Shops & Workforce
Each entry examines a real industry development from the indicated week through independent newsroom verification. These dates describe the historical timeline—not when Auto Glass Shop News originally published the article.
Pennsylvania-based PGW Auto Glass described in November 2025 an ongoing commitment to hands-on calibration training at its facilities—an initiative designed to bridge the knowledge gap that leaves smaller independent shops at a disadvantage in the ADAS era.
Kenneth White of Optic-Kleer OKC Metro North found that competition trophies from Auto Glass Week prompted unsolicited customer questions about recalibration—showing how professional competition credentials function as passive marketing assets in a shop lobby.
Kenneth White of Optic-Kleer OKC Metro North in Edmond, Oklahoma, claimed gold in both the Calibration Competition and the Customer Service Representative Competition at AGW 2025 in Reno—a dual win that illustrated how calibration skill and customer communication are converging.
The industry's premier annual event kicked off in Reno, Nevada, on September 10, featuring certification sessions, the calibration competition, and timely sessions on tariffs, ADAS standards, and the State Farm TPA transition—topics that had dominated 2025's headlines.
A University of North Florida whitepaper commissioned by AirPro Diagnostics and released in July 2025 found that most collision and glass shops cannot realistically expect one technician to master calibration for the 30+ vehicle brands they typically service.
The Auto Glass Safety Council ran multi-day certification boot camps in Ontario, California, in early February 2025—bringing together family shops, franchise owners, and solo operators for hands-on training that is increasingly essential for any shop doing camera-adjacent glass work.
A July 2025 Microsoft analysis of 200,000 AI-assistant conversations gave auto glass installers a near-zero AI-displacement risk score—while finding that customer service representatives face a far greater threat, with implications for how shops invest in their teams.
Accounts from independent operators in Alabama, Ohio, and other states published in July 2025 detailed how adding ADAS recalibration services increased revenue per job, customer retention, and competitive positioning—while also revealing the real logistical challenges.
The company behind asTech hired a new CEO and chief transformation officer from OPENLANE in May 2025, signaling plans to expand its remote diagnostics and calibration business as insurer-mandated documentation programs gained momentum.
Two independent shops—one in Washington state, one in California—kicked off the new year by joining the Auto Glass Safety Council's registered-member program, underlining how AGSC certification is becoming a differentiator in a crowded market.
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