The NJ CAR Annual Meeting & Business Expo 2008, celebrating our 90th anniversary, was held at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center at Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey for the third year in a row and was a tremendous success. The event, held October 15 & 16, 2008, had a combined daily attendance of 724 people; including dealer principals, managers, sponsors, exhibitors and service providers. We had 58 Exhibitors, our highest total ever, and 22 Sponsors for the 2008 event.
The 2008 meeting provided a tremendous amount of timely information, including seminars on how to increase dealership profits in sales and F&I, as well as how to find greater efficiencies within the dealership to lower expenses.
NJ CAR’s premier event offered something for everyone: dealer principals and general managers, office managers and controllers, service and parts managers, and F&I managers, each had a seminar track designed with their responsibilities in mind. Seminars presented by nationally-known speakers and experts in their respective fields included a three-part session by Paul Webb titled: “How To Maximize Profits In Internet Sales"; and a three-part seminar by Mike Nicholes titled: “Advanced Parts Inventory Management.” In addition, Joe Verde provided a two-part seminar titled: “Quick and Easy Ways To Increase Unit Sales and Gross Profits Now,” which attendees found incredibly informative. Also, Ron Reahard spoke with F&I and Sales Mangers during his two-part presentation titled: “F&I in an X and Y World,” which focused on how the F&I Department in a dealership has to adapt to changing consumer needs and demands.
The Coalition also put together several panel presentations on topics such as “When And What Consumers Will Be Buying In 2009,” “An Insider’s Look Into Employee Absenteeism,” “Juggling The Mounting Responsibilities In Automotive Retail,” “Anatomy Of A Dealership Sale To A Publicly-Owned Dealer Group,” and “What To Do If Your Manufacturer Goes Bankrupt Or Withdraws From The Marketplace.”
Other nationally-known presenters included Rod Lache, Global Auto Team, Deutsch Bank Securities, who provided "Wall Street's Assessment Of Which Manufacturers Could Be Forced Into Bankruptcy" and Automotive News Editor David Sedgwick who discussed the dramatic shifts in consumers' choice of vehicles and how that will affect what dealers sell in 2009. Also presenting was New Jersey's pre-eminent economist, Joseph J. Seneca, Ph.D., who discussed the state of New Jersey's economy now and his forecast for the near future.
NJ CAR’s Outgoing Chairman Eric Nielsen and Incoming Chairman Al Konner both spoke to members about issues NJ CAR has faced over the past year as part of the 2008 Annual Meeting. Both Mr. Nielsen’s and Mr. Konner’s comments have been included as part of this NewsLetter.
NJ CAR also recognized 17 of its Past Chairmen who were able to join us at the 90th Anniversary meeting.
Proclamations recognizing the impact of NJ CAR and New Jersey auto retailers were presented on behalf of Governor Corzine, Senate President Richard Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts.
Event Sponsors And Exhibitors – The costs associated with an event as large as the NJ CAR Annual Meeting & Business Expo are substantial. In order to keep registration fees for attendees as low as possible, the Coalition must rely upon the generosity of its business partners and others to help underwrite the costs of the event. NJ CAR would like to thank the following companies who participated as Sponsors and/or Exhibitors at this year’s event and encourages members to also extend their appreciation for the support given this year’s Annual Meeting & Business Expo:
Exhibitor List
American Fidelity Assurance Company
Auto/Mate Inc.
AutoTrader.com
AutoUSA.com
Bellavia, Gentile & Associates
Boomerang Systems
Borroughs Corporation
Brightlot, Inc.
S. Brown & Associates, Inc.
cars.com
Comcast Spotlight
Creative Agency Group
Computerized Vehicle Registration (CVR)
Cuda Metro Sales
DealerTrack, Inc.
Dealer Socket
Donnelly Construction
Driven To Read
eBay Motors
Environmental Compliance Monitoring, Inc. (ECM)
Fotek Business Solutions
Global Connect
Graco
Harvey Industries, Inc.
Hercules Systems, Inc.
Hunter Engineering
Ives Schier & Lesser Architecture Studio, LLC
Joe Verde Group
KeyVault
Lincoln Educational Services
Lorco Petroleum Services
Magellan Hill Technologies, LLC
Magna Carta Companies
Manheim New Jersey/New York Metro Skyline
The Mercadien Group
Metromedia Energy Inc.
Mironov, Sloan & Parziale, LLC
Moments to Remember USA
MotorVation Enterprises, Inc.
nj.com
NJ CAR Educational Programs
NJ CAR Services-insurance division
NJ CAR Services, Inc.
NJ CAR Telecommunications Program
OneCommand
Optimum Autos
Parette Somjen Architects, LLC
Peerless Insurance
Premium Productions, Inc.
RewardLogix, Inc.
The Reynolds and Reynolds Company
Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc.
The Star Ledger
triVIN
Valley National Bank
Veratad Technologies
Visentry Intelligent Security
Wholesale Auto Supply Company (WASCO)
Special “Thank You” To Our 22 Sponsors – As we stated earlier in this article, putting together an event the size of NJ CAR’s Annual Meeting & Business Expo requires a huge investment of time and money. In order to keep the cost of registering for the event to the absolute minimum, NJ CAR relies on the generosity of the many companies, which provide their financial support as Sponsors. This year, 22 companies helped underwrite the cost of holding NJ CAR’s premier event. Our Sponsors, listed below, each deserve a “thank you,” as well as the support of New Jersey retailers for the various products and services they offer.
2008 Sponsors
Gold
American Fidelity Assurance Company
Creative Agency Group
NJ CAR Services, Inc
Peerless Insurance
Silver
Magna Carta Companies
Manheim New Jersey
Manheim New York Metro Skyline
Mironov, Sloan & Parziale, LLC
Bronze
AutoTrader.com
Comcast Spotlight
Computerized Vehicle Registration (CVR)
Fotek Business Solutions
NJ CAR Services-insurance division
NJ CAR Telecommunications Program
Schiller & Pittenger, P.C.
triVIN
Valley National Bank
Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, P.A.
Wholesale Auto Supply Company (WASCO)
Contributing Sponsors
AT&T
PNC Bank
Wealth Preservation Solutions, LLC
And The Winner Is…
The 2008 Annual Meeting & Business Expo had many prize winners, with exhibitors giving away door prizes ranging from cash to iPods, gift cards to laptops and even a trip to Cancun. Congratulations to all of the winners at this year’s meeting.
The vast amount of information and ideas attendees received by attending the NJ CAR Annual Meeting & Business Expo were well worth a day out of the Business Office, Showroom, F&I Office or Service Department. We look forward to even greater attendance next year and welcome suggestions from any member regarding programs or speakers you might like to see at future Annual Meetings. Please contact Director of Member Programs Judi McGinley at 609.883.5056, Ext. 338—or by e-mail to jmcginley@njcar.org—with your suggestions. |
