Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/360137
8 • August 11, 2014 • Powersports Business NEWS www.PowersportsBusiness.com RANDY BARONE, NEXTGENAUTO Randy is a VP at NextGenAuto, which pro- vides software solutions to powersports deal- ers. As president of Barone Enterprises, he speaks at NADA state and national conven- tions as well as to NADA 20 Groups. He per- forms dealership training for upper managers in both new and used auto operations. He also performs evaluations of front end operations for dealers across the country. He continues to get his sales time in on Saturdays at his car lot. TY BELLO, AMERICAN SPORTWORKS Ty has coached more than 1,000 businesses in his career and presented at more than 600 trade shows and events in the past 13 years. He is now serving as vice president of sales and marketing for American Sportworks, a manu- facturer and distributor of off-road vehicles since 1959. He has more than 21 years of expe- rience in sales and marketing. Ty's experience as a sales coach has included retail sales and customer service. Ty also has a long family his- tory of auto dealerships and has done training for some of Ford Motor Company's 20 Groups. Ty knows what it takes to engage the cus- tomer and serve them, while increasing sales. AMANDA BLACKSTONE, POWERSPORTS CONSULTANT AND RECRUITER Amanda operates her own powersports con- sulting business and serves as a powersports recruiter. Amanda grew up in the powersports indus- try, as the daughter of Ray Little, an original employee and legendary flat track racer for the first Harley-Davidson dealership in the Atlanta market. Amanda started going to the Harley- Davidson dealership at age 5 to help sort parts. She was along her father's side as he raced For- mula 440 Mini Indy cars and always had a love for cars and motorcycles — anything that went fast. Her father wouldn't allow her to race, so she came to the dealership only after going off on her own and acquiring an incredible work ethic in the retail industry, where she gained a vast amount of knowledge in retail, sales and management while still working part-time in the dealership nights and weekends. She made the full-time transition in 1998, and her father started her in the parts depart- ment. She was to work her way up from there. Her family's dealership was the first Polaris dealership in the state of Georgia. In the first year Amanda was there, she grew the business by more than 150 percent. She quickly went from parts to service to sales and, according to plan, general manager. In 2003, Amanda was selected to be a rep- resentative on the Polaris Dealer Council, serv- ing on the council for more than seven years. During that same time she designed a new building for the dealership. It came in under budget and opened in less than six months. PSB Institute @ AIMExpo speaker lineup unveiled The following list of speakers will present training sessions at the 2014 Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo, set for Oct. 16-17 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The Powersports Business Institute, sponsored by ADP Lightspeed and Sta-Bil, kicks off with a new Kickoff Networking Reception, sponsored by GE Capital. The reception will be held on the pool balcony of the Rosen Centre Hotel adjacent to the OCCC on Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 5-6:30 p.m. Industry members are welcome to enjoy beer, wine and appetizers as we celebrate the second annual PSB Institute @ AIMExpo. Training seminars, free to dealers who have registered to attend AIMExpo, begin Thursday, Oct. 16, at 11 a.m. All seminars are 75 minutes and will conclude on Thursday with the 4 p.m. sessions. On Friday, Oct. 17, sessions will start at 9:30 a.m. and continue through the last session at 3 p.m. With 32 sessions across four tracks, dealership principals, GMs and staff members will have plenty of opportunity to participate in classes that fit their needs. The Digital Solutions Track is sponsored by Dominion Powersports Solutions, and the Powering Profits Track is sponsored by McGraw Powersports Group. Industry companies interested in sponsoring the Sales & Marketing or Service & Operations track should contact Allison Gruhn at agruhn@epgmediallc.com or 763/383-4467. Find the entire speaker lineup by day, time, speaker and class description on Page 26. Speaker bios are as follows: