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2026 Scholarships & Award Winners
VISION has several technical and management scholarships available that cover fees to attend VISION, including the Harvey Chan Memorial Scholarship, Tim Cummings Memorial Scholarship, Anthony Williams Memorial Scholarship, Educator Scholarships, and Amazing Women in Automotive Scholarship!
There are also several VISION Awards we take applications for, including: Best Website, Best Social Media, Best Place To Work, Radical Generosity Award, Educator of the Year, Technician of the Year, Service Advisor of the Year and Service Facility of the Year.
See which individuals and independent shops made history with our lineup of 2026 scholarship and award winners.
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See the past winners here.
An object in motion tends to stay in motion. There are individuals in this industry who give, work, and encourage in a manner that keeps our industry moving forward. The Radical Generosity Award is created to shine a well deserved spotlight on an industry professional who is dedicated to improving our industry in positive ways. They are involved, lead, encourage, and give back to the automotive repair community. The winner of this award is a role model to all of us in professionalism, character, and integrity. This award is presented by Shop Marketing Pros.
2026 Radical Generosity Award WINNER:
Brian and Jill Sump
The “Best Places to Work” award seeks to honor automotive service facilities that exemplify excellence in the workplace. Facilities are evaluated on training and advancement opportunities, culture, work-life balance, technology utilization, shop/work environment, and employee benefits. This award celebrates the facilities that not only drive innovation in automotive service but also foster a great work environment. By recognizing and showcasing these facilities, this award aims to inspire a higher standard of workplace excellence within the automotive service industry.
Best Place To Work WINNER:
Mevert Automotive & Tire Center
Social media plays a large role in company awareness and customer generation. It’s not enough to simply post content on social platforms, but in order to drive results and obtain a target audience, tailored content needs to be created. On top of tailored content, interaction and engagement with followers is another important factor in maintaining a superb social platform. This award is for those shops who have demonstrated a clear social media marketing strategy with their content and focus, and produces high-quality engagement with their followers.
Best Social Media WINNER:
Girlington Garage
Best Website WINNER:
This award spotlights a single shop’s efforts to promote professionalism in the automotive service industry, and judges review the business’s practices, industry and association participation, community involvement and physical appearance of the facility and team. In addition, nominees must have a measurable customer satisfaction index (CSI) method, and must maintain a minimum average score of 95. This award is open to any shop attending VISION.
Facility of the Year WINNER:
Full Throttle Automotive
VISION Hi-Tech Training & Expo launched the Educator Think Tank Program with the goal of bringing together Automotive Technology educators in a learning-driven and exciting environment to brainstorm, collaborate, and learn. With the success of the program comes a desire to recognize these educators that have dedicated their careers to the Automotive Technology Industry and that teach and empower the future of the industry. This honor will be awarded to an individual whose commitment to their program and students sets them apart. They will have demonstrated innovative and successful teaching methods and a drive to continually adapt and move forward in their teaching field.
Educator of the Year WINNER:
Dave Heinzen
The AWiA (Amazing Women in Automotive) is providing a scholarship to a first-time, female attendee and will cover a 4-day package to attend the VISION event, as well as 4-nights hotel. Training package sponsored by AWiA. Hotel sponsored by VISION/TTEF.
AWiA Scholarship WINNER:
Greg Deeds Memorial Scholarship
Greg was a Shop Owner, Technician, Father and Grandfather. Dedicated to providing his customers with the best service possible, he was always seeking to sharpen his skillset by attending training events to stay up to date on the latest technology. In his 30 year career as a technician, He mentored many young technicians to help further their careers in the industry. Greg was always going out of his way to help the people he knew and cared for. ECU Hero wishes to honor Greg’s legacy and his passion for training events with a 4-day package to attend the 2024 VISION event, as well as 4-nights hotel stay to a qualifying individual.
Management & Technical Scholarship
VISION has numerous technical and management scholarships available. This year we are accepting applications using one form and the awards committee members will determine recipients from all the applications received.
Deadline: January 12, 2024
