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The Auto Glass Technician (AGTO) and Windshield Repair (WRO) competitions (the "Olympics" of the auto glass and windshield repair industries) were held last week at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center as part of Auto Glass Week™ in Las Vegas. Jason Horne of Cindy Rowe Auto Glass in Harrisburg, Pa., took home first place in the AGTO, while Matt Anderson of Novus Auto Glass in Spokane Valley, Wash., took home first place in the Windshield Repair Olympics. In looking back on the competition, those in attendance—and in competition—seemed to agree on one thing—the competition just keeps getting stiffer.
He adds, "Having the Olympics has actually improved the industry to the point that there are more and more technicians installing to those standards and the quality of the technicians has improved over the last three years. It's very hard to judge among them, as you can see by how close the scores were." Jim Coman, one of the newest Auto Glass Replacement Safety Standards (AGRSS) Council members, also of Glasspro, concurs. "I thought the quality, as seems to be the case every year, was higher of the technicians that competed," Coman says. Glasspro held its own competition to determine whom they would send and chose Tony Ford, who ranked fifth in the AGTO semi-finals. "This year we had four [potential candidates] and we had an in-house competition, kind of our own mini-Olympics, and that's probably how we'll do it again next year," Coman says. Charles Turiello of Kingston, Pa.-based Diamond Glass also was on-hand to support his company's competitors, Bob Hosta, Jeff Morganti and Aaron Thrasher. Thrasher took second place in the competition. "We're already looking forward to next year and we're shooting
for the gold," Turiello says. Either way, though, Turiello is pleased with this year's competition. "Everyone [at Diamond] is very happy on where we placed and we're especially happy with the work that the technicians put in over the course since our semi-finals," he says. "We're proud of our technicians." The AGTO is co-sponsored by the Independent Glass Association (IGA) and glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine. In addition, corporate sponsors included Pilkington, SRP, AEGIS Tools International, Dow Automotive, A.N. Designs, Equalizer, Mygrant Glass, OETech, Mainstreet Computers, GTS Services, SIKA Corp., ADCO Products and Glass.net. The WRO is co-sponsored by the National Windshield Repair Association (NWRA) and glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine. Corporate WRO sponsors were GlasWeld, Glazex, AEGIS Tools International and Glass Medic. CLICK HERE to see the scores of all competitors in the AGTO semi-finals. CLICK HERE to see the final scores in the AGTO. CLICK HERE to see the scores of all competitors in the WRO semi-finals. CLICK HERE to see the final scores in the WRO. Need more info and analysis about the issues? |
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AGTO
and WRO Wrap Up; Judges and Supporters Reflect on Competition
"AGTO
has progressed year after year," says Jeff Olive of Glass Pro in
Charleston, S.C., who was the first winner of the competition in
2005 and this year took on the role of judge. "Each year we see
it harder and harder to judge because of the quality of the technicians
coming through." 