ALI names new PR agency of record

The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI), a trade association of North American vehicle lift manufacturers, has named Simpson Communications, LLC, as its public relations agency of record. Simpson Communications will promote the organization’s lift certification and safety messages to the vehicle service industry.

“Simpson Communications understands the automotive industry and has a long history of communicating with the audiences we need to reach,” said ALI president R.W. “Bob” O’Gorman, “so it was an easy decision to bring their team on board.”

Kristen Simpson, president of Simpson Communications acknowledged that ALI serves an important role in the vehicle service industry.

“The vehicle lift is the centerpiece of most vehicle service bays and is used more often than any other piece of service equipment, so we’re honored to have the opportunity to spread the word about how to maximize lift and technician safety,” she said. “Your safety is riding on it.”

Simpson Communications was founded in 2003, as a full-service public relations agency based in Shaker Heights, Ohio. It specializes in business-to-business communications within various segments of the transportation industry, including over-the-road and vocational trucking, automotive aftermarket and original equipment manufacturers. O’Gorman said the first task facing Simpson Communications will be to promote the recent introduced Lift Inspector Certification Program.

“We’ve expanded our mission to include vehicle lift inspection in addition to our traditional activities designed to help promote a stronger automotive lift safety environment,” he said. “Our lift inspector certification program is the first of its kind. In order for the program to succeed, lift owners, technicians and the general public need to understand the importance of having every vehicle lift inspected annually by a qualified inspector. We hope that in time this will translate to mean ‘by a lift inspector certified by ALI.’”

The Lift Inspector Certification Program was created to provide third-party qualification of vehicle lift inspectors and to certify those who pass tests and practical experience requirements demonstrating that they’re qualified to properly inspect vehicle lifts in accordance with ANSI standards and in support of OSHA’s General Duty Clause and provincial requirements in Canada.

Inspection companies with candidate inspectors that achieve certification by ALI are also eligible to represent a newly formed associate membership group within ALI, allowing the organization to grow in new directions to further support the industry.

Since its founding in 1945, ALI has supported the safe design, construction, installation, service and use of automotive lifts. The association’s member companies include the leading lift manufacturers, with whom staff members work to develop standards for construction, installation, operation and inspection. ALI acts as a third-party product certification agency with a sole focus on automotive lifts, and its gold certification label can be found attached to certified lifts across the continent.