Each year, the conference brings leaders from the automotive aftermarket together and offers attendees the opportunity to learn from each other and address key industry issues.
“Attracting and maintaining a strong employee base continues to be one of the aftermarket industry’s greatest challenges,” said Bob Tschippert, senior vice president of automotive specialty markets, at UUG.
This year’s conference featured keynote speaker Kelly McDonald, president of McDonald Marketing. McDonald presented “Diversity in America: the Growing Impact on Work, Organization and Consumers.” Her presentation focused on the impact of the growing Latino/Hispanic population. As McDonald explained, “this population offers marketers three key ingredients or the 3 Ls,” as she put it. “It’s a Large Population, it’s a Lucrative Population and it is a very Loyal Population.”
The theme of the presentation was leveraging diversity as a business opportunity. Discussion included:
• Key market segmentations and associated values;
• The importance of relating to different cultures;
• The dos, don’ts and common obstacles employers face when implementing diversity initiatives.
UUG also announced that, in response to the demand for qualified mechanics, it has expanded its High Octane Jobs program to address the continuing educational needs of current automotive mechanics.
High Octane, a partnership program between aftermarket associations and UUG, began as a unique program to help prepare students for automotive technician training programs. Scholarships were provided to help attract new entrants to the technician field.
“Working with associations and aftermarket businesses over the past year, we’ve seen a pressing need in the industry for highly trained, A and B mechanics,” said David Willett, vice president and general manager of UUG’s automotive specialty market, central division. “Our analysis of industry shop owners’ data suggests a lack of financial support for this target group.”
UUG also announced its impending name change. Effective Jan. 1, 2007, the company will change its name to the name of its parent company, Zurich, capitalizing on the opportunities created by integrating the brands.
For more information regarding UUG’s annual conference or its High Octane Jobs program, please contact Stacey Singer at 913-339-1385 or [email protected].
