According to several unconfirmed news reports, the leader of the Collision Repair Education Foundation is resigning his position.
Several U.S. collision industry publications are reporting Brandon Eckenrode is leaving his role as executive director.
While the stories cite a press release, it was not visible CREF’s public website or social media channels at the time of writing. According to the reports covering its contents it did not include any statement from Eckenrode.
The information cannot be confirmed by Collision Repair magazine. Despite reaching out, Collision Repair was unable to connect with either Eckenrode or CREF board chair Brenda Hogen prior to publication.
Eckenrode joined the U.S. charitable foundation in 2009 and was promoted to executive director in June 2023. He previously served as associate director of development, director of development and managing director.
CREF supports high school and college collision repair programs through scholarships, grants, equipment donations, career fairs and other workforce-development programs.
Collision Repair will update this story when further information becomes available.
