By the time you read this, I will be close to completing my term as the chairman of the SEMA Young Executives Network (YEN). As I reflect back, one phrase rises to the top of every thought: Just do it. I didn’t know anything about the industry when I accepted a new position with a leading...
The Quarter Mile Foundation—the effort to preserve the history of drag racing—reported that interviewing continued at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida, and at the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum in Ocala, Florida. The Foundation gathered another 19 interviews during the mid-March...
How can the industry help attract and “train up” the next-generation workforce? One way is to connect with colleges, universities and trade-school programs to offer paid or unpaid internships to qualified, enthusiastic students. There is great value in offering these opportunities to students who...
Despite some negative press lately due to drug violence, Mexico remains an important market for U.S. automakers and for SEMA members. Pickup brands from the United States are very popular. The economy in Mexico grew by 5.5% in 2010, and that economic growth is lifting personal incomes and growing...
Bill Stroppe’s involvement with racing runs so deep that it would probably be easier to list the types of racing he didn’t participate in than those he did. On-road, off-road, even in the water, the vehicles that Stroppe and his crew built were fast, competitive and usually groundbreaking in their...
Tammy Holland has been involved in the automotive specialty-equipment industry for more than 14 years with Comp Performance Group in sales communications, and she has been active in the industry since 1999. She is the mother of two children, 20-year-old Brittany and 15-year-old Draven, and she...
SEMA has called upon the U.S. Congress to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from moving forward with its program to allow the ethanol content in gasoline to increase from 10% (E10) to 15% (E15). SEMA worked with lawmakers and senior staff to help secure House approval of an EPA...
With the rollout of Facebook’s new makeover this spring now a fait accompli, many web marketers rejoice that some of the service’s new features will make it much easier for them to do business on the social network. This is true both from a creative standpoint and from a business analytics...
The Wheel & Tire Council (WTC) started in roughly 1996–1997 as the Wheel Industry Committee (WIC). Larry Anderson was essentially the founder; he pushed for years to create this thing and managed to get many companies—competitors, no less—in the same room for the greater good. That is no doubt why...