Kirchner, Danyon

I have been in the industry for over 20 years. I worked in my first shop at the age of 15 where I learned to clean the shop, mask cars, primer and mix color (my first mixing experiencing was on microfiche!). I was bitten by the bug and immediately wanted to learn as much as possible about paint, I was obsessed with it. I took on to color theory well and always had a deep passion for matching difficult colors. For my entire career in a shop, I always had 2 jobs. I worked as a painter during the day in a dealership (later on an independent), and a side job at night at a small shop. In 2009 I took a part time job in the mornings teaching automotive refinish at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, PA. I absolutely loved teaching refinishing and was hooked right away. That spring I was approached by BASF to be a technical support specialist for them as waterborne was coming in fast. The day I took the job, I converted and trained the very first waterborne shop in Lancaster County in 2009! I spent the next several years demoing, training, converting and filling in for painters in my role as a TSS. In 2015, I worked along side Chip Foose to demo Glasurit 90 line and RM Onyx at the SEMA show in the outdoor booth. Over the next several years I began a working relationship with KC Mathieu from Gas Monkey Garage (I trained him on BASF in Dallas in 2017), Jonathan Goolsby of Goolsby Customs, Bogi from All Girls Garage, created 3 colors for the Rutledge Woob EBay Motors build, and have worked with many other industry leaders in collision repair as well as hot rod/restoration. With Collision Hub, I helped to create and design the BASF web-based training that they use today for painter certifications. My specialty has always been training on color and replication of OEM finishes. I have had extensive training and gained deep knowledge through the years in all aspects of coatings technology for automotive, fleet, industrial and marine refinish. Over the last several years I began a dual role as a Business Services Manager for Zimmerman Auto Body Supplies and Capital Automotive Refinishing Supplies in central Pennsylvania. We are a multi paint line jobber so I am well versed in processes, costing, standard operating procedures, handling of warranty claims and products of several top tier paint lines. In the last year and a half my role went from dual to 100% business services. Here I work with shops on a self-created metric tracking program, inventory evaluation and analysis, SOP implementation, shop re-flow design, process improvement, efficiency training amongst many other areas related to collision.