ACI (Agri-Cover Inc.) promoted Tara Opdahl to sales operations manager. Opdahl will continue to oversee many of the day-to-day sales tasks and assist the sales director in promoting ACI’s products and Gold Star Dealer program. She is also the tradeshow coordinator for ACI and brings 1 1/2 years of sales and marketing experience to her position. She is based out of the Jamestown, North Dakota, factory.
Tara Opdahl
Hunter Engineering promoted Greg Meyer to product manager overseeing wheel-balancing equipment. Meyer has worked for Hunter Engineering as an R&D Engineer–Mechanical Design since joining the company in March 2001. As an engineer, Greg developed the mechanical design elements of many Hunter alignment products, including the high-definition wheel targets of Hunter’s HawkEye digital imaging alignment systems.
Greg Meyer
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. will award $10,000 to Colorado-based mobile entertainment dealer Drive-In Autosound, the first annual Pioneer Community Give Back Award winner, to present to its charity of choice. Local business leaders Kevin and Scott Clark, recognized by Pioneer for their support of the military in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, have named the Fort Carson Officer Spouses’ Club (FCOSC) Santa’s Workshop as the recipient of Drive-In Autosound’s award.
The FCOSC’s Santa’s Workshop provides gifts for children of military families who might otherwise be unable to celebrate the holidays. The presentation ceremony took place on July 29, at the store’s 165 Motor Way location. Pioneer’s new initiative honors its dealers for outstanding community service.
FEAR THIS Inc. announced that since 2004, the company has trained more than 1,800 teens in its DRIVESAFE4life course. Through the course, teens are taught safe-driving practices and accident-avoidance skills by Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified police academy instructors. Complete information on FEAR THIS is available at www.fearthis4life.org.
Toyota Research and Development (TRD/Toyota) partnered with Tru-Line Laser Alignment for its at-port wheel alignments. Zach Zwillinger of TRD/Toyota stated that TRD Tru-Line’s portability, flexibility and adaptability makes the wheel alignment system “a straightforward process that makes vehicle suspension alignment simple and effective.”
AutoTrader.com now includes live feeds of all certified pre-owned (CPO) Land Rover SUVs currently available at Land Rover’s 176 retailers nationwide. With the inclusion of the Land Rover feeds, AutoTrader.com has 29 CPO live-feed arrangements auto manufacturers, which it reports is the most of any online automotive marketplace.
Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA) launched an interactive online training center called ENGAGE 360. Originally announced at CTNA’s Gold Dealer sales meeting last spring, ENGAGE 360 is an ongoing program designed to give tire dealers a complete 360-degree look at Continental and General tires—from the basics to advanced tread technology to selling skills and more. The program is based around a virtual training center, and each brand includes individual modules that cover specific products, tire basics and an overview of CTNA.
Once they view all of the training materials and videos, dealers will have the opportunity to take a brief test that allows them to score ENGAGE 360 Reward points and become certified in that particular tire or topic. Points can be redeemed for Engage 360 wearables or toward other prizes.
Edge Products received certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for all of its Ford, Dodge and GM products for gasoline-powered vehicles.