auto glass is installed in accordance with the AGRSS Standard."

What's in the future for the Standard?

"In the next ten years, I expect that the ultimate mission will be met for glass shops doing auto glass will only compete and be caused to compete with those companies that do AGRSS-compliant work," Tompkins says, "period."

The Council will celebrate its tenth anniversary at its annual conference, which will be held October 31 through November 3 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas (CLICK HERE for more information about the conference or to register online).