Several Maaco franchise owners in Montgomery County, Md., recently supported a contest at James H. Blake High School challenging junior and senior students in the Entrepreneurship and Business Management class to reimagine the body shop of 2031 for a chance to win a $1,000 cash prize.

Electronic systems are expected to make up 50% of total car cost by 2030 and, as a result, collision repairers must be ready to repair this advanced technology. Students were challenged to consider the necessary changes in operations, marketing and financials to create the body shop of the future.

Ken Lloyd, owner of Maaco Silver Spring, Farzad Shoaee-Tehrani, owner of Maaco Gaithersburg and Brandon Johnson, regional operations coach of Maaco, served as guest judges for the contest. Students created video presentations and delivered them to the guest judges virtually. Maaco also awarded the top two presentations with cash prizes and gifted the entire class participation memorabilia.

A total of 12 students participated. Joey Sauro and Zack Temenak took home the first-place prize, while Ben Mabie and Anthony Goglia placed second.

“Maaco gave these future business leaders the opportunity to take the concepts that they have learned in a classroom and apply them with critical thinking of what an industry would look like in 10 years,” said Fred Katz, business teacher, James H. Blake High School. “It took the students several weeks to learn the industry and company to envision its future. One major challenge was that they were limited to a five-minute video presentation, so they all had to have a high-quality presentation.”

Added Ken Lloyd, owner of Maaco Silver Spring, “As a local body shop owner in Montgomery County, I was a volunteer guest judge, and it was encouraging to see the bright ideas coming from this group of students. The whole class came to the table with thoughtful presentations, innovative ideas and unique approaches to marketing the business.

“This initiative is a testament to the education system in our community, encouraging students to foster that entrepreneurial spirit and become forward thinkers. It was clear the top-two teams conducted extensive research to understand where the industry is moving and both prioritized technology and training to ensure the body shop of the future will be ready for the modern vehicle.”