Williams Paint & Body Shop Named Back-to-Back Best of Florida Winner

MARIANNA, Fla. — August 27, 2026

Williams Paint & Body Shop has been named a 2026 Best of Florida winner in the Auto Body Shop category, marking the second consecutive year the locally owned collision repair facility has received the recognition.

The 2026 award follows the shop's 2025 Best of Florida win and arrives as Williams Paint & Body Shop celebrates 15 years of serving Marianna, Jackson County, and communities across the Florida Panhandle.

Winning once was an incredible honor. Winning for a second consecutive year tells a larger story—one that reaches far beyond a plaque, graphic, or announcement.

A Glimpse Inside the Year Between the Awards

The past year has been one of the most active and transformative periods in the shop's history. Williams welcomed new team members, continued investing in employee education, and placed an even greater emphasis on developing the next generation of collision repair professionals.

At the center of that commitment is owner Eddie Williams. He remains a hands-on owner—not simply overseeing the business, but actively participating in the work, setting expectations, sharing what experience has taught him, and helping the next generation understand the responsibility behind every repair.

Apprenticeships, Mentors, and the Future of the Trade

Through the I-CAR Academy and the apprenticeship-and-mentor structure within the shop, developing technicians have an opportunity to learn beside experienced collision repair professionals. That education extends beyond online coursework or classroom instruction into the hands-on guidance that happens inside a working collision repair facility.

Mentorship means explaining why a repair is performed a particular way, not merely demonstrating how to complete it. It means building an understanding of repair planning, vehicle construction, structural considerations, refinishing procedures, safety systems, quality control, documentation, and the responsibility that comes with returning a properly repaired vehicle to a customer.

Passing that knowledge forward is an investment in more than one employee. It is an investment in the future of Williams Paint & Body Shop and collision repair throughout the communities the shop serves.

Training That Never Stops

Williams expanded access to ongoing I-CAR education for its employees and completed hands-on, in-shop steel-sectioning instruction during the past year. Additional in-shop training events are scheduled for the remainder of 2026.

Modern vehicles are changing rapidly. Advanced driver-assistance systems, new material combinations, increasingly complex electronics, and model-specific repair procedures mean yesterday's experience remains invaluable—but it must be paired with today's information. Williams Paint & Body Shop is committed to both.

Continuing to Improve the Repair Experience

The shop continued investing in the equipment, technology, documentation, and repair-planning practices required for today's vehicles—from structural and body repair to professional refinishing and ADAS-related scanning and calibration work.

At the same time, the team placed a renewed emphasis on customer communication. Repairing a vehicle correctly will always be the foundation of the business, but customers also deserve to understand what is happening, what comes next, and when they should expect another update.

Williams also rebuilt and expanded its website to make information about services, estimates, insurance claims, repair procedures, certifications, customer resources, and the people behind the business easier to access. Outside the shop, Williams became the official sponsor of Panhandle Weather's Marianna weather camera on Highway 71, helping provide residents with another real-time community resource.

Williams Paint & Body Shop did not stand still after winning its first Best of Florida award. The team continued examining its processes, communication, training, technology, and customer experience—not only for the next award, but for the next customer, the next vehicle, and the next generation of collision repair professionals.

Built Locally Since 2011

Eddie and Theresa Williams founded Williams Paint & Body Shop in 2011 with a commitment to quality workmanship and the kind of personal service that can only come from a locally owned business. Fifteen years later, that foundation remains unchanged.

Vehicles and repair procedures have become more complex, the technology inside the shop has changed considerably, and the team has grown. Williams remains committed to the same fundamental responsibility: repairing vehicles properly, treating customers honestly, supporting the community, sharing knowledge, and standing behind the work.

The back-to-back recognition belongs to the customers who trusted Williams with their vehicles, the employees who perform the work and care about the details, the apprentices developing their skills, the mentors willing to share their experience, and the North Florida community that has supported the shop for the past 15 years.

North Florida, Thank You

To everyone across Marianna, Jackson County, and the surrounding Florida Panhandle who trusted, recommended, reviewed, voted for, or supported Williams Paint & Body Shop: thank you.

Back-to-back Best of Florida winners—2025 and 2026. The recognition is meaningful. The responsibility behind it matters even more. Williams Paint & Body Shop will continue working to earn that trust with every repair.

About Williams Paint & Body Shop

Founded in 2011 by Eddie and Theresa Williams, Williams Paint & Body Shop is a locally owned I-CAR Gold Class collision repair facility serving Marianna, Jackson County, and the surrounding Florida Panhandle.

The shop provides collision and structural repair, automotive refinishing, repair planning and documentation, ADAS-related scanning and calibration services, glass coordination, and insurance-claim assistance. Williams is located at 4720 Highway 90 in Marianna, Florida.