Compiled by SEMA Editors
Lund International Acquires Bushwacker
Lund International Holding Co., a portfolio company of Highlander Partners L.P., has acquired Bushwacker Inc. and its subsidiaries. Bushwacker, based in Portland, Oregon, is a manufacturer and marketer of branded automotive aftermarket accessories, including fender flares, bedrail and tailgate caps, bumper protection products, and trail armor components for Jeeps. Bushwacker also manufactures and markets hood protection products and window visors under the Stampede brand acquired in 2012, which is based in Camanche, Iowa. Operations will continue to be conducted from the existing facilities and led by Bushwacker's President and CEO Russ Morgan, who will join the Lund International team.
 Joe Sherk | |
Joe Sherk to Be Inducted into Kitsap Athletic Roundtable Hall of Fame This Weekend
Veteran motorsports media/public relations professional Joe Sherk, 71, will be recognized at the 27th-annual Kitsap Athletic Roundtable Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Saturday, January 24, 2015, at the Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo, Washington. He will be introduced and presented a media award and hall of fame induction by his friend of more than 40 years, Jim Rockstad.
Sherk, who is currently battling the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s, has been writing for more than 32 years about NHRA drag racing. He started writing for the local Bremerton Sun newspaper while in high school. He covered the Seattle Mariners for many years in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which also included motorsports events throughout the Puget Sound area.
Sherk's NHRA experience began in 1981 after an 18-year sports-writing career. Since then, Sherk has developed working relationships with sports writers and broadcasters in cities throughout the NHRA tour. In 1989, he started Sherk Sports PR, which focused on drag racing. Corporate clients that year were Castrol Motor Oil and General Motors’ AC-Delco brand. His firm has since represented some of the biggest names in drag racing, including team owner Don Prudhomme and drivers Larry Dixon and Ron Capps, among many others.
Precision Turbo and Engine Hires Roger Conley as Vice President of Global Operations
Roger Conley has spent many years working as the vice president of marketing and sales and business development manager at Racepak Data Systems/MSD. Working in conjunction with the Precision Turbo and Engine (PTE) team, Conley will oversee many core functions while also focusing on upholding PTE's values, visions and objectives. Core values include investing in employee personal development to encourage them to strive for a better tomorrow, creating industry leaders with a focus on worldwide performance, providing timely and effective responses to customer inquiries, and offering unconditional support beginning with the start of a sales relationship rather than at the end.
2015 Tire Review Top Shop Awards Opens
The entry period for the 2015 Tire Review Top Shop Awards is open and will run through June 5. Now in its ninth year, the Top Shop Awards program seeks to honor the “best of the best” independent tire dealers in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Entry forms and information are now available at the Top Shop Awards website.
The Tire Review Top Shop Awards spotlight independent tire dealers—retail, commercial or wholesale—that promote exemplary customer service and retention, training and education, merchandising and promotion, professional standards and conduct, innovation, appearance, business management, community involvement, business growth, achievement and innovation. All of the winners and finalists are profiled on the Tire Review website and in a special Top Shop section of Tire Review’s magazine.
Dealers can nominate their own businesses, or others can nominate tire dealer businesses. Those making the nomination must provide basic information about the dealership being nominated and write a short (300-word maximum) essay explaining why that dealership should be considered.
XS Power Names Brady Basner Sales and Marketing Manager
XS Power has named Brady Basner as its sales and marketing manager. He has several years’ experience in the automotive electrical field and previously worked as sales manager at Powermaster Performance in West Chicago, Illinois. He holds degrees from Michigan State University and University of Tennessee. His focus will be to increase overall sales by targeting manufacturing partners, wholesalers and retailers that can both efficiently move product to a customer base and properly market and enhance the XS Power name.
2015 Tenneco Expert Plus Customer Loyalty Program Delivers Tools to Build Ride Control, Emissions-Control Sales
The Tenneco Expert Plus customer loyalty program, now in its 17th year, includes more incentives and marketing tools than ever, designed to help automotive service businesses increase their share of the undercar service market, according to the company. Available now, the 2015 Expert Plus kit gives members a new Monroe OESpectrum counter stool, a “Preferred Consumer” rebate book, a full year of consumer and trade promotions, enhanced eLearning opportunities and much more.
Giving service professionals exclusive access to coupons that extend a promotional offer outside of the standard program periods, the Expert Plus “Preferred Consumer” rebate book features a combination of 10 special coupons for Monroe ride control and Walker emissions control products. Expert Plus membership includes participation in Tenneco’s sales-building consumer promotions and exclusive trade reward offers. Each member shop also has access to a larger range of ride control, emissions control and brakes technical eLearning opportunities.
The complete merchandising kit is available only to members of the Expert Plus program. To enroll, please contact your Tenneco parts provider or visit www.Expert-Plus.com. The enrollment fee for the annual program is $99 (US and Canada).
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