Allen C. Richey, president of the Automotive Service Association, has been the driving force behind the independent automotive service industry since he organized a group of 11 garage owners in 1952. Today, the ASA has in excess of 10,000 members across the country. He was an innovator in expanding the quantity and quality of services an organization should provide its members, setting a standard that is still used as a yardstick today.

Effective training has always been one of Richey’s major objectives during his four-decade career in the automotive industry. The association he created now provides several forms of both technical and management training to its membership, plus group insurance, a credit union, representation in Washington, a technical assistance hotline, a bi-monthly newsletter, and a monthly magazine.

Under his watchful eye, the two most prominent auto service and repair organizations in the U.S. (Automotive Service Councils and Independent Automotive Service Association) united to form the most powerful trade association of its kind.

Richey began his career as the editor of a monthly magazine for the Independent Garagemen’s Association of Texas. He later served as business manager before becoming the association’s executive director in 1967. The organization under Richey’s leadership grew from the local level to the regional level before eventually achieving national status.

It currently has active chapters in more than 115 cities. The ASA headquarters was officially dedicated to Richey and his wife, Jean, in 1983. Richey was a past recipient of the Outstanding Association Executive for the state of Texas and was named by Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association as its Automotive Man of the Year.