Gerber History

Phil Gerber founded Gerber Collision & Glass in 1937 on Stony Island Avenue in Chicago, Illinois as Gerber Glass & Trim. Gerber operated as a glass company until 1978 when Neal Gerber, the grandson of Phil Gerber, expanded the business to include collision repair in Skokie, Illinois. The Gerber family business grew to five locations and an annual revenue rate of $22 Million by 1985 and was one of the first full-service, multi-shop collision repair businesses in the United States.

In 1998 Eddie Cheskis partnered with Neal Gerber and assembled a management team poised for growth. With this team in place Gerber then grew to 16 centers covering the entire Chicagoland area occupying over 325,000 square feet of production space. In February 2004 The Boyd Group, Inc., a Canadian based collision repair company, acquired Gerber Collision & Glass and changed it's name to reflect Gerber's brand by renaming its existing 20 Service Collision facilities in the United States to Gerber Collision & Glass. This acquisition made Gerber one of the largest collision repair businesses in the United States. Gerber currently employs over 1,000 dedicated employees in six states and 50 service centers. Gerber operates a glass repair and replacement business based in Elmhurst, Illinois, and a corporate headquarters in Skokie, Illinois.

Gerber was one of the first auto collision repairers to align with the insurance industry, and we are among the most experienced operators in the industry in working within the requirements of auto insurer Direct Repair Programs, DRP's. Gerber was the first Chicago-area participant in Allstate's DRP beginning in 1982 and was USAA's first DRP partner in the country, working with USAA in a pilot program to design their national DRP program. Since that time, most auto insurance carriers have implemented a DRP program. Gerber currently participates in most insurance carriers DRP programs, including those of seven of the ten largest insurance carriers in the United States.

Over our long history, we have developed an efficient operating model characterized by partnership with the insurance community, standardized operating procedures, job segmentation for our repair technicians, and centralized administrative functions. We were one of the first collision repair operators to successfully manage a computer network. Our company offers a full range of services in-house, virtually eliminating the need to sub-contract steps of the repair process, reduce cycle time, enhance repair quality, and improve service to the insurance carrier and it's claimants. Gerber's experience in running a multi-shop operation is another significant competitive advantage in the consolidating collision repair industry. We have repaired over one million vehicles to date. Gerber Collision & Glass intends to remain on the cutting-edge of the industry by listening to our customers needs and by continuing to offer you revolutionary services.

Gerber Collision & Glass is owned by the Boyd Group Income Fund.