ABRA Auto Body & Glass Notes 20th Anniversary

ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a Minneapolis-based company, is celebrating 20 years as a national provider in the damaged vehicle repair industry.

In June of 1984, Rollie Benjamin, ABRA’s president and CEO, opened ABRA’s first repair center in Fridley, Minn., in an upscale, commercial development. Quickly recognized as “not your average repair center”, this new approach to the collision repair industry reportedly earned the support of both vehicle owners and their insurance companies.

This near instant validation of the business format reportedly created capacity issues that led to the opening of a second repair center only eight months later, and established the model for further expansion of the ABRA Auto Body & Glass system.

Tim Adelmann, ABRA’s executive vice president of Client Services, joined the company in 1985 as general manager of the second repair center, and became a partner in ABRA. Things moved quickly thereafter, and in 1987 ABRA launched a franchise program to promote accelerated growth. After two decades, ABRA now operates 68 corporate repair centers and 21 franchised centers in 10 states and six major markets.

According to Benjamin, “At ABRA, our initiatives generally focus around three areas of the business: staffing, technology and repair center excellence. I believe having the best people is absolutely Number One.”

Adelmann added, “When the day is done, ABRA isn’t about paint booths or buildings or frame equipment. Over the years our commitment to our team members has not only remained the same – but actually become stronger. We want ABRA to be the ’employer of choice’ in the collision repair industry.”