In an independent survey* of Service Managers nationwide, the company chosen number one for fluid maintenance products, services and equipment was BG Products. And, when asked the reason for using BG, their number one response was product quality!

The result: BG Products means more satisfied customers, fewer returns and more profits for your dealership.

*Scientific, independent survey of U.S. new car dealerships conducted by The Research Partnership, Inc. 2008.

So, who measures up?

2

4

The Puget Sound Dealer A Message from the EditorChances of Life

InsidethisIssue

For information on advertising in this publication contact

Jim AitkinsBlue Water Publishers, LLC

360.805.6474

they

and

their

Cover photo by Adam Buchanan

6

Employee Handbooks Are Your Best

Defense in Personnel Matters

Message from the President

Bob Byers Volvo

Seattle

is

IIIIIIIIIIIII

2

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By James M. ShakerRyan, Swanson and Cleveland

How much do we really want to know?

Ability Tests.

6

Personality Tests.

10

11

12

Polygraphs.

14

Medical Tests.

16

20

Criminal Records.

21

22

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Using the Internet: To “Google” or not to “Google”?

26

10

40

41

42

44

For more information contact Jim Shaker at 206-464-4224.

continued on page 32

Peterson Sullivan LLP, one of the nation’s most successful specialists in auto dealership accounting, serves more than one hundred dealers in the Pacific Northwest. We are one of only a few CPA firms approved to perform audits for GM Motor’s Holding Division. And we are the only Washington State member of the exclusive AutoCPA Group.

Following are only a few of the many areas where we are trusted advisors to our automotive industry clients:

We believe strongly in building long-term relationships with our clients. We aim to understand your business so well that our advice becomes indispensable. Please contact Kevin Allison to see how we may assist your business needs at (206) 382-7777 or by email at kevina@pscpa.com.

Peterson Sullivan. Driving your success.

12

TTTTTTTTTTTTTh ©

TTTTTTcatch them doing the

right things (for them) rightg g (f ) g

Watch them as they do their job

whistling while they work?

You work around

a lot…what do you think he/she does best?”

By John Strom

14

Of all the things in your job, what do you like doing

the best?”

what do they like doing least, seem to have

love doing and do well,

don’t like doing

John, who’s going to be do-

ing all that work they “don’t like to do?” Somebody’s got to

do that stuff!”

dislike doing

love doing

dislikes it the least

dislike

enjoy.

doing what we

enjoy doing

the most

important stufff

h ©

my people

my

people

John Strom has been helping retail automotive managers

improve their performance for over 25 years. He has held a

number of management positions in both single-point and mul-ll

tiple franchise operations, including General Manager. His

company, Strom & Associates, is a member of the Performance

Development Group. To learn more about their services, visit

www.perdevgrp.cop g p m. John can be reached at jstromsa@gmail.j @g

com. Or call him at 775-851-3000.

Finding the right navigator is crucial for the journey.

Join us June 24–25 at the Embassy Suites Phoenix - Biltmore as our experienced professionals

present our fourth annual Workshop for CFOs and Controllers, a seminar for auto, truck, RV, and

for dealers and stay up to date on vital tax and compliance issues.

To register or for more details, visit www.mossadams.com/cfoworkshop or call (425) 303-3197.

If you plan on arriving early, call us to sign up for a round of golf on Wednesday, June 23.

CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS BUSINESS CONSULTANTS

(l. to r.) Roberto; Pasquale; and TinoPhoto by Adam Buchanan

16

The Perrina Family

By Craig Chastain

Adam

Buch

anan

lane schedule

in

your market

on Auction Vehicles

loan value

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A Dealer Guide to the Trade

Appraisal Process in a Transparent Markett

By Don Schultz

It started with NADAThe beginnings were humble; Hammond con-

tacted Jim Westlake at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and the first automotive classeswere offered in the service department of Chuck OlsonChevrolet in Shoreline. The first class was NADA’s Fun-damentals of Automotive Service Training (FAST), andwas offered in the evenings. As these classes were beingoffered, Hammond, working with Dave Rosenquist, SCC’s Science Department Chairman, and Jim Mont-zheimer, Vocational Director, began to get approval for an automotive program at Shoreline. Permission wasgranted from the state to offer Emissions Training. Jack Shiel, the first instructor, was hired and the automotive program was officially launched.

GM = ASEP; Toyota adds T-TENSchultz and Jerry Gernert, Service Manager at

Brooks-McKnight Chevrolet, drove to Portland, Ore., to meet with General Motors to see about offering GM fac-tory training on campus. Offering these classes in Se-attle eliminated the need for area dealers to send their people to either Portland or California for factory train-ing. Once this was accomplished, the next step was tooffer a General Motors Automotive Service Educational Program (ASEP) to the GM dealers. GM gave Shorelinethe program. Lance Trimble, the first GM-ASEP instruc-tor was hired in 1982 and within two years he was

selected as the GM-ASEP instructor of the year. Trimblereceived the award while the class was being taught in a parking lot on campus.

The next program to be offered was the ToyotaTechnical Education Network (T-TEN) Program in 1986.Taught by Shiel, the program was housed in a tempo-rary facility designed as a small-engines lab. Within a year or so, the Honda Professional Automotive CareerTraining Program (PACT), taught by Mark Hankins, was offered in the afternoons after the T-TEN Program wasfinished with the lab. About this time, PSADA movedtheir corporate offices onto the campus and becamethe first dealer association in the nation to co-locate on a college campus.

Auto training on campusIn about 1984, then-SCC President Ron Bell formed

the Shoreline Community College Foundation underthe direction of Cameron Hightower. The Foundation almost immediately began a capital campaign to raise $3.2 million to build the 32,000 square foot ProfessionalAutomotive Training Center (PATC), a model new cardealership housed on a college campus. The buildingwould have a showroom and training rooms for theprograms. This ambitious venture for a new founda-tion was supported and encouraged by the FoundationBoard of Directors under the leadership of Stanley O. McNaughton from PEMCO Insurance Company. Stanwas one of the greatest supporters of the project, and it was his and Hightower’s leadership that made it hap-

pen. Funds were raised from area new car dealers, banks, insurance companies, automo-bile manufacturers and otherinterested parties. The PATCwas opened and dedicated in November, 1992.

Putting on aChrysler CAP

Shortly after the PATCopened, the Chrysler CAPProgram was introduced. Jack Carroll of Lynnwood Dodgespearheaded a campaign to raise money from the area Chrysler dealers to pay the instructor’s salary for the first

... from previous page p p g

... continued next page

The Professional Automotive Training Center at Shoreline Community College

22

two years. Jon Clark was the original instruc-tor, followed by current CAP instructor Ken Campbell.

Dealers’ choiceWith everyone

moved into the PATC, It was soon apparentthat we had outgrownthe facility. Not only were the four factoryprograms offered in the Center, but PSADA offered sales training,parts science, title clerk training, finance and insurance training, ser-vice advisory trainingand other managementclasses. In additionto these classes, the automobile manufacturers wereoffered space to conduct their dealer training. General Motors, Toyota, Chrysler, Volvo, Hyundai, Subaru, Volk-swagen, Honda, Kia and others were offering classes inthe “bursting-at-the-seams” building.

$4.2 million expansionIn 2004, the Board of Directors of the Puget Sound

Automobile Dealers Association formed the PSADAFoundation and conducted a $4.2 million capitalcampaign to add 26,000 square feet to the PATC. Thissuccessful campaign was spearheaded by Pam Nelson, Foothills Toyota in Burlington, and Erik Nelson, Lyn-nwood Honda. Major contributors to the campaignwere PSADA, Toyota Motor Sales, PEMCO Insurance,Snap-on Tools, new car dealers in the region and the State of Washington.

The new addition added training rooms for the Col-lege’s Toyota T-TEN Program; a new regional corporate training room for Toyota Motors Sales, USA; the Snap-onInnovation Center, (a center for training and certifica-tion); the regional Volvo Corporate Training Room, theregional Hyundai Motor America Training Room; theregional Chrysler Academy Training Center; and Hunter Engineering Training Center. The college is grateful for the wonderful work and help from Sierra Construction

of Woodinville, who built the addition while classeswere being offered in the existing facility every day.

Times 10,000Shoreline Community College currently offers train-

ing for between 6,000 and 10,000 dealer techniciansannually, keeping this training and these techniciansin Washington rather than sending them out of state. SCC also trains more than 100 new, highly skilled andcertified technicians annually to support the area GM,Toyota, Chrysler and Honda dealers. SCC is proud of the fact that 100 percent of the students in the factory-specific degree programs are employed.

The center has also received numerous awards fromToyota, IBM, the American Automobile ManufacturersAssociation, Fluke, American Association of CommunityColleges and others. In 1996, the PATC was honoredwith a visit by President Bill Clinton.

The Professional Automotive Training Center is a wonderful example of the “power of partnerships.” It is anational model for what can happen when business andeducation join hands to create a future for students andprovide the training needs of industry. It is truly a win-win partnership. The program at Shoreline has inspiredcountless other dealer associations and colleges acrossAmerica to follow in its footsteps,

... from previous page p p g

The Professional Automotive Training Center at Shoreline Community College

Dave launched the PATC’s state-of-the-art Service Advisor training. With more than 20 years of practical experience in the automobile repair industry, Dave is a well-known and respected instructor and speaker throughout Washington State. Dave is now a member of the Car People Agency and has placed hundreds of automotive technicians, managers and service advisors.

Debbie Waddell launched the PATC’s recently up-dated Title Clerk training with its new Title Clerk Operation Manual, which is becoming a standard for the regional auto industry. Debbie started her career working for the Washington State Department of Licenses as an agent in a DOL satellite office. After many years working for the state, Debbie went to work forLynnwood Honda where she oversees the titling operation.

Mark is the President of ECR, Inc. in Walnut Creek, California. Mark is one of the nation’s most knowledgeable experts on hazardous-waste management, having clients along the entire west coast of America. In addition to standard HazMat classes, Mark offers two to three Hazardous Material Ship-ping classes at the PATC each year so that dealer-ship parts department employees can attain their federally required certification.

John is one of the most recognized names is sales training in the nation. He has been a senior facilitator for JD Power and Associ-ates, Lexus University, a contract trainer for the Sewell Family of dealer-ships, and a sales trainer for almost every other auto manufacturer in the world. He launched sales training at the PATC in the early 1980s.

In addition to technical training many of the above manufacturers also use the PATC’s meeting complex for Finance and Insurance, sales, and other regional or multi-regional training or meetings. All PATC rooms are meeting-ready and have catering services available.

Specialized Dealership Training As part of the partnership of Shoreline Community College (SCC) and Puget Sound Automobile Dealers As-

sociation (PSADA), several certified Continuing Education classes are available at the PATC for dealership employ-ees. Included are Service Advisor Training taught by Dave DeMontigny; Title Clerk Training taught by Debbie Waddell; Finance and Insurance Training taught for SCC/PSADA by American Financial & Automotive Services out of The Woodlands, Texas; sales training taught by John Robison; and USDOT Hazardous Materials Shipping Certification by Mark Aniello from ECR in Walnut Creek, California.

... from previous page

26

The Professional Automotive Training Center at Shoreline

Dealers’ supportthe key to success

A key feature of the ProfessionalAutomotive Training Center at Shoreline Community College is the involvement of area auto dealers.Indeed, without the agreement thathas students in training for 11 weeks and then working in the dealership for 11 weeks, the PATC would be justanother training program.

“It really is a three-legged stool,with the college, the manufacturers and the dealers all needing to be there to hold up the program,” saidJim Hammond, Executive Direc-tor of the PugetSound AutomobileDealers Associa-tion. “Our dealers’

support has been incredible.”According to the dealers, the

program and the students it turnsinto valuable employees is what’s incredible.

“We’ve graduated over 20 stu-dents for both of our stores,” said Ja-son Courter of Honda Auto Center of Bellevue. “When we got involved inthe late ’80s, we knew there wouldbe a shortage of trained technicians based on the growth of Honda. It’sbeen fantastic. The Shoreline stu-dents are now the leaders of ourshops, training the other techs.”

Courter said the ongoing training for incumbent workers is also im-portant. American Honda maintains corporate training centers across theU.S., with the Portland, Ore., center serving the Northwest. “The training at Shoreline is equal to the corpo-rate center and it’s closer,” Courter said. “You put a tech on a plane or rent a car, then they stay there aweek, it adds up. This sure saves dealers a lot of money.”

Courter said his father, Al Courter,played a key role in getting Ameri-can Honda to support the Shoreline program. “It is a no-brainer to par-ticipate,” Jason Courter said.

Mike Popke of Lynnwood Honda has a very personal connection tothe program: “I actually went there for sales training back when the pro-gram first started. It was great.”

Popke said the Shoreline programhas been very helpful for the tech-nican program at the store he runswith his wife, Wendy Nelson, andher brother, Erik. Popke said thatbesides being good technicians, SCC program students are good employ-ees.

“They’re good team members,they learn how to communicate,” hesaid. “We’re here to take care of thecustomer and, hopefully, get re-peat business. To do that, you need somebody that can communicate.”

Brad Miller, who participatesthrough both his Toyota and Hondadealerships, said the program hashelped with great technicians andmore.

“We sponsored one young man, Paul Svenkrud, through the Honda PACT program and he went upthrough the ranks and is now ser-vice manager at the Honda store,” Miller said. “He’s now one of the bestservice managers in the country.“Because of Paul’s relationship we generally have two students in theprogram at all times.”

With students in class for onequarter and then at the dealershipfor a quarter, scheduling can be a challenge, Miller said. “But, it’s worthit on so many levels,” he said. “We take it a step further and pair thestudent with a mentor so they’re working one-on-one with someone.”

Miller said the Shoreline program works because it meets the needsof the partners and the students. “In my estimation, (the program) is an example of government/private enterprise and partnership at its fin-est,” he said.

Scott MainInstructorGM-ASEP

Scott is repeat-edly honored by General Motors as the top GM-ASEP instructor in the U.S. He also teaches classes for GM Corporation. Scott graduated from the ASEP-Program he is now teaching.

Bob Biesiedzinski InstructorHonda PACT

Bob has repeat-edly been recog-nized as Ameri-can Honda’s most certified instruc-tor in the nation. Bob has been instrumental in developing the SkillsUSA Com-petition for area high school auto-motive students.

Ken CampbellInstructorChrysler CAP

When Ken was recruited for the position to teach Chrysler CAP, he was recog-nized by Chrys-ler Corporation as one of their top twenty-five technicians in the nation. He is now a Chrysler Master Technician.

Matt Spitzer, InstructorToyota T-TEN

Matt is honored as Toyota’s top T-Ten instructor. He is a Master Diag-nostic Technician. Under his lead-ership, the pro-gram is ranked as Toyota’s best for three years in a row. Matt is a graduate of the program.

Mark HankinsInstructorGST Program

Mark launched the GST Program at the PATC. Prior to this position, he taught the American Honda PACT program. Mark has a Master’s in Education.

Betsy BinnianInstructor

GST Program

Betsy teaches English as a second language, adult basic

education and helps stu-dents who haven’t finished

high school get their general education degrees (GED).

The Professional Automotive Training Center at Shoreline Community College

The Snap-on Industrialdivision of Snap-on In-corporated, a leading

global innovator, manufacturerand marketer of tools, equipment,diagnostic products, softwareand service solutions for technical professionals, has partnered withShoreline Community College to launch Innovation Works. The new multi-function 3,000 sq. ft. facility offers training and technical certifi-cation in disciplines that range from

torque and diagnostics to multime-ters and other technology tools. Itwill serve markets that range frommanufacturing and energy to ad-vanced propulsion systems. “Shore-line is an acknowledged leadership training center in the automotivemarket,” said Frederick Brookhouse,business and education partnership

manager, Snap-on Industrial. “Withthe launch of Innovation Works,Shoreline will reach a broadermarket with new technologies andthe training demanded by the next generation of technical workers and their employers.” Snap-on Industrial offers the most expansive range of tools available – from hand toolsto work stations – all designed, built and tested to meet the high-est requirements for quality and performance.

Snap-on Industrial and SCC:InnovationWorks

For over 20 years, thestrong partnershipbetween Hunter and

Shoreline Community College hasproduced thousands of top-notch automotive service technicians. We at Hunter give our sincerethanks to the Shoreline automotiveprogram for its continued loyalty to our products. We are honored that the students who go on to represent Shoreline’s program as working technicians in the industry were trained using Hunter equip-ment.

The opening of a new Huntertraining center housed within theProfessional Automotive Train-ing Center expansion will only strengthen the instructional environment available to students. The two-bay shop and classroom

is equipped with Hunter’s state-of-the-art wheel alignment, wheelservice and brake service equip-ment.

Hunter Engineering has main-tained a reputation for innovation and visionary leadership in the automotive service equipment in-dustry for more than half a century. Our success is attributed to devel-oping superior equipment designsand a commitment to creating lasting business relationships.

Hunter Engineering truly ap-preciates the enduring relationship with Shoreline Community Collegeand is dedicated to the growingsuccess of the automotive pro-

gram. We look forward to helping start the careers of thousands of future technicians and supporting the numerous service shops who benefit from Shoreline’s program.

Hunter and Shoreline: In alignment

MARKETING THAT WORKS FOR TAMMYTammy is a people person. And the more people in the D.C. area

who see her cars, the better. So she knows that our high-profilefi

ads in the biggest shows on the biggest networks are important in

attracting millions of customers to her 27 dealerships. And our proud

sponsorships of MLB on FOX, NASCAR on FOX, NFL on FOX,

BCS on FOX, as well as the NBA on TNT will attract millions

more. Hey, like Tammy says, “We are in this together.” For videos of

success stories from dealers like Tammy, visit results.autotrader.com.

“THEY’RE ALWAYS KEEPING ME IN FRONT OF SHOPPERS’ EYES.”

©2009 AutoTrader.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. “AutoTrader.com” is a registered trademark of TPI Holdings, Inc. used under exclusive license. New England Patriots trademarks, including the Patriots logo, are the property of New England Patriots L.P., and are used pursuant to a licensing agreement with New England Patriots L.P.

By Jeff Forsberg, CPA Partner, Peterson Sullivan LLP

o

Safe

Screening, Safe Hiring

Iddd

See infra

Pre-employment Screening and Inves-

tigation: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place

See supra

supra

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

supra

Iddd supra

Iddd

See supra

Iddd

See supra

supra

supra

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Googling Job Applicants: Incorporating

Personal Information into Hiring Decisions

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

In Search of

Digital Dirt: The Legal Issues Raised When Vetting Applicants

On-Line

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

Iddd

supra

Iddd

Iddd

supra

Iddd

Iddd

Employment from page 10

o

not

o

To contact Jeff Forsberg call Peterson

Sullivan at 206-382-7777.

Optimism from page 31

WHYDo We Say it?

By Nancy Friedman

hone Doctor’s popular video program on the Essential Elements

of Internal Customer Service, are six steps to help you be sure you’re paying attention

to the ‘lost customer,’ the internal one - the person you work with every day. Share this

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