plus 4, Texas may be truckin' to the top of dealerships - Dallas Morning News |
- Texas may be truckin' to the top of dealerships - Dallas Morning News
- Behind the cameras at Celtic Media Centre - Alexandria Daily Town Talk
- Springfield plant may close, says truck-delivery company - Springfield News Sun
- NAFA Hires New Associate Director of Education - PR-USA.net
- Eureka Fire Co. says satellite station improves response time - York Daily Record
| Texas may be truckin' to the top of dealerships - Dallas Morning News Posted: 28 Nov 2009 07:18 AM PST Texas may pass California next year to claim the largest number of new-car dealerships in the nation, enhancing the state's standing as an auto retail powerhouse. In this caustic economy, both states are losing dealerships. But with 12.2 percent unemployment and real estate values plummeting, a weakened California is losing them faster than Texas. Four years ago, California had 1,676 new-car dealerships and Texas 1,368 – a difference of 308 stores, according to figures compiled by the National Automobile Dealers Association. As of October, the numbers had shrunk to 1,271 in California and 1,140 in Texas – a gap of 131 stores. "At the start of this year, California had a 180-rooftop lead," said Paul Taylor, chief economist at the NADA. "If real estate continues to restrain California's economy, Texas may well overtake California in the next year or so." Industry officials and observers differ about the significance of that. Bill Wolters, president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, said he began getting calls six months ago from California car dealers interested in coming to Texas. "We are in such a good position," Wolters said. "Nobody is doing great in a market where you've only got 9 million [vehicle] sales nationally. But we're headed in the right direction." Texas is already seen as the nation's biggest truck market. When manufacturers are planning a new pickup or major revisions to an existing truck, they often do consumer research in Texas. But if the state is also a retail leader because of the sheer number of dealerships here, it should attract more automaker attention – and possibly more manufacturing and distribution facilities, Wolters said. "I think our environment, our climate, has been trending to the point where we were going to explode and California was going to implode," he said. "When you look at their much more radical regulatory environment, their tax structure and real estate values, all this in concert has really restricted their ability to do business." Sometime in the next few years, Wolters expects Texas to account for 10 percent of the nation's total new-vehicle sales.
Begging to differ
Meanwhile, the California New Car Dealers Association isn't ready to concede anything to Texas. According to the association's count, the state still has 1,399 dealerships – down from 1,500 two years ago. But association president Peter Welch acknowledges that serious economic problems have tarnished the Golden State. In six of the last nine years, dealers there have sold more than 2 million new vehicles annually – and in two of the three "weak" years, they sold at least 1.8 million cars and trucks. "Last year, we sold 1.4 million vehicles, which is the worst we've seen in years," Welch said. "This year, we will be lucky to break 1 million, which would be the worst year since 1975." Still, more than 70 percent of the new vehicles sold in California each year are imports, and most of the closed dealerships have been domestic brands, he said. As a result, the state has retained what is effectively its core retail strength. Todd Turner, a California-based auto-industry consultant, says the numbers could indicate that Texas is starting to struggle with some of the problems California has been trying to resolve. For decades, California has had too many dealerships in some parts of the state, making it difficult for any of them to succeed, said Turner, president of Car Concepts in Thousand Oaks. "I see it as much a vulnerability as something to brag about," he said. "We've been over-dealered for years. I've seen some of the Taj Mahals in Texas, and I think they're running into the same problems we had. It's California 1980 déjà vu."
Texas' advantages
The biggest Chevrolet dealer in the U.S., though, thinks there are considerable differences between retailers in California and Texas – starting with trucks. "Trucks are what made us big in the '90s," said Tom Durant, who owns Classic Chevrolet in Grapevine and seven other area dealerships. "We're getting more cars now, but trucks are still a real big part of our business." In addition, Texas is losing fewer dealers than California because its licensing process is more strenuous and often keeps automakers from ill-advised expansions that ultimately fail, said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas. But Campbell, a 25-year veteran of the business, doubts that Texas' status will be embellished by having the nation's largest dealership count. Rather, he said, domestic automakers will pay even more attention to Texas because they don't want to lose their 50 percent or so market share here – especially after what happened in California. "We sell more new pickups in North Texas than any place in the world," Campbell said. "This is the Alamo for the domestics, who have to hold Texas. When the market comes back, it will come back here first." This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Behind the cameras at Celtic Media Centre - Alexandria Daily Town Talk Posted: 28 Nov 2009 07:46 AM PST BATON ROUGE, La. — Not every job at Celtic Media Centre exudes glamour. Take the pump truck supplied by Baton Rouge-based Hollywood Trucks LLC, which collects sewage from trailers and multi-stall honeywagons on regular rounds through the studio lot. Yet it's one of many jobs generating business across a spectrum of industries. Hollywood Trucks, just two years old, was created by industry insiders Andre Champagne and Doug Dovichi, with a big assist from Baton Rouge auto and truck dealer Mike Hollingsworth. Its truck inventory has grown from two to 200 in two years, and it operates in New Orleans and Shreveport as well as Baton Rouge. "We're swamped," said Jarred Coates, who manages the headquarters at Celtic. From Teamsters-driven tractor-trailers to Ford 450 Super-Duty pickups and small four-wheel, all-terrain buggies, Hollywood Trucks met a movie industry demand for quick access to a flexible fleet. "Battle: Los Angeles" filming in Baton Rouge needed more than 75 trucks, while others worked in Shreveport and New Orleans. With local fleets tailored for the film business, producers don't have to pay to ship trucks from out-of-state, Coates said. He said transportation can take about 10 percent of a movie's budget. Savings — production tax credits reaching 30 percent this year — drove the industry to Louisiana. Filmmakers can get another 5 percent credit on wages paid to Louisiana residents. Cast and Crew Entertainment Services LLC, a 33-year-old business based in Burbank, Calif., opened an office at Celtic two years ago to help filmmakers navigate payroll issues. Films involve many unions, and benefits vary by crew members' home states. Cast and Crew can deal with more than 30 different union payroll scenarios on a single production, said Joie Hauschild, who manages the company's Baton Rouge office and film payrolls statewide. The convenience becomes more valuable when productions shift into unexpected workloads, said Hauschild, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., who used to work for a film production company in California. "They want to make sure they're not blown away when they go into overtime," Hauschild said. "They have to know the actual hard costs of what everything is going to be, including taxes." Celtic officials hope one day to have major filmmakers join the small independents with permanent offices at their studio. Launch Media, which merged owner John Jackson's GreenScreenTV and Panoramic Productions companies this year, has a 2,000-square-foot office and an equal amount of studio space. It specializes in TV, commercial video and green screen applications — those that place lifelike backdrops behind actors. Jackson said the company has developed treatments for a TV series it's shopping in California. Meanwhile, its bread-and-butter commercial and industrial video work continues in Baton Rouge and elsewhere. In Texas, Launch is setting up a broadcast set inside a large refinery under construction: part of a two-year project to keep the refinery company's thousands of employees apprised of construction progress. The company has four full-time employees at Celtic, two contract employees in Texas, and Jackson envisions operating four divisions focused on broadcast commercials; TV production; corporate marketing and industrial videos; and new media. Sometimes he works with another Celtic tenant, Films in Motion. "If there's something outside the scope of our normal employees, we're able to take advantage of the skills of an animator or an editor across the hall," he said. "That enables you to expand the scope of your projects." Films in Motion LLC owner Jason Hewitt handled production services on eight feature films in 2008 and recently completed "Wrong Side of Town" for Lion's Gate Entertainment Corp., the first in a four-picture deal. He's also filming "The Mortician," a 3-D project, in New Orleans. Hewitt has six full-time employees at Celtic but hires another 80 to 100 people during film production. He called Celtic Louisiana's premier movie studio, but said it's likely to be totally booked before long, creating demand in other parts of the state. He sees the next big movement as unsupervised post-production, "such as sound and visual effects that do not require the director's or producer's constant supervision." Multiple businesses can provide quality post-production services in Baton Rouge and the state, said Patrick Mulhearn, the director of studio operations at Celtic. But it's "a tough nut to crack, because so much of it is done in L.A.," he said. "And so many of them, after it's over, want to go back to their families." Some of that trend is reversing. Haryl Deason manages Hollywood Rentals fleet of lighting and grip equipment at Celtic with five employees. A Detroit native, Deason worked for Hollywood Rentals more than two decades in Los Angeles. For a large production such as "Battle: Los Angeles," Deason's banks of lighting from 100-watt bulbs to 18,000-watt lights are arrayed on sets with union crews of grip and lighting specialists about 80 people for "Battle: Los Angeles." Coming to live and work in Baton Rouge represented, for Deason, what the movie business has meant for many. "This was an opportunity to come out here and start something up," he said. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Springfield plant may close, says truck-delivery company - Springfield News Sun Posted: 28 Nov 2009 07:25 AM PST
By Dan Gearino,
The Columbus Dispatch
6:42 PM Friday, November 27, 2009
A company that delivers commercial vehicles may be forced to close its Springfield plant if it loses a major contract, the company said in a letter to state officials. Auto Truck Transport Corp. said all 186 employees in Springfield would likely lose their jobs if the company fails to renew its contract with Navistar, a truck manufacturer. The current contract concludes at the end of the year. "If the plant closing occurs, at the present time, it is expected that it would be permanent," said Ed Cumbo, company president, in a letter to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. He said the letter was a "purely precautionary" measure, in line with the Ohio law that requires notice for large layoffs. Clark County Commissioner David Hartley told the News-Sun on Friday, Nov. 27, that he was unaware of the company's letter. The Urbana Road plant, some of whose workers are represented by the International Association of Machinists union, prepares trucks for delivery. The trucks are attached together using methods known as stacking or decking, and then driven to their destination. Auto Truck beat Active Transportation in 2004 for the contract to transport Navistar trucks to market. The Teamsters Local 654 filed a lawsuit that year that Navistar and JHT Holdings — the Wisconsin company that owns both Active and Auto Truck — colluded to transfer the work because Auto Truck paid less in health benefits and pensions than Active. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| NAFA Hires New Associate Director of Education - PR-USA.net Posted: 28 Nov 2009 06:28 AM PST After an extensive nationwide search, NAFA is proud to announce the hiring of Hanan Bedri as Associate Director of Education. Bedri comes to NAFA with a strong background in developing educational efforts for not-for-profit organizations including previous positions with the Core Competency Group, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, and the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society. "Hanan brings an extremely diverse background to NAFA, which should be a great asset to our efforts," said NAFA's Executive Director, Phillip E. Russo, CAE. "After attending college in Sudan, she did community health work in that country for several years before transferring to Southern New Hampshire University to study Community Economic Development. She then attained her Masters degree in Education and Human Resource Development from George Washington University in Washington, DC, which was her stepping stone into the not-for-profit education world." Bedri most recently worked as a consultant with the Core Competency Group designing training programs for associations, as well as instituting competency models for clients. Before that, she was employed by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, where she was in charge of the education division, including their online certification program, webcasts, and training programs. She also worked for the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society, developing and managing all of their education programs. "For me this is a wonderful opportunity to help the Association provide fleet professionals with a worthwhile educational experience that not only contributes to the knowledge base of the individuals involved but also to the overall professionalism of our industry," Ms. Bedri said. Education plays a major role in NAFA. The Association produces Fleet Management Seminars throughout North America; regularly publishes books for fleet managers such as the Fleet Maintenance Operations Guide and the Fuel Management Guide; operates the oldest, largest, and most widely acclaimed professional certification program in the fleet management industry (Certified Automotive Fleet Manager – CAFM); and recently introduced the Certified Automotive Fleet Supervisor (CAFS) certification. NAFA looks forward to building upon these products and services under the guidance of Bedri. About NAFA Fleet Management Association This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Eureka Fire Co. says satellite station improves response time - York Daily Record Posted: 28 Nov 2009 06:06 AM PST · Pennsylvania's right-to-know law allows anyone to assess response time by requesting those records. But York County has gone to court to fight their release. The board of supervisors recently agreed to fire chief Ira Walker Jr.'s request to house a fire engine and brush truck on a permanent basis at the Hickory Road building. The equipment had been there for some months under a temporary agreement. "This may help some residents get better insurance rates, in addition to better service for the locals. In some case, we can get there six minutes faster than from Stewartstown," Walker said. Eureka is based in Stewartstown but is first call for East Hopewell and Hopewell townships and Cross Roads borough. While some insurance companies charge a flat rate for fire insurance, others use a fee scale based on how far property owners live from a fire station, Walker said. When the Insurance Service Office gave a poor rating to portions of East Hopewell because of the distance to the Stewartstown company, Walker knew Eureka had to act for the betterment of the community, he said. The result is the new location in the township, which may help some residents obtain lower insurance rates from their carriers.The East Hopewell supervisors also approved a resolution that allows Eureka to collect payment from insurance companies for structure fires and auto accidents. The fire company may recoup as much as $500 of its costs if such a provision is built into the owner's insurance policy. Volunteers sought The Eureka Volunteer Fire Company, of Stewartstown, welcomes new volunteers, especially those from East Hopewell Township where its new satellite station is located and Cross Roads borough. For details, call fire chief Ira Walker Jr. at 324-6521. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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