It seems like yesterday, but it was 1999 when I walked through the doors of ATRA in the industrial park in Ventura, California. Today, ATRA resides in San Antonio, Texas, and we’re celebrating our 70th anniversary.
The ATRA started in 1954 on a handshake between shops. The association was incorporated in 1968, and The Golden Rule warranty was born. As with all growth, the evolution of the technical department became most important, with all of the warranty claims occurring. I think the technical department was also created during the late 70’s or the early 80’s.
Then we thought, well, there needs to be some training, so we started doing training. Technical seminars began in the 80s. A few years later, the technical department was writing bulletins and articles so that shops could get more information on the transmissions they were working on.
Around the 1980s, we were writing articles and then we started doing larger events. The ATRA ventured out in the early 1990s, created GEARS Magazine for the Transmission Industry, and created our own EXPO. We started coming into our own as an association to give technical materials to the shops in our industry.
We couldn’t get that information out fast enough. Once a year, we’d show up to regional seminars. Once a year, we’d show up at a location where everybody would come to us. The dawning of the internet showed up, and what a great way to launch ATRAonline. We started our new testing certification because of ASE, and the brand of being certified was becoming more prevalent. We then launched our testing certification in 2013. But, we still weren’t getting information out to shops fast enough.
We decided to do webinars and lunchtime learning. We covered the east coast, the central, the mountain, the Pacific, and the Australian eastern seaboard. We also started our virtual training. All these things we did during this timeline were to adhere to the needs and the wants of shops. We need this. We’d like to see this. We want to get that. So, we’re bringing new benefits to the shops because of a need. You’ll notice that between 1992 and now, it’s all technical.
We implemented a few management things with our What’s Working program, but the majority of the material that we deliver and the majority of support that we give to shops is technical. Warranty is a peace of mind. We have a nationwide warranty that covers everything from coast to coast. We’ve got one, two, and three-year warranties, three years 50,000 or 100,000, depending on which one you want to give. We can compete with the dealers on this.
This is one part we’re really pushing on social media right now: our nationwide warranty and that peace of mind. We added seminars to VTS in 2019. That was to adhere to the people who could not attend seminars, non-members and members alike. Last year, we launched our newsletter. This year, we launched our social media campaign, and we’ll be going to Las Vegas for our EXPO on the AAPEX show floor.
As we ventured through our timeline, you’ll notice we had just a little bit of things going on in 1954. A few other things were added in 1968. We created our technical department. Our events came in in the 90s. We got a little bigger. And I don’t know if anybody here remembers the web TV we gave back in the 90s for being a member. That was a fascinating timeline.
Returning to what the association looks like now, we have a technical department that drives different areas: gears, events, the golden warranty, and certification. Then, we have our membership and shop support, which drives referrals to Shop Finder and our social media platforms. I brought this up because I want everyone to recognize that our growth within the association requires a lot of outside influences, including you.
That’s why we’re here today: We’ve had a slew of conversations with people through our social media sites asking if membership is still available. How do I contact membership? Who do I contact for membership? I want to be involved in ATRA. How can I get an international membership? And all of those people that I’ve talked to have signed up. These are good things, it’s value.
The “Value” is in you! You make ATRA what it is today. We’ve come a long way and are getting stronger by the minute! Together, we can grow our industry! As always, I look forward to serving you and our future together.
