SEMA News—March 2022

PEOPLE

A Man of Many Talents

As Stuart Gosswein Announces His Retirement, SEMA Salutes His Four Decades of Industry Achievements

By Mike Imlay

SEMA Senior Director for Federal Governmental Affairs Stuart Gosswein at his office in Washington, D.C. After four decades protecting the specialty-equipment industry’s interests in the nation’s capital, Gosswein is retiring to pursue his career in art and other personal interests.

After four decades of service to SEMA and the aftermarket industry, SEMA Senior Director for Federal Governmental Affairs Stuart Gosswein is retiring. His career with the association represents one of incredible achievement, but more than that, said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting, Gosswein’s tireless and respected voice as an industry advocate will be sorely missed.

“More than any other person I’ve known, when Stuart sets his mind to accomplishing something for the industry, he stays with it and gets results,” Kersting said. “Whether it was the passage of the Low Volume Replica Act, fending off cash-for-clunker programs or preserving the Bonneville Salt Flats, Stuart always made the industry’s causes his own. He deserves our sincere appreciation and congratulations for all he has done.”

“I love the industry and don’t really want to leave, but I have other things on my bucket list that I want to get to, and that’s really my motivation for leaving SEMA,” Gosswein said.

One of the things he wants to get to—or rather, get back to—is his fulltime career as an artist, which was his original calling.

“When I was a little kid growing up in Chicago, I was drawing and painting, and my parents nurtured and supported that, putting me into art schools,” he explained. “When I graduated from high school and said I wanted to continue art school, they said, ‘Well, how are you going to support yourself?’ The one thing art school doesn’t teach you is how to sell art. I didn’t know I was going to be working for [former SEMA General Counsel] Russ Deane and SEMA.”

After high school, Gosswein entered The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating in 1975. He then moved to Washington, D.C., for graduate studies at George Washington University. In 1983, Gosswein joined Deane’s law firm to gain some added income while pursuing his art.

Although the automotive industry has come to know Gosswein as a tireless legal advocate, he is also widely known in the nation’s arts community as an accomplished painter and sculptor. His painting “Horse” is among his prized creations.

Those, of course, were the days when Deane was taking on California’s new emissions and noise regulations and undertaking a historic lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reverse onerous rule-making threatening the aftermarket. Decades later, Deane still marvels at the tremendous work ethic and late-night research abilities that Gosswein brought to those issues.

“He never would say ‘no’ to any task, and the interesting characteristic about Stuart is there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do,” Deane said. “He was materially involved in every single important thing that happened to SEMA and was largely responsible for causing things to happen. So many of our industry’s government affairs acheivements largely rest upon the things he did.”

In 1996, Kersting joined what had by then become SEMA’s government affairs office in Washington, D.C., serving in the role of vice president. In 2002, Kersting became SEMA president and CEO. At the same time, Gosswein (who had served as a governmental affairs manager) began taking on a series of ever-greater roles, including that of regulatory affairs manager, director of governmental affairs and, ultimately, the senior director title that he holds today.

Kersting also praised Gosswein’s dedication, adding that he brought several unique qualities to his work, including keen insights into problems, determination and tenacity.

“Over Stuart’s time serving the industry, he developed a bond and a kinship with the people SEMA serves,” Kersting observed. “Their causes became personal to him. One of the wonderful things about knowing Stuart throughout his career has been seeing him emerge from a behind-the-scenes support position to find his voice and make a powerful and lasting impact.”

Gosswein (left) is a veteran of numerous annual Washington Rallies in which industry businessmen meet with elected officials to lobby for the aftermarket. In this 2018 meeting with Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL, seated right), he was joined by SEMA Director of Congressional Affairs Eric Snyder (left center) and SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting (right center).

Famed Hot Rod editor/publisher and Edelbrock designer Jim McFarland also came to know Gosswein during his early work on organizing an effective industry response to air-quality initiatives. Today, he too regards Gosswein as a lifelong friend.

“He just has a way of getting things done, and I don’t know how to describe it beyond that,” McFarland said. “He established a working relationship with a lot of people around the Hill [in Washington], including the people who support various political leaders. He understands how the system works. He’s been right in the thick of things and very much an organizer.”

When asked to name what he considers his career accomplishments with SEMA, Gosswein’s immediate reply is the low-volume replica car law enacted in 2015.

“That was huge,” he said. “For our office, it represented four years of work up on Capitol Hill, and now we’re going to be looking at placing a spotlight on the program, making consumers aware of it, and getting replica car manufacturers up and running.

“The other is the Bonneville Salt Flats. We’re still working with all the stakeholders to implement that [preservation]program. It’s all incremental—you have to be in it for the long run, and SEMA has been. But what’s been really exciting and rewarding for me personally is how we represent small businesses. SEMA doesn’t just take on automotive issues. We look at all the issues that face our members, so we’ve had to become experts on taxes, health care, you name it—even the recent anti-dumping duties.”

Gosswein with friends and colleagues Russ Deane, SEMA’s former general counsel (center), and SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting (right). The trio worked together at Deane’s legal firm in Washington, D.C., which gave birth to the SEMA Governmental Affairs office.

Still, throughout his busy career with SEMA, Gosswein managed to carve out the time and energy for his other passions in life. He has climbed Mt. Whitney in the High Sierras nine times and was instrumental in creating the Downtown Arts Coalition in Washington, D.C., to develop a vibrant arts district in the city. He now looks forward to burning the midnight oil in his studio there.

“I’ve learned from SEMA members that you have to follow your bliss and identify what that is,” he said. “In terms of art, you know, I do portraits, landscapes. I’ve dabbled in architecture. The 9/11 attacks hit close to home, and I ended up doing several different architectural designs—one submission for the New York memorial and one for Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I’ve been doing some sculpture right now, and I just can’t wait to get back to painting.”

But he’ll always have a place for SEMA and will continue to lend his support to its mission and especially to its people when needed.

“I’ll miss the daily interaction with all my coworkers the most,” he said. “I’m one that likes the repetitious things—getting up and coming into the office and having my cup of coffee, catching up with the newspapers and blogs, and greeting coworkers. Yes, I’m going to miss that.”

And SEMA will surely feel Gosswein’s absence as well.

“He’s one of the people who brings real meaning to the words, ‘We couldn’t have done this without him,’” Kersting said. “We wish Stuart a very fulfilling retirement.”

SEMA News—March 2022

BUSINESS

The Supply-Chain Breakdown

Some Quick Takes on the Impact to the Aftermarket as It Looks Toward Recovery

By Mike Imlay

While clogged shipping lanes have grabbed headlines, a lack of enough truckers has also slowed domestic movement of product. In fact, from ships to trucks to air freighters, all forms of transportation rose last year, sometimes up to 30% and even 80% for some destinations or routes. Photo credit: Shutterstock

Flotillas of cargo ships drifting aimlessly outside Los Angeles Harbor and other major American ports. Stockpiled warehouses and sidelined commercial trucks. Inflated costs for shipping and goods and, in many cases, depleted retail shelves. Those are just a few of the images conjured up by the massive breakdown of supply chains since the fall of 2021.

So what has been the ongoing impact of the supply-chain crisis on the specialty-equipment industry? And, just as important, when can aftermarket businesses expect the prolonged disruptions to ease?

Unfortunately, there are no simple answers to those questions, but SEMA Market Research recently conducted an in-depth “Future Trends” study of the situation, its continuing effects on the industry, and the prospects for a return to some sense of normalcy in the coming year. That research, along with the insights of industry veterans representing a variety of sectors, offers valuable information for how the aftermarket is weathering the crunch.

“Our research into the data specifically surrounding our industry and the impact of supply-chain disruptions is literally the only deep dive into the topic to date,” said SEMA Market Research Manager Kyle Cheng. “We looked into the impact on different kinds of aftermarket companies through a post-2021 SEMA Show survey, so the data is fresh. From parts manufacturers to distributors, retailers and even automakers, it’s clear that the impact has been pretty big across the board.”

The Overall Picture

Why Consumers Shopped Earlier During the 2021 Holiday Season

Unexpected consumer demand helped create the supply-chain crisis, and that demand has scarcely waned. SEMA market research found that consumers are simply shifting their purchasing tactics to fulfill their thirst for goods when confronted with shortages or delays for the products they seek. Source: McKinsey and Company, “The Ship Has Sailed But Many U.S. Shoppers Won’t Wait.” November 26, 2021. Source: McKinsey and Company, “Early Birds Grab the Goods.” December 8, 2021.

 

First it might be best to review how we got here. By now, the complex web of disruptions slowing the world’s supply chains is well known, but to recap some highlights:

Over the past decade, many industries (including the aftermarket) increasingly turned toward just-in-time manufacturing and inventory models. Ironically, those best practices helped set the stage for the present crisis. When COVID-19 struck in 2020, lockdowns temporarily shut factories worldwide, especially in the Asian and South American nations that industrialized countries heavily rely on for manufacturing, computer chips and raw materials.

“During the pandemic, many companies anticipated that demand would wane in a recession,” Cheng explained. “But what we actually found is that it didn’t. Instead, it jumped in the United States because of stimulus programs. Consumers had a lot more money to spend, which increased demand, and companies weren’t ready for that.”

To catch up with that unexpected demand, many companies upped their shipping orders in late 2021, which clogged ports and distribution centers and tied up cargo ships.

“Usually, the ships are going back and forth at the same time, but now they’re all stuck in one place,” Cheng noted. “At Long Beach and Los Angeles, California, which are among the world’s busiest ports, the backlog is still really high even now.”

But shipping lanes aren’t the only problem. Months after the initial slowdowns, containers, crew people, dockworkers and truckers remained in short supply. That, in turn, caused costs for warehouse space and containers to soar. In fact, intense bidding wars for containers had broken out by the 2021 holiday season.

“We know for a fact that we’ve had cargo containers of ours that have been bumped further back because there are other companies willing to pay a higher price for a container to get in,” said Troy Wirtz, director of aftermarket sales for Des Moines-based Dee Zee Inc. and chair of the SEMA Truck & Off-Road Alliance (TORA).

Dee Zee wasn’t alone. According to one The Wall Street Journal report, the bidding wars caused container prices to surge 53.5% at the height of the supply-chain bottleneck before easing somewhat going into 2022. Further adding to the industry’s woes, OEMs have had to slow production lines due to chip shortages, with detrimental effects on several key aftermarket segments. Add in rising labor, fuel and raw materials costs, and the inflationary pressures are obvious.

Assessing the Impact

Impact of Supply-Chain Disruption on Specialty-Equipment Industry

From suppliers to the retail level, all sectors of the aftermarket report feeling the squeeze of the supply-chain breakdown. However, SEMA market research also indicates across-the-board optimism that disruptions will continue to diminish over the next several months. Source: SEMA Survey Conducted in Late 2021 Among SEMA Show Attendees and Exhibitors. Over the last six months, have supply chain challenges impacted your company’s operations?

“Almost 90% of the parts manufacturers responding to our survey said that they were impacted by some kind of supply-chain issue either moderately or significantly, and the responses from distributors and retailers were similar,” Cheng said. “However, the biggest impact has been on automakers and dealerships, which probably isn’t a surprise.”

In fact, market research shows that auto sales saw a strong rebound as COVID-19’s initial economic shock dissipated. In early 2021, new-vehicle sales were expected to reach pre-recession levels by the end of 2022. However, demand for new vehicles skyrocketed faster than manufacturers and dealers could supply them, pushing vehicle prices to historic highs.

Consumers at first seemed undeterred and willing to absorb the increased costs. Entering 2022, however, prospective buyers became discouraged, and the pace of new-vehicle sales slowed. (SEMA expects that sales will continue to recover as the supply-chain bottlenecks ease.)

The squeeze on automakers naturally unleashed a trickle-down effect on a variety of specialty-equipment businesses. One notable example is restylers.

“A local dealership that used to have maybe 300 cars on its lot and sold 150 a month now has less than a dozen cars on its lot, which has both hurt and helped us,” said Josh Poulson, general manager of Auto Additions Inc. and chair of SEMA’s Professional Restylers Organization (PRO).

“It hurts because we used to be able to pick out a few of those vehicles and dress them up and make packages for the dealership to resell and mark [the vehicles] up a little. We’re obviously not able to do that now because they can’t give us anything right now.”

But necessity being the mother of invention, many restylers have changed tactics to become what Poulson described as “gap fillers.” For example, a customer may be set on a brand-new truck, but because supply is limited, a dealership may not be able to deliver a model in the desired trim level. In such cases, the dealer can offer the customer a lesser model upgraded with a restyler package boasting leather, remote start and all the higher-line comfort and convenience items that the customer
is seeking.

“That’s given us the opportunity to fill some of those gaps when manufacturers just don’t have the inventory,” Poulson said, adding that restylers are also confronting a range of price hikes. For now, they’ve been able to pass on increased costs to their customers.

“Of course, when you’re dealing with local car dealers, they’re used to a certain price and they don’t like price increases, but we’ve had little pushback when we’ve had to raise prices the last year,” he said.

That acceptance of price increases has been one of the ironies of the current disruptions. While supply-chain slowdowns and inflation may have curtailed consumer demand for some products such as new vehicles, they haven’t yet curbed overall consumer enthusiasm for specialty products, according to Cheng.

“Most consumers have faced some kind of supply-chain issue,” he said. “Almost two-thirds of consumers surveyed said that they experienced an inventory problem when they wanted to buy something. But the interesting thing is that when they couldn’t get something, they weren’t going to wait for it from a company. When it comes to our industry, they’re switching brands and switching retailers, and that’s another impact.”

Behind the Demand

Types of Supply-Chain Issues Experienced

The recent disruptions have impacted industry businesses in a wide variety of ways. Interestingly, retailers reported more difficulty finding domestic suppliers over foreign suppliers, which reflects the North American trucking slowdown. Meanwhile, OEMs seem to have taken the brunt of the supply-chain crisis. Source: SEMA Survey Conducted in Late 2021 Among SEMA Show Attendees and Exhibitors. Has your company experienced any of the following in the past 6 months?

Stimulus checks weren’t the only factors fueling the rise in consumer demand. Stuck with nothing to do during lockdowns, many consumers decided to take on automotive restorations and related projects, creating a significant thirst for aftermarket products. Others opted to accessorize their vehicles for outdoor adventuring—one of the few pursuits they could enjoy in a pandemic world. From late 2020 through 2021, many aftermarket suppliers reported record profits as even newcomers rushed to embrace the automotive lifestyle. The open question is how long that phenomenon might continue.

From his vantage point, Wirtz predicted that Dee Zee’s typical truck enthusiast, who tends to be a well-established male in his mid 40s to upper 60s, will likely continue spending despite inflation.

“With these guys, a truck is a priority, and they’re going to make sure they drive a nice one,” he said. “I think people who are dialed in to accessories are going to spend money on accessories, regardless.”

On the other hand, Camaro and Firebird Central CEO Ben Tucker, who chairs the SEMA Automotive Restoration Marketplace Organization (ARMO), believes that the number of new enthusiasts coming into the restoration market has plateaued.

“I’d say 2020 was the peak of new people,” Tucker observed. “So many new projects got started during COVID. Whether for overlanding, restoration, racing or simple repairs—an insane amount of people started these projects. I would say we’ve got another year to a year and a half of those guys staying in the market. Then, eventually, it will creep back down to where we were in 2018 to 2019.”

While suppliers have largely been able to ride out the supply-chain disruptions, other aftermarket businesses in the segment have suffered tremendously, Tucker added.

“Some of the harder-hit people would be the builders,” he said. “They’re the guys who are waiting on an item that’s holding up a whole project. That can be devastating.”

Sabra Johnson, owner of City Classic Cars in Spring, Texas, can speak to the many difficulties faced by builders.

“From a builder perspective, the pandemic is crippling business, and we did not experience the record-breaking year the retailers and wholesalers experienced—we survived or died,” he said.

“The supply-chain delays dead-end at the restoration shop, and we are the ones who have to explain and apologize on behalf of the industry.

“Delays [also] mean work stoppage, which in turn means no cash flow on that project and no way to get new projects into the pipeline. The lack of aftermarket products creates cash-flow, shop-flow and even work-scheduling problems. A supplier can sell a different product, but the restoration shop has only one product to sell.”

Johnson said that many builders he knows have coped by deepening product inventories when they can, stockpiling wiring harnesses, air products, engines and other parts to maintain their supplies. Meanwhile, he said, “the consumer gets a false impression of product availability based on the online presence of products. The reality is that parts are missing or are on backorder when you order them, so the builder is feeling the [shortages] in a special way.”

Poulson noted that he sees some accessories moving again, but electronics remain especially hard to come by.

“Radios, navigation systems, anything 12-volt is very difficult because of the chip shortage,” he said. “I used to keep a multitude of different types of radios in stock, but now I can barely keep anything.”

Labor is also in short supply. This past December, the American economy added just 199,000 new jobs—far short of the 400,000-worker gain that economists had hoped for. While the unemployment rate did drop to 3.9%, the labor-force participation rate remained unchanged at 61.9%, signaling a continued struggle for businesses to fill positions. That in itself presents a huge hurdle for suppliers trying to keep up with orders and get product out the door.

“Workforces have gone down to working only one shift, and it takes a long time to get normal orders out,” Tucker explained. “Even in 2020, you could get a lot of orders sent out on a weekly rotation. Now that same order is taking eight to 10 weeks.”

Rising Costs

Rising materials costs have also made headlines recently, and the pain there is real as well.

“Input prices are another thing that’s really concerning SEMA members,” Cheng said. “It’s not just that they can’t get stuff, but that it’s really expensive. We looked at several key inputs that fall into our industry’s manufacturing in order to do some forecasting. For example, copper prices jumped due to the pandemic, and we anticipate that they’ll probably stay high for the next year. Same thing with aluminum—we’ll see a little drop-off, but it will remain elevated. Steel also saw a huge jump, and while it’s working itself down, it’s still above its pre-pandemic levels.”

Meanwhile, Cheng said that the price of oil is of special concern for the industry, not only because of its impact on manufacturing and transportation but on consumers as well.

“When gas prices are high, people tend to drive less, and that impacts our industry,” he said. “And all of these price increases are caused by supply-chain issues. When we look at shipping and transportation, even air freight is expensive now. Throughout the transportation industry, prices are up sometimes 30% to 80% in some places, depending on the routes.”

Retail Advice

While the impact of supply-chain slowdowns has fallen disproportionately on smaller aftermarket businesses, there are some steps that the retail level can take to minimize the damage. In a recent Forbes article, ProTexting.com founder and CEO Kalin Kassabov recommended: (1) monitoring stock closely, using cloud-based supply-chain and inventory tracking software if possible; (2) increasing inventory whenever possible, taking advantage of discounted items and even gaining financing to invest in more inventory when practical; (3) broadening suppliers and being creative in offering alternative options to customers, and; (4) remaining honest and transparent with customers. Kassabov’s advice echoes that of other retail experts who say that, given the forecasts for continuing disruptions, those who haven’t yet implemented such measures should do so now.

The good news is that specialty-equipment companies were reporting some improvement in the flow of goods and raw materials as of press time. Current indications are that supply chains are inching toward recovery, but there will be hiccups along the way. (In January, for example, China announced renewed lockdowns of several manufacturing centers due to a sudden rise in Omicron cases.)

“In our survey, we asked companies about their expectations beyond this year and into the next,” Cheng said. “By and large, most companies expect some disruption to remain or get better. Few believe it’s going to get worse, so it appears that we’ve bottomed out in terms of the worst of the supply-chain breakdown, barring any unforeseen circumstances.”

Get the Report

For a free, downloadable copy of the SEMA Market Research “Future Trends” report, go to www.sema.org/market-research.

SEMA News—March 2022

LEGISLATIVE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS

Law and Order

By Stuart Gosswein

Off-Roading at Oceano Dunes: SEMA and its allies in the motorized recreation community are working to protect off-highway vehicle (OHV) usage at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA), which is California’s only OHV park on the Pacific Ocean. It is located about two hours northwest of Los Angeles near San Luis Obispo. Oceano Dunes SVRA became a state park in 1974 and has been under threat of closure for many years, primarily by groups that object to motorized recreation based on environmental arguments that off-roading causes more airborne particulate matter (dust) and/or threatens plants and animals.

California State Parks and the California Coastal Commission (CCC) have been locked in a conflicting jurisdictional dispute over Oceano Dunes. The CCC contends that it has primacy with respect to environmental concerns, while State Parks cites a mandate from the state legislature to manage the area for OHV use. In March 2021, the CCC voted to shut down OHV access within three years. SEMA and several other off-road groups have challenged the CCC decision in lawsuits filed in California State Superior Court for San Luis Obispo County. The court held a preliminary hearing in January.

SEMA is encouraged by a recent study from the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography, which has brought into question the argument of those who object to OHV use at Oceano Dunes. The study indicates that “dune-derived mineral dust is more likely to be primarily caused by natural forces (i.e., wind) rather than human activities.” The State Parks Departments’ Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission held a workshop in December to discuss the study.

FEDERAL UPDATE

RPM Act: The Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act; H.R. 3281 and
S. 2736) clarifies that it is legal under the Clean Air Act to make emissions-
related changes to convert a street vehicle into a dedicated race car. If enacted into law, it will also confirm that it is legal to produce, market and install racing equipment. SEMA’s efforts to pass the RPM Act are backed by unprecedented grassroots support in the 2021–2022 session of Congress, as enthusiasts and industry have sent more than 1.5 million letters in support of the bill to members of Congress, leading to a rapid expansion of co-sponsors: H.R. 3281 has 117 co-sponsors (90 Republicans and 27 Democrats), and S. 2736 has 22 co-sponsors (15 Republicans and seven Democrats). The RPM Act letters that enthusiasts and businesses have sent through www.saveourracecars.com are being noticed on Capitol Hill and continue to make a difference, but there’s more that you can do to pass the
RPM Act:

• Sign a letter to your lawmakers on company letterhead. Email erics@sema.org for a template and for more information.
• Post about the RPM Act on your company’s social-media accounts using the digital assets toolkit at https://sites.sema.org/rpmtools.
• Become a member of SEMA and learn more about SEMA’s Political Action Committee (SEMA PAC) at www.SEMApac.com. SEMA PAC allows SEMA members to support the lawmakers who stand up for the industry in Washington, D.C.

Combatting Counterfeit Goods: The U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee passed the Integrity, Notification and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM Consumers) Act—legislation to protect Americans from criminals who sell counterfeit and stolen goods through online marketplaces.

The bill requires online marketplaces to verify certain information about high-
volume third-party sellers of consumer products (sellers who make 200 or more discrete sales or transactions totaling at least $5,000 during any continuous 12-month period in the last 24 months), including the seller’s bank account number, business tax identification number or a taxpayer identification number, and contact information. It requires high-volume third-party sellers with $20,000 or more in annual gross revenue through an online marketplace to disclose to consumers the full name of the seller or company, its business address and contact info after each sale.

The bill empowers online marketplaces to suspend high-volume third-party sellers of consumer products who do not provide the required information within 10 days of the request from the online marketplace. The bill is supported by the Buy Safe America Coalition, of which SEMA is a member, which represents a diverse group of responsible retailers, consumer groups, manufacturers, intellectual property advocates and law enforcement officials. The bill has been sent to the House floor for consideration. A similar bill is pending in the Senate.

STATE UPDATE

California—Proposition 65: The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has revised a proposed rule issued in January 2021 to change the Proposition 65 short-form warning rule. While OEHHA has scaled back some of the changes originally proposed, SEMA continues to oppose other changes, including a requirement that at least one chemical associated with cancer or known to be a carcinogen be identified on the short form.

Prop 65 was a ballot initiative enacted by California voters in 1986. It requires warning labels on products containing chemicals listed as known to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm. There are more than 1,100 chemicals currently on the list. Prop 65 doesn’t stop anyone from selling their products, no matter what chemicals they contain. It is simply a law that requires consumer warning labels under certain circumstances.

Prop 65 is not limited to businesses with a presence in California but applies to all businesses with 10 or more employees that sell products in California. SEMA has joined with many other trade associations in opposing the proposed changes to the short-form rule implemented in 2018. OEHHA is now reviewing the public comments.

New Jersey—License Plates: The New Jersey Senate Transportation Committee passed SEMA-supported legislation to allow the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to issue newly created classic license plates for display on all vehicles. The new plates will resemble those issued between 1979 and 1991, featuring sand-yellow text on a blue background. The plates would cost an additional $50 initially and a subsequent annual $10 fee. The bills require a minimum of 500 interested applicants before the classic plates will be produced. The legislation awaits consideration in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

SEMA News—March 2022

FROM THE HILL

Rep. Ellzey visits Summit Racing in Arlington

Everything’s Bigger in Texas

By Eric Snyder

Dave Ritchey (front right), Summit Racing Equipment’s Manager of Phone Sales, provides U.S. Representative Jake Ellzey (R-TX, front left) a tour of the company’s Arlington, Texas distribution and order fulfillment center.

What happens when you send a former fighter pilot to Washington? While it may be premature for the citizens of Texas’ 6th Congressional District to answer that question, they have every reason to be optimistic about U.S. Representative Jake Ellzey (R-TX) who won a July 2021 special election to represent them in Congress.

SEMA was excited to get to know Rep. Ellzey, as he recently took time to visit Summit Racing Equipment in Arlington, Texas, for a tour of their retail super store, order fulfillment center and distribution center—all totaling nearly 1 million sq. ft.

Summit Racing has come a long way from its humble beginnings, as its first “store” was in the basement of a donut shop in Stow, Ohio. The company was founded by a young engineer who owned a big-block-powered ’67 Corvette Roadster and had a knack for getting performance parts at a good price. It didn’t take long for his fellow drag racers to start inquiring about deals on hop-up parts out of which a side business was born, and the company moved to its first true store—a 1,500 sq. ft. location in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in 1969.

Today, Summit Racing is widely recognized as a leading direct marketer of performance automotive parts and accessories. While Summit Racing is headquartered in Tallmadge, Ohio, the company has three other facilities, including locations in Sparks, Nevada (opened in 1998); McDonough, Georgia (opened in 2006); and Arlington (opened in 2017), their largest facility. Each location features a destination retail super store, an order fulfillment center, a customer support center team, and enthusiasts who are passionate about their customers’ projects.

Rep. Ellzey’s visit to Summit Racing provided the Congressman a chance to learn more about the specialty automotive aftermarket and the role the industry plays in Texas’ 6th Congressional District, which is located both to the south and west of Dallas and includes parts of Fort Worth and Arlington. While touring the super store, the Congressman spoke fondly of the ’67 Mustang he once owned. He also aspires to one day restore a vintage Ford truck that’s been in his family for more than 40 years.

“The tour of Summit Racing was nothing short of remarkable,” said Rep. Ellzey, “You all have a tremendous facility, but what was most impressive was all of the employees. The afternoon I spent there, I could tell that everyone cared about their job, each other and the customer. I am glad that Summit Racing is in our district. It is something we can all be proud of, and I look forward to rebuilding my ’79 F-150 with a little bit of help.”

Rep. Ellzey grew up in Perryton, Texas, and he maintains that he wanted to be a fighter pilot since the age of seven when his father took him on his first plane ride. The Congressman is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and throughout his 20-year Naval career Rep. Ellzey flew H-60 helicopters, F-14 Tomcats, F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets in defense of our nation. His service included 830 carrier landings and a tour embedded with Navy SEALs and called in air support in 2006 in Anbar Province, Iraq. After retiring from the military, he was a private pilot, civilian contractor and worked as a White House aide under President George W. Bush. Rep. Ellzey also founded and ran a public speaking and executive coaching firm and was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Perry to serve as a commissioner of the Texas Veterans Commission, serving from 2012 until 2018. Rep. Ellzey was elected to the Texas State Legislature in 2020 before winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives just nine months later.

Rep. Ellzey currently serves as a member of the U.S. House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Science, Space, and Technology. The Congressman’s top priorities include supporting military veterans and our armed forces, protecting private property rights, and reducing federal spending and debt reduction. Upon learning about the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act (RPM Act), Congressman Ellzey agreed to co-sponsor the legislation and is passionate about enacting the bill into law given the importance of the issue to his constituents.

Rep. Ellzey poses for a picture with Summit Racing Equipment employees.

“We appreciate the opportunity to showcase our enthusiast-based company culture and our outstanding team at Summit Racing, especially in support of initiatives that protect our industry,” said Dave Ritchey, Summit Racing’s Manager of Phone Sales. “Thank you to SEMA for organizing and participating in the meeting, and to Rep. Ellzey for taking the time to visit and get to know our company, and for reinforcing his support for the RPM Act. Supporting this bill helps protect the livelihood of our company and employees, our business partners, and race tracks throughout the country.”

For more information on planning your own Congressional District Site Visit, contact Eric Snyder in the SEMA Government Affairs office at erics@sema.org.

SEMA News—March 2022

INTERNET

Free Social-Media Marketing Tools

By Joe Dysart

There are plenty of pro-grade social-media marketing tools you can use that are absolutely free.

Businesses looking to engage customers on social media without adding another expense to their marketing budgets are in luck: There are plenty of pro-grade social-media marketing tools you can use that are absolutely free—forever.

Of course, these top-level solution providers (some of the most popular in the digital space) are offering free plans as a way to entice you to ultimately switch to their paid offerings. But if your plan right now is simply to engage in a moderately aggressive social-media marketing campaign or to get a feel for social-media marketing before it becomes an expense in your marketing budget, these tools are the perfect solution.

“If you want to connect and engage with your future customers, you have to be where they are, and that’s largely on social media,” said Daniel Ku, CEO of PostBeyond, a social-media marketing firm.

Probably the number-one reason you’ll be attracted to free social-media marketing tools is that they enable you to schedule multiple posts about your business during a single log-on session. That’s an incredible time-saver when you consider the alternative—logging onto Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or another social-medial network every single time you want to make a marketing post about your business.

You’ll also find that the free plans can be fairly generous when it comes to scheduling posts. AgoraPulse, for example, enables you to schedule up to 40 posts per month, absolutely free. And Buffer, Crowdfire and Later each enable you to schedule up to 30 free posts per month. Indeed, should you decide to try out all four of those social-media marketing tools at once, you’ll be able to schedule a total of 120 posts per month—or four marketing posts per day—absolutely free.

For many marketing departments, the ability to log on once a month to four free tools so they can schedule four posts per day for the next 30 days may be all the social-media management they ever need.

Besides post scheduling, many social-media marketing tools also offer analytics about your posts in terms of who’s clicking on them, whether or not your posts are driving more traffic to your website or other digital property, which social-media network is delivering the most traffic for you and more.

In addition, some of the tools, such as Crowdfire, will help you find articles and other content on the web, which you can summarize and turn into posts to help keep your brand top of mind with your customers on social media.

The bottom line is that it really does make sense to check out one or more free social-media marketing tools to get a feel for everything the tools have to offer—and how they can substantially enhance your social-media marketing efforts.

Here’s a representative sampling of some of the best social-media marketing tools on the market, all available for a song:

AgoraPulse (www.agorapulse.com/pricing): AgouraPulse offers 40 free scheduled posts per month as well as a content calendar to ensure that managing your social-media marketing is a snap. You can auto-post to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube on AgoraPulse—all from one dashboard.

You’ll also be able to use AgoraPulse’s onboard analytics to assess if your social-
media posts are resulting in more traffic to your website as well as assess social-media sentiment about your company name and its overall online reputation. Power users will also appreciate AgoraPulse’s ability to create custom reports, which will track just the things you’re looking to monitor.

Buffer (https://buffer.com/pricing): Buffer enables you to schedule up to 10 posts per social-media channel each month, and you’ll be able to post up to three social-media channels, bringing your total scheduled free posts per month to 30.

Posting to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest are all supported, and you can tweak Buffer to schedule your posts when your audience happens to be most active on a specific social-media site—say 9:00 a.m. EST for your customers on
LinkedIn. Buffer will also alert you when the posts you schedule go live.

The Buffer dashboard is spare by design—and easy to use.

Crowdfire (www.crowdfireapp.com/pricing-page): Crowdfire’s free plan is similar to Buffer’s: You can schedule up to 10 posts per social-media channel each month, and you’re able to post to up to three social-media channels, bringing your total free scheduled posts per month to 30. Various social platforms are available for posting: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Etsy, Shopify, Medium 500px, Vimeo—and a number of others.

Crowdfire will also recommend hashtags that will most likely work for you when you’re posting to social media. That will be a major plus when you’re posting to Twitter, and the solution will display previews of your posts for your approval before scheduling them for live publishing.

Yet another bonus: Crowdfire also offers a curation feature that enables you to capture articles from thousands of sources, offer article summaries, and then post those summaries and links to those articles as a way to supply an unending supply of content to your customers on social media.

Later (https://later.com/pricing): Later allows you to freely post up to 30 posts per month using one social identity. Supported social-media networks are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest, and the solution also comes with easy access to high-quality stock images you can use in your posts.

Friends Plus Me (https://friendsplus.me/pricing): This social-media tool offers an interesting twist on free usage: You can schedule up to five posts at any time, with no limit on the number of posts you schedule in any given month, and you can schedule posts using up to two social network identities.

Friends Plus Me offers posting to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumbler.

Socialoomph: (www.socialoomph.com/pricing): Socialoomph also enables you to post as many times as you’d like for free, as long as you limit your posts to three per hour using one social network identity. Social-media networks supported by the tool are Discord, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, Mastodon and StockTwits.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

646-233-4089

joe@dysartnewsfeatures.com

www.dysartnewsfeatures.com

SEMA News—March 2022

SEMA HERITAGE

Big Al Takes the Checkered

By Drew Hardin

Photography: Bob D’Olivo, Petersen Publishing Company Archive

Less than a year after the death of his older brother Bobby, Alfred “Al” Unser Sr. succumbed to his years-long battle with cancer in December. He was 82.

Al Unser did not have his brother’s outspoken nature, but one trait they did share was the driving ability that runs deep in Unser genes. Al Unser is one of just four men to have won the Indianapolis 500 four times, a list that stood at just three until 2021, when Helio Castroneves joined A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Unser in that storied group. Unser had the distinction of holding two other Indy records: He had led the most laps (644) and was the race’s oldest winner, as he was just days shy of his 48th birthday when he won for the fourth time in 1987.

In addition to his Indy 500 victories, Unser won USAC and CART championships in 1970, 1983 and 1985 and amassed a total of 39 wins while running in those open-wheel series.

These photos come from his first Indy victory in 1970. When Hot Rod magazine covered the event (“The Big Happening,” August 1970), feature editor Bud Lang noted that Unser and his Ford-powered Johnny Lightning Special lead for 190 of the race’s 200 laps and “headed the fastest field ever to assemble on the Hoosier oval.” His 170.221-mph qualifying speed earned him the pole position; and his race pace was so fast that, even after slowing down for the final few laps, he finished more than 30 seconds ahead of Mark Donohue in second.

While he achieved most of his success in open-wheel racing, Unser was a versatile driver. In 1964 and 1965 he won “King of the Mountain” honors at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb as the fastest overall up the 12.42-mile, 156-turn unpaved course. He raced stock cars in NASCAR in the late 1960s, and he competed in the International Race of Champions (IROC) in the 1970s, winning the IROC championship in 1978. He retired from racing in 1994, the year his son, Al Jr., won his second Indy 500.

There were years when Big Al and Little Al competed against each other—and fiercely. Al Sr. won his 1985 CART championship by a single point over his son. But family rivalries were nothing new for the Unsers. Al had tried for several years before finally beating Bobby at the Peak in 1964, bringing to an end his elder brother’s six-race winning streak. As Ray Brock reported in the September 1964 Hot Rod, “Al’s winning time of 12 minutes 24.5 seconds represents a new record and the first time that anyone has averaged a mile-a-minute up the treacherous road to the summit. With the road all uphill and tight switchbacks that require almost a complete stop at times, the 60-mph average is particularly impressive.” Words that aptly sum up this racing legend.

SEMA News—March 2022

A Message from the Association:

Changes and the Hidden Silver Lining

By SEMA News Editors

As most SEMA members have learned by now, SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting, who traditionally pens this column, announced his retirement on January 5. In his position over the last 20 years, Chris has helped guide the industry through numerous challenges, and his leadership will surely be missed. His retirement will bring changes, but at times like this, we are reminded that change is inevitable—it’s the only constant in life and business.

We mention this because almost all SEMA-member companies have been dealing with big changes lately. The ongoing pandemic has compelled companies to find new ways of working, communicating, and serving customers.

Given the disruption in the business environment, it’s hard to appreciate that unexpected circumstances have once again spawned innovation, as companies find ways to maintain and actually intensify their ability to reach customers and create value. Reduced costs in business travel, more flexible employment structures and opportunities to embrace markets on a broader basis are among the benefits that were previously untapped.

Here at SEMA, we too have seen how limitations imposed by the pandemic have actually led us to advantageous ways to deliver benefits and services.

A good example would be the SEMA Virtual Education website (www.sema.org/education)—a new online library created to provide the industry with year-round access to experts and leaders. When you visit, you’ll find that more than 50 on-demand sessions are already housed on the site. A good portion of the content regarding best practices and tips on common business skills was generated at the SEMA Show, which still provides a key means of attracting top experts. But since the website is ongoing and continuous, new content can be added weekly, resulting in a growing collection of educational materials available to automotive professionals.

It’s a benefit that did not exist before the pandemic forced us all to find new ways of getting things done.

Another example can be seen in the SEMA Washington Rally, an event that has given hundreds of industry members the opportunity to discuss issues with their elected representatives over the years. In 2021, compelled by restrictions on meetings in the U.S. Capitol complex, SEMA members met with their lawmakers and their staffs remotely rather than in person. The result was record participation. The switch to virtual meetings also made it easier for the SEMA office in Washington, D.C., to schedule quality time with legislators, since appointments could be made over a period of months instead of days.

Still another example would be the recent Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council Media Trade Conference. As a virtual event, it attracted global media participation and led to even more productive interactions between the industry and media influencers.

In short, when we’re forced to think outside the box, it becomes possible to adapt in ways that ultimately become major drivers of growth and development.

Change is usually uncomfortable, but the end result is that we become more resilient. In many ways, change equates to opportunity. We’ve seen it before. Time and time again, the specialty products industry has weathered unexpected changes in the business environment and come out ahead.

Sooner or later, most successful companies must come to address the challenge of succession in leadership. SEMA is no exception.

On February 1, Chris transitioned into an advisory role through July 2022. SEMA executives Bill Miller (previous senior vice president of operations) and Mike Spagnola (previous vice president of OEM and product development programs) serve as interim co-CEOs.

Throughout its history, the association has been fortunate to have strong leaders at the top, including many gifted, charismatic volunteers and dedicated staff members. We’ll always miss those who have moved on. But we’ve also seen that changes can have an unexpected silver lining, creating an exciting opportunity to succeed in new and totally unexpected ways.

SEMA News—March 2022

INTERNET

In the Crosshairs

Websites That Forget Disabled Users

By Joe Dysart

Retail websites have become low-hanging fruit for attorneys filing accessibility lawsuits.

Businesses are discovering the hard way that websites forgetting to accommodate disabled people are targets for usability lawsuits. The great irony underscoring the trend is that scores of service providers can quickly analyze your website for a few hundred dollars and advise—point for point—how to safeguard it against such a lawsuit.

Most of the lawsuits are coming from web surfers who have difficulty seeing as well as those who have difficulty hearing. In 2020, nearly 11,000 disabilities lawsuits were filed against website owners, charging that they were in violation of the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to Crownpeak (www.crownpeak.com), a service provider specializing in making sure that websites comply with the ADA.

Perhaps even more harrowing were the more than 265,000 ADA demand letters that were sent to U.S. businesses in 2020. The letters threatened lawsuits unless businesses became ADA-compliant for any number of reasons and better represent the full scope of vulnerabilities businesses face if they don’t comply with the ADA, according to Crownpeak.

Essentially, the ADA has triggered open season on litigation against businesses that are not in complete compliance, and business websites have become an easy mark for such litigation and protests.

“In the United States, it is largely accepted—due to overwhelming case law—that the internet is a place of public accommodation and it is therefore broadly considered that business websites are subject to regulation by the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said Claire Van Note, sales support coordinator for Accessible360
(https://accessible360.com), an ADA-compliance service provider.

Even more concerning for businesses is that 78% of the websites hit with ADA lawsuits were retail sites, according to “2020 Full Year Report: Digital Accessibility Lawsuits” by UsableNet—a consultant in ADA web compliance (https://info.usablenet.com/2020-report-on-digital-accessibility-lawsuits).

In addition, many of the attorneys behind the suits got especially creative with their litigation, filing one lawsuit against a business for a website that was out of ADA compliance and filing a second lawsuit against the same business for a mobile app that was also out of compliance.

In a phrase, businesses are the very definition of low-hanging fruit for ADA lawsuits in the eyes of attorneys specializing in ADA litigation. Indeed, in a recent study, 97% of the world’s top one million websites had accessibility issues, according to WebAim (https://webaim.org/blog/webaim-million), a nonprofit research group affiliated with Utah State University.

Not surprisingly, there is intense interest among businesses on how to comply with the ADA and similar regulations. One telling example is a library of digital accessibility rules that is maintained by Deque Systems, an ADA compliance service provider. It hit more than 100 million downloads in December 2020—less than two years after it was made available for free on the web.

“The exponential rate of adoption we’ve seen in recent years is indicative of digital accessibility becoming more pervasive for the nearly one in four U.S. citizens with disabilities,” said Dylan Barrell, chief technology officer for Deque Systems.

Granted, there has been pushback against the ADA from some business defense attorneys, who have successfully argued that the act does not apply to digital properties. Specifically, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently found that Winn-Dixie Stores was exempt from providing an ADA-compliant website (www.workforcebulletin.com/files/2021/04/Gil-v.-Winn-Dixie-Stores.pdf).

The legal technicality was that the ADA regulates 12 kinds of tangible physical places. A website, by definition, is not a physical place, according to the court. Even so, other courts—including the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit—have found the opposite, concluding that websites do need to comply with the ADA.

According to Accessible360’s Van Note, the bottom line is that your best move is to ensure that your business website complies with the ADA unless you’re looking to play the odds.

Not only will ADA compliance for your website keep the attorneys at bay, but it can also be used as a marketing tool, enabling you to advertise that your website—unlike the 97% of the top million sites on the web—is user-friendly to disabled surfers.

“Besides being legally mandated per the Americans with Disabilities Act, more organizations are realizing the benefits of digital accessibility, ranging from capturing overlooked market share to lowering operational costs and boosting brand value,” said Preety Kumar, CEO of Deque Systems.

Added William Littman, head of legal affairs for Crownpeak, an ADA compliance service provider: “What’s important is realizing that we’re dealing with real people and real issues related to accessibility. These are people who need to have access to your website, and accessibility is a feature that companies should adopt as a matter of course. There’s really a lot more going on under the surface of the data that’s published, and every business needs to remember that this is more than just trends and numbers. At the end of the day, it’s about people.”

Despite all the lawsuit threats, there is currently still no law in the United States that sets out specific guidelines for how websites should comply with the ADA. Congress attempted to pass such a law in 2020, but it failed. In the meantime, service providers advising on ADA compliance have been relying on guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3) to prove a website’s ADA compliance.

The WC3 is an international community of mostly web designers and related techies that has maintained web accessibility guidelines for years now (www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag).

There are many ways to ensure that your website matches WC3 guidelines, including reading the WC3 guidelines and doing it yourself—or hiring an ADA consultant to eyeball your website and draw up a list of changes needed. Perhaps one of the easiest alternatives, however, is to tap an online monitoring service for as little as $390 per year, which will check your website regularly and alert you to any changes your website needs to stay in ADA compliance.

An even less expensive alternative: If you have a website that essentially remains unchanged, you could subscribe to one of the online services for just a month, make the suggested changes, and then cancel the service until you make additional changes to your website that may put you in ADA jeopardy.

Here’s a representative sampling of online compliance service providers that promise to ensure that your website is ADA-friendly:

accessiBe (https://accessibe.com): $49 per month. This service provider uses artificial intelligence to analyze your website and offers recommendations such as screen readers and keyboard navigation tools that you can add to your site to make it ADA-
compliant.

EqualWeb, (www.equalweb.com): $390 per year. Another compliance advisor that uses artificial intelligence analysis, EqualWeb also offers plug-ins for ADA compliance, including text readers, screen reader adjustments, an accessibility menu and the like. Web authoring platforms supported by the service include Wordpress, Wix and Shopify.

MaxAccess (https://maxaccess.io): Starts at $37 per month. This service provider scans your website every 24 hours to ensure that it’s ADA-compliant. Features it looks for include accommodation for color blindness, color contrast, toolbar options, screen options and the like.

Crownpeak Digital Quality Management (www.crownpeak.com/products/digital-quality-and-accessibility): Call for pricing. Crownpeak does a complete scan of your website for ADA compliance, including rich media, metadata, content presentation, links, URLs, mobile experience, images, PDF accessibility and the like.

Accessible360 (https://accessible360.com): Call for pricing. In addition to computer analysis for ADA compliance, Accessible360 also offers live user testing of your website.

Deque Systems Axe Plug-In (www.deque.com): Call for pricing. Deque uses a plug-in for Chrome and Internet Explorer that tests your website for accessibility compliance as well as any web applications that may be running on your website.

Silktide (https://silktide.com): Call for pricing. Silketide’s analysis serves up a task list your web designer can use to bring your website into full ADA compliance. The service explains the need for every accessibility task required, and Silktide also offers ongoing accessibility training via phone, chat, webinar and video tutorials.

DubBot (https://dubbot.com): Call for pricing. DubBots’ analysis produces of list of changes you’ll need to make to your website, ordered by priority. The service also offers a detailed description of each ADA issue.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

631-438-1142

joe@joedysart.com | www.joedysart.com

SEMA News—March 2022

INTERNET

Doubling Down on Ransomware Protection

Key Software to Check Out

By Joe Dysart

Many businesses across the globe are doubling down on their defenses against ransomware.

As the threat of ransomware reached new heights in 2021, many businesses have doubled down on their defense against the scourge—making sure they’ve done everything they can to avoid becoming its next victim. Indeed, successful ransomware attacks on key infrastructure and supply lines in the United States have proven so visceral this year that they’ve triggered an executive order from President Joe Biden, nudging all U.S. businesses to get serious about ransomware protection.

The order “calls for federal agencies to work more closely with the private sector to share information, strengthen cybersecurity practices, and deploy technologies that increase reliance against cyberattacks,” Biden said. “It outlines innovative ways the government will drive to deliver security and software—using federal buying power to jumpstart the market and improve the products that all Americans use.”

During 2021 alone, businesses across the United States were reeling from successful ransomware attacks, including attacks against SolarWinds, a commonly used IT-management software program; the ransomware disruption of service on the Colonial Pipeline, the largest conduit of refined oil products in the United States; and the ransomware seizure of computer files of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.

Still other ransomware takedowns include a takeover of computer files at goliath meatpacking concern JBS Foods as well as at the National Basketball Association.

Granted, authorities occasionally got lucky against ransomware hackers during 2021. For example, excellent cyber forensic work by the U.S. Department of Justice clawed back $2.3 million in Bitcoin that the Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomware hackers to help get its computer network up and running again.

“Following the money remains one of the most basic yet powerful tools we have,” said Lisa O. Monaco, U.S. deputy attorney general. “We will continue to target the entire ransomware ecosystem to disrupt and deter these attacks. Today’s announcements also demonstrate the value of early notification to law enforcement; we thank Colonial Pipeline for quickly notifying the FBI when they learned that they were targeted by DarkSide.”

Even so, hackers more often than not get away with their exploits, extorting hundreds of thousands of businesses across the globe each year—and disrupting the day-to-day operations of each.

Overall, 37% of organizations around the world experienced some sort of ransomware attack between May 2020 and April 2021, according to a study from cybersecurity firm Sophos titled “The State of Ransomware 2021” (https://tinyurl.com/
sophoswhitepaper).

Based on that survey of 5,400 IT managers at midsize organizations across 30 countries, the study also found that the average ransom paid to recover data from a ransomware attack was $170,404. Not surprisingly, many of the criminals behind the successful ransomware attacks kissed off promises to restore files once ransoms were paid, according to the study.

On average, victimized organizations that paid ransoms in the study got back only 65% of their data, and only 8% of organizations forking over money to hackers were able to retrieve all of their files, according to the Sophos study.

Equally vexing for the victim organizations was the cost to day-to-day business. The average cost to restore the impact of a successful ransomware attack on a midsize business—taking into account downtime, lost wages, device cost, network cost, lost sales and ransomware paid—was $185 million.

In addition, hackers have increasingly exploited a new wrinkle in their ransomware schemes during the past year—threatening (and often making good on the threats) to publish sensitive data found in company files on the Dark Web if a victim company refused to pay a ransom. Fortunately, the guys in the white hats have been busy strengthening software designed to thwart ransomware attacks.

What follows is a representative sampling of that software, all highly rated and all available at entry-level prices. Essentially, your computer security personnel can try out these programs at extremely low rates and, in some cases, opt to bring in an enterprise-level alternative to the same program should he/she deem it necessary.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus (www.bitdefender.com): Starts at $23.99 per year. A player in the anti-ransomware space for a number of years now, Bitdefender Plus offers many of layers of anti-ransomware protection along with a myriad of other security features.

The software is designed to eliminate known ransomware on the spot, and it will also watch for unexpected behaviors on your PC or network that indicate ransomware activity, such as a sudden, wholesale change in the names of files or the extension names of files.

In a phrase, Bitdefender backs up all of your files at the first whiff of what it determines may be a ransomware attack beginning to deploy—and then restores the files after the attack has been fully neutralized.

ZoneAlarm by Checkpoint (www.zonealarm.com): $39.95 per year. This is another highly rated anti-ransomware package that erases all vestiges of ransomware on your computer system once they are detected. It also embeds “bait” files on your computer or network that are designed to lure ransomware into changing those files first, setting off alarms and enabling ZoneAlarm to neutralize the attack before it spreads to actual company files. ZoneAlarm can also repair files after a ransomware attack, if possible.

Kaspersky Security Cloud—Free (www.kaspersky.com/free-cloud-antivirus): Free. It’s hard to argue with free, so if you’re looking for instant piece of mind today, Kaspersky Security Cloud—Free may be your ticket.

Kaspersky is designed to protect against two types of ransomware: The first encrypts your files, making them unusable to you. The second encrypts your entire hard disk, making the whole computing device unusable.

Kaspersky can also neutralize ransomware that locks up your computer screen, and it offers monitoring and auto-neutralization of typical ransomware behaviors such as wholesale renaming of files and/or file extensions.

Other features include Idle Scan, which monitors resources such as system memory when you’re not using your computer, and there’s a rootkit scan function that helps betray ransomware activity designed to elude typical monitoring of Windows and typical monitoring used by everyday antivirus software.

Sophos Home Premium (https://home.sophos.com): Starts at $44.99 per year. This program is a lite version of a more robust type of anti-ransomware protection that Sophos offers to enterprise-level businesses. Sophos is designed to plug known security holes in commonly used software, and it offers downloadable analysis of programs that you’re thinking of downloading that may have a bad reputation.

Sophos could do the trick for a small business that decides enterprise-level protection is not necessary—especially since this lite version enables you to remotely safeguard, monitor and manage the software on up to 10 remote computers. One caveat, however: Novice users may face a bit of a learning curve before they can use Sophos’ advanced features.

NeuShield Data Sentinel (www.neushield.com/store): Starts at $23.99 per year. NeuShield is the only candidate in this pack that does not offer ransomware protection. Instead, NeuShield is an after-the-fact ransomware product that offers one-click restoration of files encrypted by ransomware—if possible.

Essentially, NeuShield is not a panacea against a ransomware attack, but giving it a whirl after your business has been taken down by ransomware is well worth the price of entry.

Users install NeuShield on their computers before an attack occurs. That enables the software to “virtualize” any changes to the files on your system. Theoretically, virtualized files cannot be corrupted by a ransomware attack, given that they are not fully operational files in a virtualized state. Users of NeuShield regularly decide when to approve changes in virtualized files—which makes those files operational once again.

It’s a powerful way to put a buffer on any files in your system that undergo changes—including changes ransomware is seeking to make.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

646-233-4089

joe@dysartnewsfeatures.com

www.dysartnewsfeatures.com

  

SEMA News—March 2022

EVENTS

Trendspotting at the 2021 PRI Trade Show

A Look at What’s New, Exciting and Fueling Growth in the Racing and Performance Sector

By Mike Imlay

After a 2020 hiatus due to the COVID-19 disruptions, the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show roared back to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis this past December. The trade event offered a concentrated look at the industry’s latest trends and developments.

The Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show is known across the racing and performance sector as a concentrated indicator of the industry’s latest developments and opportunities. After a forced hiatus due to COVID-19 in 2020, the 2021 trade event made its highly anticipated return to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Thursday through Saturday, December 9–11.

The event drew more than 50,000 exhibitors, attendees and media representatives all eager to reconnect, do business and learn not only what the industry had been up to over the past two years but also how those developments might benefit their operations.

For SEMA and its member companies, the PRI trade event was especially significant. March marks the 10th anniversary of the transaction that brought the PRI Trade Show and publications under the SEMA umbrella. That strategic partnership has since seen PRI expand its role as an advocacy group to protect and grow racing.

“Racing is important to practically every automotive business, whether directly involved in motorsports or not, so SEMA extends its congratulations to PRI for what it has accomplished on behalf of everyone in the industry,” said SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting. “For all of us in the specialty aftermarket, the PRI Trade Show was an impressive example of the passion we all share.”

So what’s new in the racing and performance world? The following are some key trends we observed in Indy.

Vehicle Electrification

The PRI Trade Show demonstrated the high level of youth interest in all aspects of racing, including engine and car building. Pictured here, young attendees representing high schools from throughout the United States showcase their skills in the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow (HROT) engine-building championship.

At road courses, down dragstrips, around dirt tracks and even across the Bonneville Salt Flats, electric vehicles (EVs) have become a significant trend in the performance-racing sector. In part, this trend is being driven by OEM initiatives. Out of the top 20 global automakers—which together in 2020 represented around 90% of new-car registrations worldwide—18 have announced plans to rapidly scale up EV production in the coming decade.

Of course, motorsports have always been the proving ground for emerging technologies, and that spirit of engineering was on full display in the PRI Show EV Performance Zone, a feature area highlighting the growing EV presence in racing. The Zone’s exhibitors included Chevrolet Performance, Ford Performance and several aftermarket brands providing new products and solutions for the electrification market. In addition, purpose-built feature vehicles demonstrated the latest EV applications being introduced into Trophy Trucks, dragsters, motorcycles and other racing vehicles.

“Electrification is the future of the automotive industry, so we’re here to showcase the awesome power of our electric vehicles,” said Ford Performance Global Marketing Specialist Autumn Schwalbe.

Those vehicles included a Ford Cobra Jet 1400, Mach-E Mustang and ’78 F-100 concept pickup equipped with Ford’s Eluminator electric crate motor, which Schwalbe said has especially caught the attention of the racing industry.

“When we revealed the Eluminator, we sold a lot right away,” she said. “Whether for drag racing, short-course racing or small tracks, a lot of people are getting involved.”

Opposite the Ford exhibition, Chevrolet displayed a ’72 El Camino conversion built in partnership with Lingenfelter Performance Engineering and featuring the OEM’s e-crate system.

“We’re trying to give racers—and any individual—the opportunity to move toward an electric drive system,” said Mike Celotto, an assistant chief engineer with General Motors. “We know that electric drive is in its early stages. We expect it to grow just like the overall automotive industry is growing, so we want to have a space in that for our customers.”

Allen Thomas, president-elect of the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA), has been drag racing EVs for a decade now. While he also enjoys building and racing internal-combustion cars, Thomas said that the vehicle electrification movement reminds him of his early days in racing.

“I see the technological advancements,” he said. “I grew up during the heyday of drag racing, when there were different things hitting the dragstrip and incredible innovation and people building things. This is the feeling I get from building electric cars now—it’s back to the ’60s. It invigorates me because no one has a cookie-cutter approach.”

NEDRA is a coalition of electric drag racing vehicle owners, drivers and fans. The organization promotes EV manufacturers and parts suppliers while organizing and sanctioning electric drag events. Its exhibition at the show included two drag EVs.

“There’s going to be a lot of learning, a lot of challenges in electric drag racing, and it really draws me in,” Thomas said. “There’s exponential growth right now.”

Rob Ward, founder and CEO of Legacy EV, said that growth potential is pulling brands of all types into the EV space. A parts distributor for the EV market, Legacy was among several performance aftermarket companies educating showgoers about the emerging opportunities in the space.

“We’re working our tails off to be the face of aftermarket EV performance,” Ward said. “We’re working with more than 60 manufacturers right now to provide a complete electrification system for pretty much anything. There are a lot of companies investing a lot of energy and money into advancing complete EV systems, so we’re excited about where it’s headed.”

Other EV Zone exhibitors included Holley-AEM, Burrowmax, FirstCorner, HyperCraft, MRE Racing, ReVolt and Torque Trends. Key products in the category currently include EV control units, drive systems, gear-reduction boxes, battery packs and related components, but the field is ripe for all sorts of invention.

Diesel Motorsports

The growth, diversity and technical advancements found in today’s motorsports were on full display in Indianapolis. Among the many examples was diesel racing, which has become especially popular in recent years, leading to new opportunities for hardcore parts makers and performance suppliers.

Although diesel motorsports have been around for decades, the last five to 10 years have seen an explosion of fan interest. S&S Diesel Motorsport Co-Owner Luke Langellier believes that technological advancements are behind the category’s surge.

“If you think about the big picture, all the emissions regulations that the OEMs have had to abide by, that’s what pushed all this technology,” he said. “It would never have needed to exist if it weren’t for having to meet all those stringent requirements. That’s why we have trucks now that are perfectly quiet, make tons of power, tow like crazy and can do everything you want them to do.”

S&S Diesel’s exhibit space included a massive semi engine—a nod to the semi drag racing that’s become a major crowd pleaser.

“People love to race whatever they’re passionate about,” Langellier said. “We’ve got a pretty strong following of guys who are really passionate about getting as much performance from a semi as they can—in Canada and the northern United States, especially.”

Diesel Motorsports President Ron Knoch said that his organization’s drag races, sled-pulling and show-and-shine events continued unabated during the pandemic, partly because they’ve become popular staples of county fairs and similar family-friendly events, especially in the American heartland.

“Most people don’t know that there is a sled pull every night from June to the end of August in every state across what we call the ‘flyover states,’” he explained, adding that his organization’s races with five competitive classes are always well attended.

Greg Jolly, race director of the Outlaw Diesel Super Series, said that diesel truck events offer a unique thrill.

“For me, it’s watching them go down the track as fast as they do and as heavy as they are,” he said. “It takes a lot more horsepower and torque than it does on the car side of things, and it’s a lot harder on parts.”

In other words, things break a lot—which brings numerous opportunities for the performance aftermarket to produce everything from hardcore engine parts to heavy-duty suspension components.

“It’s pushing the limits and pushing the aftermarket to make better product,” he said.

Donk Racing

Few shows capture motorsports’ diversity like the PRI Trade Show, where there’s always something new and unexpected to encounter. Take for example, Donk, or big-wheel racing—a novel form of competition gaining serious traction in urban markets. At a seminar titled “Big Wheel Racing: Why It’s a Big Deal,” Sage Thomas (aka the Donkmaster) announced the formation of the National Donk Racing Association, a new sanctioning body bringing safety and organization to the rapidly growing niche.

What’s a Donk, you ask? Technically, it’s a customized ’71–’76 Impala or Caprice riding on 20-in. or larger wheels. (Preferably larger.) However, the term has become generic for similarly styled vehicles.

With Donk racing racking up millions of YouTube views and legions of social-media followers, Thomas believes the sport is opening new doors for sponsors, safety equipment suppliers, fabricators and parts makers—and of course, specialty wheel and tire makers.

“We’re showing people this is real, because a lot of big companies thought it was a fad,” Thomas said. “But it’s something new for the racetracks, for the fans and for supporters to be a part of something big. The opportunities are endless for small companies all the way up.”

Gridlife iRacing

PRI Trade Show attendees also got a look at Gridlife’s iRacer Experience, a new immersive racing concept designed to promote grassroots enthusiasm. The Gridlife booth feature consisted of six networked competition racing simulators running the latest iRacing build, complete with a live announcer broadcasting to online
enthusiasts.

According to Gridlife Creative Director Chris Stewart, the organization’s simulator competitions open motorsports to a gaming audience while teaching valuable track skills. Ultimately, that can encourage newcomers to embrace the racing lifestyle through the organization’s live track days, time-attack events, drifting events, education programs and festivals.

“Our intention is motorsports inclusion,” Stewart said. “We try to get people closer to motorsports—particularly younger individuals. Our core demographic is 18 to 38. We’re one of the youngest driving organizations globally.”

Youth in Motorsports

With the future of the performance industry hinging on attracting next-generation talent, PRI also made youth engagement a top show priority. On Friday, December 10, 2021, hundreds of young attendees gathered for the annual PRI Student Breakfast and Career Day, which connected students from across the United States with industry leaders. The exclusive meetings exposed the students to career opportunities ranging from team and shop roles to product development and administrative positions. The breakfast also served as an entrée to the Show’s world-class trade environment, where attendees could further take in the industry’s size and scope. Northwood University of Midland, Michigan, was among the many organizations participating in the event.

“Students come to Northwood to learn all about the automotive aftermarket,” said Michael Kinney, Northwood director of aftermarket curriculum. “We’re seeing a workforce in manufacturing—all the way down to service technicians—that is aging out and taking retirement. We need young people to come into the industry, and events like this show them how exciting it can be [with] a great future and great earning potential.”

Meanwhile, on the PRI Trade Show floor, exhibitor Preston Lewis was
promoting youth involvement through the Off-Road Motorsports Youth Foundation (OMYF). A survivor of childhood cancer, Lewis launched the nonprofit organization at the 2019 PRI Trade Show to give other youth affected by unfortunate life circumstances a taste of motorsports. OMYF is now building a desert racing team and a Class 7100 Unlimited Trophy Truck.

“Our growth has skyrocketed in the past couple of years after our first launch at PRI,” Lewis said. “Our sponsor list has increased drastically, and the quality of our sponsors has gone up quite a bit.”

Lewis expects the truck and the team to be race-ready by October 2022. He said OMYF came to the show to highlight alternatives for young adults who aren’t necessarily college-bound.

“What we’re trying to do is give them opportunities in a format where they can really find what they love,” he said. “If we could leave here with 15 to 20 kids who are really dedicated and want to be involved with us, that would be a win in our books.”

Young PRI attendees also demonstrated their building skills through the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow (HROT) competition, in which high school teams tear down and reassemble engines. The timed rounds took place over three days, with the Burton Center for Arts & Technology E3 Spark Plugs squad from Virginia taking 2021 National Champion honors.

“We had to shut the operation down for a year and a half due to COVID, and we thought it would be a great way to reboot it here,” said HROT President Rodney Bingham. “Just getting these students exposed to our performance racing industry shows them a whole new world of jobs and great careers that they could have.”

Led by instructor Chris Overfelt, the E3 Spark Plugs team scored an average time of 20 min. and 51 sec. Second place went to the Forsyth Central High School team sponsored by SCAT, which clocked in at 22 min. and 2 sec. The Moroso team from C.D. Hylton High School, finished third with a perfect engine build in 22 min. and 23 sec.

Growing Business

The PRI Show was also a prime venue for performance aftermarket manufacturers to discover new ways to sustain and grow their businesses. The possibilities for military contracts were discussed at a seminar titled “Army Ground Systems: Overview & How to Do Them.” Presented by Thomas Vern of the U.S. Army DEVCOM-Ground Vehicles Systems Center (GVSC), the workshop highlighted the synergy between motorsports and DEVCOM (Development Command) vehicle research and development.

“Anything on wheels, we handle it,” said Vern, who added that the GVSC is especially interested in several areas where the performance industry excels. They include EV technologies, heat dissipation, weight savings, suspension geometry, 3-D printing in metals, and parts-making for legacy items no longer mass-produced.

Business growth through content creation was also front and center at the show. The PRI Trade Show Content Creation Zone featured a Content Creator Stage Presented by Speed Sport with Ralph Sheheen. Throughout the week, onstage content creators educated attendees with tips for engaging audiences through success stories, insider news, introductions to gear and technologies, and hands-on demonstrations.

In addition, Justin Cesler of Driveline Studios presented the “WTF Is Content?!?” workshop, where he shared simple but effective tools for creating pro-level content for both traditional and new-media channels. According to Cesler, the biggest mistake a young brand can make is to sporadically post content or give up altogether due to sluggish response.

“Consistency is key,” he emphasized. “Don’t go out and make content one or two times and say it isn’t working.”

Protecting Motorsports

The PRI Trade Show’s return to a live format proved a successful reconnection for the industry, and a great deal of business was accomplished on the show floor. In addition, seminars, featured speakers and exclusive industry events inspired and primed attendees for the year ahead.

Since the recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) interpretation that the Clean Air Act prohibits motor vehicles designed for street use—including cars, trucks and motorcycles—from being converted into dedicated race cars, the entire performance racing industry has come under threat. In response, the 2021 PRI Trade Show included education on emissions compliance and action to pass the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act.

The RPM Act is bipartisan congressional legislation (H.R. 3281) designed to protect Americans’ right to convert street vehicles to dedicated race cars. It also protects the motorsports parts industry’s ability to make, sell and install products enabling racers to compete. The bill clarifies the legality of emissions-related modifications to street vehicles used exclusively in competition and reverses the EPA’s recent interpretation holding otherwise.

Industry support for the bill is strong, and two particular PRI events related to the issue were widely attended. The first was the Thursday “Update: RPM Act & Emissions Compliance” seminar, where a panel led by SEMA General Counsel David Goch presented steps for remaining compliant with EPA and California Air Resources Board requirements. The conference included a status update on the RPM Act and what performance and racing businesses could do to push it forward. Goch said critical mass for the legislation is building and passage is within grasp.

“What I have witnessed in my five years with the industry as general counsel is a true awakening and education,” he said after the seminar. “Five years ago, the questions were pretty rudimentary, such as, ‘What is the Clean Air Act and emissions compliance?’ Now people are asking more sophisticated questions to get a better understanding of what they need to do to comply. I think our future is bright, because my experience is that most of the folks that I touch through PRI are here
to learn to do it right and keep this industry strong.”

Friday evening, PRI also held a “Save Our Race Cars Rally” in the Quarterback Suite of Lucas Oil Stadium. The exclusive event offered further insights into the RPM Act and was open only to PRI Pro, PRI Champion and PRI Founding Members. PRI recently launched its membership program to help mobilize the industry and fundraise for the RPM Act and other initiatives to protect and grow the industry.

Among the speakers was Garrett Mitchell, aka Cleetus McFarland, a motorsports influencer with more than 1.2 million YouTube subscribers. He said that he was happy to lend his persona to the cause.

“A lot of these guys here are entrepreneurs,” he said. “Many of the people who sit in this room have their own businesses that are solely invested in the motorsports industry, which I can relate with because I have all my eggs in this basket, too. I just wanted to talk from my point of view and reiterate how important it is for us to all stick together.”

Ultimately, the 2021 PRI Trade Show was a testament to the industry’s continued innovation, grit and endurance, even through a pandemic.

“The racing industry is resilient and continues to push forward, and PRI very much reflects that spirit,” said PRI President Dr. Jamie Meyer. “Racing businesses have demonstrated remarkable passion and perseverance over the last year, and many even reported record sales and month-over-month revenue growth in 2021.”

Judging by what we just saw in Indy, the sector is again revved and ready to race forward in 2022.

Connecting With PRI

To get all the latest PRI developments, visit www.performanceracing.com where you’ll also find links to the PRI Trade Show, the recently launched PRI Business and Individual Membership programs that help protect the industry, and many other performance-racing business resources.