Automotive Fleet, February 2019

AUTOMOTIVE FLEET I FEBRUARY 2019 24 BUSINESS ACUMEN FAMILY VALUES WAYNE AND CLAUDIA SMOLDA THE CO FOUNDERS OF THE CEI GROUP RETIRED LAST NOVEMBER WHILE REACHING THE END OF A 35 YEAR JOURNEY THEY REFLECT THAT IT WAS THE JOURNEY ITSELF THAT MATTERS THE MOST TO THEM HERE IS THE STORY OF THEIR JOURNEY BY MIKE ANTICH W ayne and Claudia Smolda the husband and wife team who co founded The CEI Group officially retired from the company Nov 30 2018 capping a 35 year career in the thirdparty fleet safety and accident management industry The two were pioneers in this industry segment founding one of the early fleet accident management companies in 1983 which later branched into fleet safety management Claudia grew up in the accident repair business working as the office manager and treasurer of a body shop owned by her father Frank Brigidi Sr and her older brother Frank Brigidi Jr The seminal event that ultimately led to the creation of The CEI Group occurred in 1973 when Claudias family explored the idea of selling the body shop business This was when she first met Wayne who was representing a prospective buyer Wayne a 1969 graduate of LaSalle University with a degree in business administration was working as a financial analyst and business consultant The sale was consummated and shortly thereafter Claudia and her younger brother Rich Brigidi became co owners of a second Philadelphia body shop This became their first Collex short for Collision Experts franchise location A romance ultimately blossomed between Wayne and Claudia and the two married in 1976 Wayne joined the business full time that same year with the goal of generating more business STARTING IN A 10x10 OFFICE The birth of what would become The CEI Group was in 1983 taking place in a 10 foot by 10 foot office above the body shop when Wayne decided to target Philadelphia area businesses with a novel turnkey fleet collision repair service The first claim came from Scott Paper Company But Wayne had a bigger vision His goal was to develop a coast to coast network of body shops to handle corporate fleet accident repairs throughout the U S While the concept of third party accident management was new it fulfilled a growing need among corporate fleets and fleet management companies Within three years The CEI Group developed new services that define third party collision management taking First Notice of Loss reports arranging for temporary rental cars and a subrogation service to collect damage payments from third parties As the scope of services expanded it wanted to avoid being perceived by prospective clients as merely a collision repair specialist company and changed its company name to The CEI Group Inc In the late 1980s The CEI Group built alliances with the three top fleet leasing companies as well as some insurance companies as a private label collision management and claims services provider Soon the Smoldas built the largest accident management business in the industry In 2004 the company experienced explosive growth nearly doubling its employee base and growing to 100 million Five years later it achieved 200 million in annual revenue In three and a half decades The CEI Group grew to become the largest provider of collision management services in North America headquartered in Trevose Pa On Dec 16 2016 Element Fleet Man FORMULA FOR SUCCESS The birth of what would become The CEI Group was in 1983 taking place in a 10 foot by 10 foot office above the family body shop when Wayne Smolda decided to target Philadelphia area businesses with a novel turnkey fleet collision repair service The first claim came from Scott Paper Company However the vision was to develop a coast to coast network of body shops to handle corporate fleet accident repairs throughout the U S