Tennessee Small Businessman Wins National Award

Jimmy Collins of Casper's Body Work & Wrecker Service in Greeneville is the winner of the 2024 Dave Jones Leadership Award

CHATTANOOGA, TN, UNITED STATES, November 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 2024 Dave Jones Leadership Award was given to Jimmy Collins, owner of Casper's Body Shop & Wrecker Service, Greeneville, TN. Collins, who was a protégé of the late legendary Dave Jones, said winning the award was a big surprise.

“I never thought in a thousand years that I would even be considered for that,” said Collins, 53.

The Dave Jones Leadership Award, first given in 2015, honors towing operators who demonstrate leadership, innovation, vision, tenacity, and experience. The Jones family of Dave Jones Services, Casselberry, FL, chooses the recipient each year. Collins is the ninth winner of the Jones award. Jones, who died in 2013, was also a founder of Tow Times magazine.

Michael McGovern, president of Tow Times magazine, was on hand in Chattanooga to give Collins the award during the Tennessee Tow Show. He sees a parallel between Collins and Jones.

“Jimmy's background is remarkably similar to that of Dave Jones. From a small body shop in a tiny, rural east Tennessee town, Jimmy expanded his business to towing and now has a fleet of trucks, including a rotator, based in a large, state-of-the-art facility,” McGovern said. “Like Dave Jones, he applied his business prowess to his state towing association, serving as a founder and past president. Jimmy personifies a Dave Jones Leadership Award recipient."

Collins is frank about the comparison with Jones. “We’re both Type A personalities. He was a good business guy. Dave taught me a lot in the few years I knew him and introduced me to people I would never have known.”

Collins launched Casper’s Body Shop & Wrecker Service over 30 years ago with one truck that was a ghostly white, hence the name "Casper's." Today, Casper's has 16 full-time and four part-time employees and over 20 power units that perform light- to heavy-duty towing, recovery, and roadside assistance. A separate company provides hazmat services.

The trucks are painted black not white and boast pink lettering, a mistake, Collins said, after a boom was erroneously painted shocking pink. “We stuck with it.”

He credits Jones with pushing him to enter the trailer-transport business. Now, Casper’s has two trailers and is looking to buy a third. Jones’ advice “really stayed with me,” Collins explained.

Jones also encouraged Collins to become involved in the Tennessee Tow Truck Association (TTTA), which he did, ultimately becoming president of the organization. For the first time in 20 years, however, Collins does not have an active role in TTTA.

“Jimmy Collins has worked tirelessly to help the towing industry in Tennessee for decades,” wrote former TTTA President Evan Mealer on Facebook congratulating Collins. “We couldn’t be more proud.”

Reach Jimmy Collins of Casper's Body Shop & Wrecker Service in Greeneville, TN, at 423-823-0593 .

Clarissa Powell
Tow Times magazine
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