A NOD TO NORM ANGROVE

Longtime automotive refinishing industry executive announces retirement

Norm Angrove, who most recently served as the director of Automotive Refinish for PPG Canada, has announced his retirement, effective April 1, 2024. During his 35+ year career in the automotive refinishing sector, Norm has seen countless new product releases, shop openings, industry events, consolidation in both collision repair and distribution and overall market shifts i.e., Canada’s infamous shift to waterborne paints in 2009, among a plethora of others.

For Norm, a career in the refinish business was always natural. His father owned and operated a distribution company. In his teen years, he’d work the shop during summer holidays, later joining as a salesperson and eventually working his way to sales manager. From there, Norm ran the company. Eventually, it was sold, and Norm joined the team with Bob Kirstiuk and First Parts, which later became Advantage Parts Solutions as we know it today.

Norm later crossed paths with Larry Jeffries, who was with a paint company at the time. Along with Sam Malatesta and Sam Mercanti, the men launched the CARSTAR brand in Canada in 1995.

In the early 2000s, Norm returned to distribution and worked with James Maxwell and his organization as VP of sales. The organization built the largest ICI Autocolor distributor in Canada.

Norm first joined PPG in the spring of 2005 as the national manager of industry relations. He has held various roles of increasing responsibilities over his years in PPG’s automotive refinish division, including regional manager of central Canada; senior manager of value programs North America; national business development manager and Canadian collision manager.

He was appointed the director of automotive refinish, Canada in July 2015 and is the longest-ever serving Canadian director for PPG’s automotive refinish business. As an individual with key insights on the past, present and future of our industry, Collision Repair asked Norm if he had any advice for collision repair centres as they navigate the future.

First—you must be “world-class.”

“What’s big, for me, is the fact the Gen Z or Millennial workers—they’re not walking into your business and comparing you to other collision centres they could work. They are comparing you to other experiences in life. You can be world-class among collision centres, but you need to be a world-class employer, doing world-class repairs, dealing with customers in world-class way—everything must be of that caliber.”

He also stressed that, in the modern market, “speed is the new superpower.” “Speed of execution and sustainability will be the true winners”

“Speed is a game-changer today. Who can do it the best, who can do it the fastest. That’s who is going to win.”

He also stresses that anyone in business needs to be in-tune with relevant industry trends.

“I truly believe if you lose sight, you lose the fight”.

Please join Collision Repair magazine in congratulating Norm Angrove on his retirement, in addition to the utmost thanks for his extensive contributions to our industry. Norm would like industry contacts to know he can best be reached at the email address normanangrove@gmail.com.