Are you hunting for a new job? The SEMA Career Center has a comprehensive listing of automotive-related job openings around the country. Here are some of the latest jobs posted to the website.
Inside Sales/Customer Service Assistant Viair is hiring an inside sales/customer service assistant to provide daily sales, customer service and administrative support. Successful candidates should have a track record of providing outstanding customer service with knowledge of the automotive and/or Industrial market segments, and some previous experience in sales.
Engine Builder Canepa is hiring an engine builderspecializing in Porsche and Ferrari with extensive experience in all aspects of engine building, including diagnosis, functions, machining, repair, rebuilding and tuning. Knowledge of fuel systems, from carburetion to modern fuel injection, is required. Candidates must also have high-performance/race engine experience, dynamometer experience, excellent oral and written communication skills and strong interpersonal relation skills.
Marketing Associate GAHH LLC is hiring a marketing associate to help overall marketing efforts, with an emphasis in website content. The ideal candidate will be able to create content through photography and populating images on the website. Magento, social media, online advertising and search engine optimization (SEO) experience are helpful. This position requires some travel. Automotive parts and accessories experience is a plus.
SEMA eNews highlights SEMA-member companies’ websites weekly through the Hot Links to Cool Sites section. SEMA members: To be included in Hot Links to Cool Sites, email your company name and website to enews@sema.org. Note: Make sure to include “Hot Links” in the subject line of the email.
SEMA eNews highlights new products from industry companies each week. To have your product considered for upcoming issues, send product press releases to editors@sema.org.
Warn Tran4mer Mounting System
Warn Industries announces the release of its modular Trans4mer mounting system for the ’19-’20 Ram HD Gen III and ’20 Ford Super Duty. The kit is designed to retain the factory front bumper. The kits are constructed of heavy-gauge steel with a durable black powdercoated finish engineered to protect against corrosion. The base winch mounting kit is required and includes brackets and a winch carrier. They also include J-hooks for increased recovery options and provisions to mount lights.
Polyvance introduces its 6119 Dent Driver kit specialized tool set to help the auto body technician remove dents from plastic bumpers. The kit includes two each of two different-sized tools for a total of four tools. The end of each Dent Driver tool features different shapes to help work out the knots and stretched areas often found around the perimeter of bumper dents.
Warn Industries announces the release of its bumper for the Polaris General 1000 and General XP1000. Built from steel and powdercoated for durability, the bumper is designed to be sturdy and allows WARN VRX and AXON powersports winch to be mounted. The bumper also showcases welded recovery points ready for shackles (sold separately), and the design helps to maintain the General's factory lines while sitting high to provide ground clearance and off-road performance.
Champion Oil has launched professional-grade snow-plow hydraulic fluid. The oil is formulated with hydro-treated and hydro-finished API Group II base oils for improved oxidation resistance, viscosity retention and cold flow properties. The oil is engineered to protect against wear, corrosion and the build-up of sludge and varnish in most snowplow applications.
Steele Rubber Products announces the launch of its Front Door Vent Window Weatherstrips for ‘66–‘69 Lincoln Continental. The weatherstrip pair is designed from the original parts for accurate fitment and sealing. Molded with corrosion-resistant brass metal inserts, the weatherstrip is constructed to ensure durability and a proper seal.
President and co-founder of DUB, Myles Kovacs (left), interviewed
Vaughn Gittin Jr. at The Stage during SEMA360.
The 2019 SEMA Show made headlines with the launch of a new educational platform. Jointly presented by SEMA’s education department and the Wheel & Tire Council (WTC), The Stage featured multiple daily interviews with some of the industry’s foremost thought leaders and legends.
The Stage was hosted by DUB President and Co-founder Myles Kovacs, who engaged in thought-proving conversations throughout the week. Heading into the 2020 Show, Kovacs was poised to reprise his role. With the cancellation of the Show, SEMA and WTC pivoted the event to SEMA360. With his usual wit, smarts and gift of gab, Kovacs hit a home run, engaging in lively conversations with a new crop of industry personalities.
The SEMA360 headliners included an iconic group of legends and innovators, from drifting driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. and custom-car fabricator Dave Kindig of Kindig-It to West Coast Customs founder Ryan Friedlinghaus. Besides being the subject of an interview with Kovacs, Aaron Kaufman of ArcLight Fabrication also hosted a Stage interview with SEMA Launch Pad winner Roland Hence of FrontLane.
In a departure from the 2019 format that centered on industry-related topics, Kovacs shifted to more free-flowing conversations that allowed guests to share insights into their backgrounds, experiences and life stories.
“The interviews were different from last year’s,” noted WTC Chair Tyson Boyer. “Myles delved into personal areas and asked questions that really highlighted things you would never have known about these guests, and Aaron’s interview with the Launch Pad winner was a bonus.
“Our Wheel & Tire Council is grateful that we were able to kick off the second annual Stage with Myles. Our hats are off to Myles and Aaron for their unwavering support and ability to deliver exactly what our audience was looking for.”
“Being in the business for more than 20 years, you’d think I’d know everybody,” Kovacs added. “But hearing the stories, I got a new appreciation for the people in the industry and the passion they have for what they do.”
The primary objectives of the Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) are to ensure the future prosperity of the industry and to advance and promote awareness of the hobby. A recent undertaking involves documenting and preserving HRIA’s history from its early days as a SEMA committee to its current status as a council.
It is a daunting task that involves extensive research—locating and sorting through reams of committee and awards rosters, photographs, brochures, newsletters and other memorabilia as well as reaching out to industry veterans to record their recollections.
The task has been undertaken by Dennis Overholser of Painless Performance, a decades-long member who was “volunteered” for the project by fellow HRIA members and has been working on it for more than a year. The goal is to complete the history as a bound book by the end of June 2021.
For the council history to be as well documented, meaningful and accurate as possible, HRIA needs help. Both Major and Overholser urge current and former members to lend a hand to dig through files, look for photos, share reminiscences and pass them along to SEMA Council Director Jim Skelly. You may contact Skelly via email at jimsk@sema.org.
“I’m putting together a timeline and trying to be as accurate as possible,” Overholser said. “It’s time-consuming, and some of the information is hard to get, but we are making progress. I see this as a living document that we could add to as time goes on.”
For HRIA Chair Jeff Major, the project is an important initiative.
“This is one of my pet projects,” he said. “I term out in June, so I want it done by then. There’s a tremendous amount of history, and I want it preserved accurately for future generations. Our plan is to distribute the book to all current and former members—all the people and companies instrumental in building our industry.”
From the Beginning
Until the early ’90s, SEMA was still very much a performance-centric trade group, but as former SEMA President Chuck Blum recently recalled, the association was interested in embracing other markets. So when former SEMA Board Chair Jim Davis, then of B&M Performance, requested a meeting on behalf of now-deceased Pete Chapouris, Blum agreed.
“Pete had worked for SEMA as vice president of marketing and was back building street rods,” Blum said. “I met with Pete and a group of manufacturers. They were seeking help with issues they were having with a street-rod organization.
“At the time, SEMA had only committees—there were no councils—but we wanted to grow the association and the Show. We helped the group resolve their issues, and we formed a SEMA committee called SREA [Street Rod Equipment Alliance].”
In 1992, SEMA was approached by other street-rod suppliers interested in merging with SREA. That group became known as the Street Rod Market Alliance (SRMA). In 1993, SRMA as well as the Automotive Restoration Market Organization and the Professional Restylers Organization were elevated to council status. Flash forward to 2004 when SRMA morphed into HRIA.
Roland Hence won the 2020 Launch Pad event with the safety
product Impulse, a wireless, battery-powered, pulsating
emergency brake light that reduces rear-end collisions under
extreme braking conditions.
The SEMA Launch Pad, presented by the Young Executives Network (YEN), provides a springboard for young entrepreneurs and business owners to launch products into the $46 billion automotive specialty-equipment industry. The annual competition is open to contestants age 18–39.
The final phase of the 2020 competition was slated for the SEMA Show. In lieu of a live event, finalists’ presentations were prerecorded at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles for broadcast on November 2 during SEMA360. The event was moderated by Aaron Kaufman of Arclight Fabrication.
Making the Cut
The crop of 80 contenders was recruited through SEMA’s online marketing campaign and YEN’s social-media outreach. To make the cut, contestants went through a vetting process. YEN’s Launch Pad Task Force reviewed the applications and selected the semifinalists.
“We went through each application line by line and either moved applicants forward or out of the competition, whittling it down to 15 semifinalists,” said Jonathan Barber, task force chair. At that point, the competition moved to online voting.
The top 10 finalists were chosen by the public and then a Manufacturer’s Rep Task Force selected the top five. The finalists were Justin Bradshaw of Rever; Khanjan Desai of Alchemy; Roland Hence from FrontLane; Matt Rafeld of Beachcomber Offroad; and Eric Rivera of Dirt Dynamix.
“It felt great to make it into the final five—a lot of validation—but it didn’t feel like a competition,” said Bradshaw, whose entry was a unique GPS mobile app and website. “It felt like we were all winners. Everyone had great ideas. We had time to talk with the judges and chat with each other to share ideas and advice. That’s important in the entrepreneurial community.”
Hence agreed: “At first you think of the others as competitors, but then you realize that you’re sharing stories, experiences and going on a similar path. We gave each other so much advice and got feedback. As entrepreneurs, that was real value.”
And the Winner Is…
“As an entrepreneur, you dream about this moment. I am incredibly
proud of my team and grateful to SEMA for the platform to showcase
our hard work and life-saving product.”–Roland Hence, 2020 Launch
Pad Winner
After two days of filming, networking and touring the museum, it was time to announce the winner. The grand prize package, worth $25,000, including perks and $10,000 to benefit the winner’s business, was presented to FrontLane’s Hence.
His prizewinning safety product, Impulse, is a battery-powered wireless pulsating emergency brake light that reduces rear-end collisions under extreme braking conditions. Impulse can be installed on the rear window of any car or truck.
“To win the Launch Pad is incredible,” said a jubilant Hence. “As an entrepreneur, you dream about this moment. I am incredibly proud of my team and grateful to SEMA for the platform to showcase our hard work and life-saving product.”
Added Barber: “Being able to see the finalists, the excitement in their eyes and their drive and passion is what makes this contest so exciting and worthwhile. On behalf of YEN, a big thank you to the judges and Aaron Kaufman for another successful event.”
As MPMC prepares for the conference at the Embassy Suites over January 26–28, enthusiasm runs high—with a twist. The 2021 event will be entirely online, allowing manufacturers and media to connect from anywhere in the world.
“Because of the design—individual meetings in a closed room with people who rotate every half hour—we couldn’t have abided by the social-distancing mandate,” Fisher said. “We had to find the perfect platform, and SEMA did a great job.”
The idea was to create a virtual reality resembling an in-person event. When journalists open a laptop or tablet and click on the event, they’ll pass through a hotel lobby to the atrium beyond. In a live event, manufacturer banners would be displayed on balconies from floor to floor. Instead, there will be virtual manufacturer tables: Click on a table to gain entrée to a manufacturer’s meeting room.
“Meetings will be similar to a live video conference,” Fisher noted. “Manufacturers can show a video or a PowerPoint and share product information. The platform allows for a lot of versatility when it comes to content.”
That versatility is key. Traditionally, media has been limited mostly to domestic journalists able to attend in person. A digital platform expands the potential universe.
“There’s a big motorsports culture in Europe, Australia and elsewhere, but it’s very hard to get their journalists to hop on a plane for a two-and-a-half-day event,” Fisher said. “This platform allows us to bring in international media and expand that footprint for manufacturers. Everybody on the select committee is super-excited that we have this opportunity.”
Because the media landscape is changing, with less print, more digital and the rise of new media—influencers, bloggers and others who rely on social-media platforms—MPMC set about to help educate manufacturers about the new-media landscape and how to navigate it to their best advantage.
“We developed a three-webinar series that will educate our membership base on new media ahead of the trade conference in order to provide an understanding of the new-media landscape to help drive their businesses,” said MPMC Chair Rob Fisher.
To learn more about the 2021 MPMC Media Trade Conference, visit www.sema.org/mtc.
Restyler Versus Restyler: Styling Competition Creates New Opportunities
Chosen the fan favorite, the Hyundai Palisade Ultimate package
featured a custom leather interior; a vinyl-wrapped roof, pillars and
spoiler; tinted windows; smoked taillights; a gloss-black painted grille;
color-accented emblems; a 10-in. media player; caliper covers; and
22-in. wheels and tires.
Debuted by the Professional Restylers Organization (PRO) as a pilot program in 2019, the PRO Cup Challenge featured four custom contenders. A panel of experts selected the winner. Attendees voted for the fan favorite.
But the Challenge is more than a competition. It delivers real-world marketing and sales opportunities.
Unlike one-of-a-kind feature vehicles—many of which will never be road-driven—Challenge entries had to meet and be judged by specific criteria. To qualify, the builds had to be marketable, appeal to a range of buyers, be creative and designed for dealership display, be easily replicated in any market, and be profitable for restylers and dealerships.
While plans to expand the competition at the 2020 SEMA Show were cancelled, the council is gearing up for 2021. To recruit participants, PRO will reach out to member restylers. The task force will review proposals and select the finalists. Member manufacturers will be encouraged to support the competition.
The RAV4 Le Stargazer lifestyle concept sported an array of curated
accessories: a 1.5-in. lift kit, 17-in. wheels and tires, a front bumper
guard, an embroidered leather interior, a 30-in. LED light bar,
heated seats, a roof basket, a fiber-optic lighting headliner, painted
calipers, custom badging and more.
“PRO has always tried to bring value to our members and the restyling community,” said Eric Holmes, PRO Cup Challenge task force chair. “Seeing the creativity in the different packages opened restylers’ eyes to ideas that they could sell in their markets. It encouraged them to think about restyling a vehicle with packages that they could replicate over and over, that make more money for dealers, and that create business for
the restyler.”
PRO has logged 80 vehicles built by restylers who replicated the Challenge entries. Select committee member Cristina Jorge, whose Hyundai Palisade Ultimate was the fan favorite, is among them.
“We have replicated the Palisade package, but we’ve done a lot of partial packages on different vehicles,” Jorge said. “It’s been a good run. The Challenge is all about building a package other restylers can replicate. We also learned a lot about the parameters and how to build on the Challenge’s success. We’re excited for 2021.”
“Our goal is to put restylers and manufacturers together—to have manufacturers seek restylers who will build these vehicles and be excited to get behind the program,” said PRO Chair Dino Perfetti, whose company has built a dozen vehicles based on those in the
2019 Challenge.
Networking Events to Serve and Support a Diverse Membership
A 2019 TORA networking meet-up at King of Hammers.
The Truck & Off-Road Alliance (TORA) kicked off 2020 with a bang, hosting a successful networking reception last January during the King of the Hammers off-road race in Johnson Valley, California. Then the pandemic hit, cancelling plans for the Ultimate Callout Challenge and the Overland Expo.
While TORA squeezed in an event at the Detroit 4Fest in September, the council is focusing on the year ahead. In store for 2021 are networking events that will target key regions.
“When brainstorming events our members will attend, we had to balance the on-road and off-road sides,” said Mike Hallmark, chair of TORA’s regional events task force. “We also looked at different regions and demographics where we could hold networking events with no date overlaps.”
With hundreds of truck-centric shows each year, it was no easy task. Hallmark and his task force whittled down the extensive list to a handful and got the go-ahead from the select committee.
To jump-start 2021, TORA is heading to King of the Hammers in late January. The event is an ideal locale to gather the TORA community during an after-hours networking event.
“One of the misconceptions about King of the Hammers is that it’s just for off-road,” Hallmark said. “Thousands of people are there, and the majority come in a standard road truck that towed a race vehicle, so if you’re a traditional truck cap or accessory supplier, you should be there.”
Select-Committee Member Kristina Coburn at the Overland Expo.
The next stop will be the Lone Star Throwdown in February at the Lone Star Convention & Expo Center and Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Conroe, Texas. No off-road rides here, just acres of lowered street trucks.
“It represents a lifestyle,” Hallmark noted. “The Throwdown is synonymous with that niche, and it’s important to hit that demographic.”
The NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis had also been on tap, but SEMA News learned just prior to press time that the 2021 show had been postponed. Undaunted, TORA will show up in force next at the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah.
“It’s a no-brainer, like shooting fish in a barrel,” Hallmark said. “Everyone’s there. It’s been a success for us in the past, so why wouldn’t we host a networking event?”
TORA’s travels conclude at the Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona.
“It’s a huge event,” Hallmark said. “The overlanding community is affluent, looking for quality and practicality, and ready to buy. From a manufacturer or retailer standpoint, you need to support that market.”
TORA Hall of Fame Winner Announced
Henry "Tyson" Leonard
The SEMA Truck and Off-Road Alliance (TORA) has announced the recipients for one of the council’s prestigious industry awards—The TORA Hall of Fame.
Established to recognize and honor an outstanding individual whose creativity and industriousness has significantly enhanced or contributed to the industry’s growth, Henry “Tyson” Leonard of Leonard Buildings and Truck Accessories has been named the 2020 TORA Hall of Fame Award recipient.
Leonard, who passed away in January 2020, founded Leonard Aluminum Utility Buildings, a manufacturer of storage buildings, in 1963. Recognizing that the construction of truck covers was very similar to that of portable sheds, the company began selling pickup truck covers in 1969. The diversification helped the company grow even more, and by 1975, Leonard Buildings and Truck Accessories was set up in 15 locations. Soon, he expanded the truck accessories line to rear sliding windows for pickups, white plastic toolboxes, aluminum running boards and step bumpers.
Today, the Leonard brand is synonymous with truck accessories in the Southeast and continues to flourish in 58 locations and counting. Beyond business, Leonard was continually focused on the success of his employees and was not only admired as a larger-than-life personality and salesman, but also as a mentor to all Leonard employees. In 2016, Tyson sold his business and transitioned to enjoy his last years on his farm with his wife and animals.
