Member News

Company Descriptions and History: 100% strictly wholesale warehouse distributor (WD). Founded in 1937 as Meyer Body building truck bodies and later distributing truck parts and equipment; became Meyer Distributing in 1983.

A hot rod is anything that will make your parents/wife/partner roll their eyes and shake their heads, wondering if you will ever grow up. Anything that turns money into noise, speed and trouble while making you smile. It is also anything mechanical that teaches you new skills and makes new friends. Any automobile that is modified in order to improve reliability, safety, speed, power, economy, appearance, comfort, handling and braking to be more attuned to the specific desires of the owner/builder. Since those attributes are subject to individual taste, the variety of types of automobile and modifications will be endless, but they are all hot rods, regardless of the year, make, style or age/preferences of the owners.

Along with incumbents Lenny Schaeffer of Chop Shop Customs and Matt Agosta of Steele Rubber Products, the Automotive Restoration Manufacturers Organization (ARMO) welcomed three new members to its Select Committee as a result of elections in the spring. Tray Smith is the vice president and co-owner of H&H Classic Parts, a large retailer of restoration parts specializing in Chevrolet products. Erika Woody is the owner of Hydro-E-Lectric, a manufacturing company that produces parts to keep convertible tops and power windows functioning on all types of cars from ’46–present. Jim Pennekamp is the national sales manager at TrimParts, one of the original ARMO manufacturer members.

Recent council elections brought some new faces to the Young Executives Network (YEN) Select Committee. Here are a few facts about the new members as well as an incumbent. Matt Cartwright has served in a variety of automotive markets, including auto body, auto detailing, auto and truck sales and, most recently, specialty-equipment truck accessories. He started as an inside sales rep with Meyer Distributing in 2009 and quickly used his extensive sales training and unique abilities to ascend to his current position as prospect and lead-development director.

If you are reading this article, you are most likely a subscriber to SEMA News magazine, and you undoubtedly value the industry-specific information that only SEMA can provide. In addition to reading the monthly publication, SEMA members can maximize their ability to connect with industry professionals and receive beneficial information by providing SEMA with up-to-date and accurate contact information.

The SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund is dedicated to fostering the next generation of automotive aftermarket industry leaders and innovators. A total of $130,000 was awarded to 69 scholarship recipients for 2012, and $15,000 was awarded to 15 loan-forgiveness recipients. Over the life of the fund, $1.5 million has gone to 1,000 deserving students since it was started in 1984.