Affiliate Roundup

ASA-Nebraska Convention

ASA-Nebraska's 2009 convention will be held Oct. 9-11 at the Holiday Inn/CoCo Key Water Resort in Omaha. The event will offer many technical training and leadership events, including several in which attendees can earn Automotive Management Institute (AMI)-approved credits. Registration is $280 and includes management and/or technical training, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, a Saturday luncheon, trade show access and a Saturday industry reception. Visit www.asanebraska.com for more details.

ASA-Texas Annual Conference

Don't miss ASA-Texas's annual conference, which will be held Oct. 17, 2009, in Houston at the J.W. Marriott. The one-day event offers various seminars and the Southwest Regional Automotive Show. Registration is $135 per attendee. For more information, visit www.asatx.org.

ASA-New Orleans' Fishing Rodeo

From left to right: Darren Roussell, co-chairman of the Fishing Rodeo; Randy Geiling, who received the award for having the largest fish in the Black Drum category; and Guy Valvis, co-chairman of the Fishing Rodeo.

ASA-New Orleans' 15th annual Fishing Rodeo raised $2,000 for scholarships. The annual fundraiser sponsored by the chapter has become a popular event. The fishing tournament or "rodeo" recognizes members who have caught the largest fish per pound weight.

The chapter awards two $500 scholarships per semester and has plans to increase the number of scholarships that it gives. ASA New-Orleans works in partnership with the automotive department at Delgado Community College.

ASA-Colorado Members Receive $136K in Dividends

The Automotive Service Association of Colorado (ASA-CO) is happy to announce that Pinnacol Assurance has paid a total of $136,674 in premium dividends to ASA-Colorado members through its "ASA of Colorado Members Only" Workers' Comp Program.

In this program, members receive a 4 percent premium discount for participation in group safety programs and initiatives, and subsequently participating members are entitled to declared group dividends. ASA-CO has declared dividends for five out of the last six years.

As an example: a member who pays $5,000 in workers' comp premiums would save $250 for the premium discount for being in the program and $850 in dividends for the 2007 to 2008 policy period. The workers' comp program alone may pay for a member's association dues.

ASA-Colorado is also a recipient of the dividend money, which goes back into programs for its members.

Reminder of the month
Voting Begins Jan. 4 for Board of Directors Elections

For the 2010 ASA board of directors elections, ASA members will have the opportunity to cast their votes for candidates either by telephone or on the Internet from Jan. 4-Feb. 28, 2010.

Members can access the electronic ballots by calling a toll-free telephone number or by logging in on a secured Web site. Once members have phoned in or entered the Web site, they will vote by entering their member number plus a three-digit security code number following the prompts. These numbers can be found on the mailing labels of the December 2009, January and February 2010 issues of AutoInc. The member number and security code are directly above the addressee's full name and enclosed by parentheses ( ). Example: (123456 789).

All regular members in good standing with ASA are eligible to cast their vote for the three positions - general director; mechanical division director; collision division director, open. Click here for candidate profile.

National News

• Representatives from ASA's affiliate groups met Aug. 25-26 at ASA's headquarters in Bedford, Texas. In addition to the executive directors of each affiliate and various affiliate board members, ASA national board members Earl Dohner, AAM, chairman; Donny Seyfer, AAM, general director; and Joel Baxter, AAM, affiliate director; were in attendance. ASA has 16 state/regional affiliates and numerous local chapters nationwide. Pictured left to right, front row: Hero Joyner, ASA-North Carolina; Luz Rubio, ASA-Arizona, Jennah Haase, ASA-Nebraska; Kari Foster, ASA-Colorado; Sheri Hamilton, AAM, ASA-Missouri/Kansas; Neva Hollins, AAM, ASA-Georgia; and Jeff Lovell, AAM, ASA-Washington. Back row: Ray Fisher, ASA-Michigan; Shirley Gordon, ASA-South Carolina; Seyfer, ASA-Colorado; Mark Gurnsey, president, Mechanical Division, ASA-Colorado; Ron Meyer, AAM, ASA-Michigan; Charles Parker, ASA-Texas; and Baxter, ASA-Washington.

• Ron Pyle, ASA president and chief staff executive, attended a joint annual meeting of ASA-Georgia and ASA-South Carolina Aug. 28-30. Pyle was one of several presenters
during the two-day event.

During a breakout session at the career fair, Denise Caspersen, manager of ASA's Collision Division; and Glenn Young, ASA-Houston; discuss career opportunities in automotive repair with students.

• Denise Caspersen, Collision Division manager, and Robbie Addison, Mechanical Division manager, represented ASA at the Learning for Life Explorers Career Fair in Houston Sept. 10. Approximately 2,500 7th- to 12th-grade students had an opportunity to learn more about ASA and automotive repair and service as a career. ASA reps participated in breakout sessions throughout the day, and members from the ASA-Houston chapter were also on hand to participate in this educational event. The Learning for Life career development program was originally founded by the Boy Scouts of America.