Summer 2022 - 22

Alumni Spotlight
April Lausch:
INDUSTRY LEADER
IN COLLISION
People are often surprised
when they ask to speak to
the manager and April Lausch
comes to meet them.
A
utomotive Technology is not typically a field
for women. But Lausch, who manages Faulkner
Collision Center of Lancaster, embraced new
opportunities and is a national leader recognized for her
work.
She has won nine industry awards in the last seven years
and been featured in national publications.
" I want to be one of the best in our industry, " said
Lausch, who lives with her husband, 18-year-old son and
14-year-old daughter in Ephrata. " I'm a woman in a maledominated
industry. I work hard and try to give back to
my community and my industry. "
When she first started working in collision, customers
would question her.
" I would tell them I can get a man to work with you but
I am licensed by the state of Pennsylvania so I can write
your estimate. They would then tell me to go ahead and
keep working, " said Lausch.
" I think it can be hard for a woman to work in this field if
you're not tough and mentally prepared for it. "
She doesn't feel like she has to prove herself anymore.
Her award tally keeps growing, including several national
awards: 2016 Body Shop Business Executive of the
Year, and 2016 Automotive News 40 under 40, 2019
National Auto Body Council Award of Distinction, 2019
Showmanship of Excellence Award (Ranked #1 out of
22  The Tower
4,500 nationwide), 2015 and 2020 BMW Outstanding
Performance Award, and 2019 and 2022 Nationwide
Insurance Showmanship of Excellence Award (Ranked #1
in the country in 2019 and #1 in top 10 in 2022).
Lausch says her accomplishments today were not
anything she could have imagined. When she attended
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, she had no
plans to work in the automotive field.
" I planned to be an accountant, " said Lausch, a graduate
of Titusville High School who followed her brother to the
College, where he was enrolled in the machine program.
" I chose the business major because there was a lot of
accounting in it. "
Lausch, '97 Business (Automated Business Technology),
was one of only nine women in the entire college when
she attended - and three of the nine were named April!
" I didn't find it difficult to fit in. I was there to learn and
get my college degree, " she said. " I was actually ahead of
the other students in my business class.
She spent a few months working in a law office, and
briefly considered going to law school, but decided
against it.
Lausch was working in the business office of a collision
shop when she found that she finished her work
quickly and didn't have enough to do. She spoke to her
managers, and they decided to send her to a two-week
Summer 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Summer 2022
