SEMA members: Join the association for its upcoming webinar session that uncovers what you need to know about the considerable tax savings your business may reap through the Research & Development Tax Credit.  

Numerous aftermarket companies invest time and manpower into improving their product or processes. Companies that incorporate research and development towards product innovation and product improvements would qualify for a significant tax break known as Section 41 Research & Development Tax Credit. Learn all about the Research & Development Tax Credit and the substantial tax savings it may provide your company during this webinar.

Title: “Research and Development Tax Credit”

Presenter: Steve Brunson, co-founder of Meridian Tax Advisors

Date: Thursday, January 17

Time: 10:00 a.m. (PST)

SEMA webinars bring the business-building seminars featured at the SEMA Show to the computers of SEMA members across the country. The one-hour sessions tackle hot industry topics and industry trends, providing members with insight and strategies that can be implemented immediately. All SEMA webinars are recorded and made available for download. Check out the available downloads and upcoming sessions by clicking here

Registration for SEMA Spring Expo and SEMA OFFROAD, February 8–9, 2008, in Indianapolis, is in full swing and available for attendees online by visiting www.semaspringexpo.com and www.semaoffroad.com. The spring events deliver the acclaimed SEMA Show experience to the Indianapolis area and surrounding regions. With a special emphasis on trucks and SUVs, exhibitors will display a variety of products and services covering accessories, restyling, wheels and tires, and mobile electronics.

Both shows are sponsored by the Light-Truck Accessory Alliance (TORA) and Professional Restylers Organization (PRO). For more information about TORA or PRO, e-mail Jim Skelly at jimsk@sema.org.

The 14th Annual Creative Styling & Trim Awards Competition will be hosted once again by General Motors during the SEMA Spring Expo (SSE) and will feature five GM divisions—Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer and Pontiac.

Open to restylers, installers, truck accessory retailers and SSE exhibitors, the competition showcases and recognizes installer ingenuity, craftsmanship and creativity.

Awards will be presented in the following categories:

• Best overall interior design/car or truck
• Best graphic design/passenger car or truck
• Best exterior design/passenger car or truck
• Best of show

There is no fee to enter, however all entries must be current-production model Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer or Pontiac vehicles, cars or trucks. A GM design team will judge vehicles on Friday, February 8, with the awards presentation slated for Friday evening during the TORA/PRO Industry Awards Reception.

For more information, or to receive a contest entry form, e-mail Beverlyr@sema.org. All entries must be received by Friday, January 18.

The SEMA Spring Expo and SEMA OFFROAD are set for February 8–9 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. For details on the shows, visit www.semaspringexpo.com or www.semaoffroad.com.  

As a SEMA member, one of your most important opportunities is to help identify industry leaders to serve on the SEMA Board of Directors. Our industry has many talented individuals, but often those talents aren’t immediately apparent to the committee responsible for selecting the final candidates. So please take a moment to tell us about whom you would recommend as a potential nominee. We also welcome self-nominations, which gives us background, experience and visionary information straight from the source.

The SPEED Network will show highlights from the 2007 SEMA Show, Saturday, December 29 (and again on December 30 and January 3). Tune in and watch the action, as the one-hour special features some of the coolest products hitting the market. For specific times and schedules, visit www.speedtv.com/schedule.

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Ford's shiny Verve concept-car was one of the highlights of September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, but engineers and designers based in Ford's Cologne (Germany) development center are now busy putting the production-version Fiesta through its paces on lonely and cold stretches of northern Sweden, says spy photographer Brenda Priddy.

"But even the Fiesta needs to fuel up once in a while," Priddy says. "Our spies managed to get few new photos out in the open of what’s to become the darling of the road when it hits European dealerships in the summer 2008, and American roads in 2009 (as a 2010 model). Although these pictures are of the European version, the 2010 U.S.-spec Fiesta will look nearly the same."
 

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