Kevin House started doing collision repair out of his garage. Thirty-one years later, he runs three commercial locations in Tacoma, Washington, the most recent of which opened in early 2026 as a dedicated electric vehicle repair facility — one of the only shops in the greater Tacoma area certified to repair Rivian vehicles.
Now, Center Collision is an 18-person I-CAR Gold Class status shop with two retail production locations and a third used primarily for vehicle storage. The main location handles general collision repair. It holds eight OEM certifications and pursues programs that reflect the vehicles it sees most frequently and that remain open in its geographic area.
“They won’t give them to you unless you have the tools,” House said of the certification programs. “That’s what really generates us going after more tools.”
THE STACK
Estimating and Management
- Estimating: CCC
- Shop Management: CCC
- Parts Ordering: CCC, OPUS, CollisionLink
- Accounting: QuickBooks
Center Collision uses CCC for both estimating and shop management. House said its near-universal acceptance among insurers made it the practical choice for a shop that operates without direct repair program contracts…