Want to be seen in the guide that specialty-equipment and automotive aftermarket industry professionals look to first to find potential customers, suppliers, information, products and more? Then make your company stand out from the crowd by advertising in the 2008 SEMA Membership Directory.

As a limited time bonus, buy a 1/2-page or larger ad in the 2008 SEMA Membership Directory and receive a FREE 1/6-page black-and-white ad in the March 2008 issue of SEMA News—a $750 value.

To reserve space, call now! Material deadline is extended until December 14.

Contact Motor Media to reserve your space at 818/248-4449 or e-mail at: sales@motormediainc.com.

The 2008 SEMA News Editorial Calendar and Rate Card is now available online. To download a PDF copy click here.

SEMA News connects with the industry in a big way. Chock-full of late-breaking new-product information, as well as market industry reports and SEMA Show guides, SEMA News not only offers informative feature articles, but also serves as a resource for events and current market trends. SEMA News contains everything professionals need to know about the specialty automotive industry.

Best of all, SEMA News goes right to the core of the specialty-equipment and OEM environments through a specially qualified circulation database of manufacturers, warehouse distributors, jobbers/retailers, dealers and other industry professionals.
 
Interested in advertising in SEMA News? Please contact your sales representative:

Eastern Territory:
Joe Sebergandio
Motor Media Inc.
E-mail: sales@motormediainc.com
818/248-4449
Fax: 818/248-4249

Western Territory:
Don Crassweller
Crassweller Media
E-mail: sales@crasswellermedia.com
951/246-8465
Fax: 951/246-8466

Industry professionals interested in receiving a free subscription to SEMA News may click here.

SEMA members are encouraged to tune in for the next SEMA webinar, “Use Electronic Marketing to Increase Profits and Decrease Costs.”

Description: Electronic marketing channels, including the Internet and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds, offer companies unprecedented opportunities to increase profits while lowering costs. Join the session on Thursday, December 13, at 10:00 a.m., to learn specific, put-to-work-now actions you can take online to determine/segment your audience, boost revenues, improve ROI/profits and increase lifetime customer value.

When: December 13, at 10:00 a.m. (PST)

Presented by: Brian Offenberger (aka RSS Ray), BizGrowth Search Engine Solutions

For more information, visit www.sema.org/webinar. Reminder: All SEMA webinars are recorded and available for download to view at your convenience. Check out the past sessions and business-building information you missed by clicking here.

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Want to find out how simple changes to your store layout can help increase your sales and motivate your customers to buy and spend more? As a benefit to its members, SEMA offers expert advice on how to get the most from your retail space—and the best part is, it's free. Submit high-resolution photos of your store to editors@sema.org. Be sure the images are 300-dpi JPEGs, and be sure to include your name, company name, address, phone number, e-mail address and website URL (if applicable). Please include the words “Store Layout” on the e-mail subject line. Photos of your store along with the expert evaluation will be featured in an upcoming issue of SEMA News.

To see examples of past retail store evaluations click here. For more information on all the resources available to SEMA member Jobbers, Retailers and Installers, click here.

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From the lenses of the Brenda Priddy & Co. spy photographers, new photos have surfaced of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz GLK, a compact SUV entering the ring with the BMW X3 and Audi’s forthcoming Q5. The GLK moniker basically translates as "short version of GL" as “K” is a diminutive of the German "kurz," meaning short.

The GLK will use technical components from the new C-class, and will stay very close in design to the larger GL. A 3.5L V6 will send power through the 7G-Tronic TouchShift automatic transmission—expected standard on all versions—to the 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. A V8-powered GLK63 AMG is also not unlikely.

Expected to debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the GLK will launch as a 2009 model, and Benz is betting on it to appeal to Americans’ sense for downsized SUVs.

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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently revised the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9), which all employers must complete when hiring a worker in the United States. Key to the revision is the removal of five documents for proof of identity and employment eligibility: Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570); Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570); Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151); the unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327); and the unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571). The forms were removed because they lack sufficient features to help deter counterfeiting, tampering and fraud.

Additionally, the most recent version of the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) was added to “List A” of Acceptable Documents. The revised list now includes: a U.S. passport (unexpired or expired); a Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551); an unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp; an unexpired Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766, I-688, I-688A or I-688B); and an unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94) for non-immigrant aliens authorized to work for a specific employer.

The new Form I-9 was released in early November. It has a revision date of June 5, 2007, [“(Rev. 06/05/07)”] printed on the lower right corner of the form. All U.S. employers must complete an I-9 form for all workers within the first three days of employment, and retain the form for one year after termination of employment or three years, whichever is longer. The form is not filed with the USCIS but must be available for inspection when requested by officials of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Labor and Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. The government may assess penalties against employers who fail to use the updated form.

To download the I-9 form and instructions: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.

Questions: contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has increased the standard business-mileage deduction to 50.5 cents for all business miles driven beginning January 1, 2008. This is a $0.2 cents-a-mile increase over the 2007 rate and reflects higher prices for fuel during 2007. The calculation also includes all other aspects of buying and operating a vehicle such as depreciation, insurance, tires, etc.

Businesses and individuals who use their car for business have the option of using the standard rate in lieu of keeping records of their actual expenses. The 2008 standard rate of 50.5 cents per mile applies to the use of automobiles (including vans, pickups and panel trucks) for business purposes.

For further details, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.