Do you want Congress to pass bills that protect our automotive freedoms and enable the specialty automotive aftermarket to thrive? Do you wish that policymakers in Washington, D.C., understood our industry and the thousands of jobs that it has created in communities throughout the United States? If your answer to those questions is yes, now is the time to get involved with SEMA’s efforts to connect your business with members of Congress.

Legions of workers stumped by company charts and graphs that make no sense to them can take heart: A new, dirt-cheap artificial intelligence (AI) software tool from Microsoft enables you to trigger a text explanation of a chart or graph with just one mouse click.

The products featured below are from SEMA Data member companies that have attained Gold- or Platinum-level data, which means that their product data is robust and complete—likely to drive customer purchase decisions. SEMA Data members meeting data scorecard requirements are invited to submit product releases for consideration to enews@semadatacoop.org.

In the November 1988 issue of Hot Rod, Editor Jeff Smith called on car builders to “shake things up in the street machine world a little bit” when it came to considering cars for build-up projects. Rather than the same-old, same-old Camaros, “why not consider something completely different—such as a ’53 Studebaker Commander or a ’49 Ford—as Pro Street candidates?” Enough people listened that it became a movement in car building that the magazine called Dare to be Different.

Recognizing successful individuals and companies is an important aspect of SEMA’s role as it pursues its mission of helping the industry succeed and prosper. Along with helping to enhance the aftermarket community, awards provide a way of sharing best practices and achievements.

In 2016, Marisol Herrera, then 23 and a self-professed “non-car person,” applied for a receptionist’s job at the Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum, a small private collection in El Segundo, California. Six years later, Herrera now serves as the museum’s executive director, overseeing a collection of more than 130 vehicles and a full schedule of public events, including car shows, children’s programs and weekly cruise-ins and ride-and-drives. Her community outreach efforts have been credited for quadrupling the museum’s annual attendance over the past three years. In recognition of her accomplishments, she was named one of SEMA News’ “35 Under 35” rising industry stars for 2021.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of small businesses go bankrupt within one year, and more than 50% fail within five. The reasons may vary between businesses (bad cash-flow management, poor product quality, lackluster customer service), but they can generally be traced to a single source: poor decision-making.