The automotive specialty-equipment industry is slow to change. We get set in our ways and find it hard to look outside of the box. There are those times that, upon looking outside of the box, we find we should've just stayed in.

Declining emphasis on education, unstable oil prices and imbalanced personal and corporate taxation threaten to undermine the U.S. economy, says Northwood University professor Dr. Timothy Nash.

In just the first week of exhibitor registration, booth commitments are up 20 percent and many exhibitors are increasing their footprint—positive signs that the industry is getting back on economic track.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to reinstate the doctrine that treats minimum resale price agreements as automatically illegal under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Minimum price agreements allow manufacturers to establish a set pricing system with distributors and retailers in exchange for the rights to market their products.

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on legislation that would create an exemption to allow companies to market collision repair parts without infringing a design patent. A design patent covers the ornamental design for an object having practical utility for a 14-year term.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate’s version of health care legislation by a partisan vote of 219-212. President Obama signed the bill mandating health care coverage for most Americans into law.

Seventeen industry professionals are candidates for a seat on the 2010–2011 SEMA Board of Directors, a group that provides strategic direction to the association and helps shape the industry.

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