Charles Edward “Chad” Sulkala

Charles Edward “Chad” Sulkala, son of 1989 Eagle Chuck Sulkala, entered collision repair in 1998 at the family business, Acme Body and Paint in Jamaica Plain, Mass., and later worked for Allstate Insurance, Esurance and CCC Information Services. He joined the Collision Industry Conference in 1999 and, as chair of its Estimating Committee, led creation of the “Gap Statement” on refinish labor and materials. He was a CIECA trustee and Marketing Committee chairman and received its Outstanding Leadership award in 2017. He served as treasurer of SCRS, I-CAR, the Collision Industry Foundation and NABC, as I-CAR secretary, as an officer of the Massachusetts Auto Body Association and on the CAPA Technical Committee. He was inducted posthumously in November 2025. He died May 31, 2025, in Northampton, Mass., at 54.