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12 • October 6, 2014 • Powersports Business NEWS www.PowersportsBusiness.com Here's a closer look at the speakers who will be presenting dealer training sessions during the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo. The PSB Institute, brought to you by CDK Global and STA-BIL, will be held Thursday and Friday, Oct. 16-17, at the Orange County Convention Center. See Page 20 for the full schedule. RANDY BARONE NEXTGENAUTO Randy is a VP at Next- GenAuto, which provides software solutions to pow- ersports dealers. As presi- dent of Barone Enterprises, he speaks at NADA state and national conventions as well as to NADA 20 Groups. He performs 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 consulting busi- ness and serves as a power- sports recruiter, using her diverse networking alliances, strategic business acumen and leadership abilities to find success. 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 over 150 percent. She quickly went from parts to service to sales and, according to plan, general manager. Amanda was instrumental in creating new processes and implementing new product and programs for Polaris. In 2003, Amanda was selected to be a repre- sentative on the Polaris Dealer Council, serving on the council for more than seven years. Dur- ing that same time she designed a new building for the dealership. It came in under budget and opened in less than six months, just in time for the holidays. Amanda then decided it was time to expand the lines, adding Suzuki and BRP. Amanda has contributed endless hours to growing the dealer network in Atlanta, facilitat- ing multi-dealer co-op programs and introduc- ing Polaris Industries to the power of NASCAR at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Amanda is presenting at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the sec- ond time. JASON BRECKENRIDGE THE 20 LLC If Ma Bell and Dale Carnegie had a kid it would've been A. Jason Breckenridge. The fact is, Carnegie's middle name was Breckenridge. That may explain why Jason is a both a natural and gifted trainer, especially on the phone. His approach of keeping it simple and honest with a little twist of human psychology makes it easy for everyone to learn and utilize successfully. Jason is presenting at the Power- sports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. RON CARIKER 7 MEDIA GROUP Ron is owner/president of 7 Media Group, a mobile mar- keting firm in the powers- ports industry. With more than 15 years of experience in both traditional and non- traditional advertising and marketing, Ron has blended his strengths to help clients integrate successful mobile strategies into their current, traditional marketing plans. Through innova- tion, creativity, commitment and superior customer service, 7 Media Group has provided a mobile marketing strategy to more than 50 powersports dealers across the U.S. throughout the past five years. CRAIG CERVENKA Craig, known throughout the industry as an expert on product content, e-com- merce and search, most recently was senior man- ager of Business Develop- ment at Edgenet, where worked with dealers, OEMs, distributors and manufacturers in a variety of product-related capacities. He is presenting at the Powers- ports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. PAULA CROSBIE CDK GLOBAL Paula has been with CDK Global for 12 years. In June 2014, Paula was promoted to training consultant, where she will focus on powers- ports industry best practices. Prior to her promotion she was a senior trainer and has trained hundreds of dealerships over her many years with CDK Global. Paula is pre- senting at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. SAM DANTZLER SAM'S POWERSPORTS GARAGE Sam was the kid who grew up down the road from you who was never, ever allowed to sit on a motorcycle. It was an image thing, not a safety thing, so motorcycles and tattoos were forbid- den. So, he'd hide issues of Cycle World under his mattress for late-night perusing. Taking off to college in the late '80s, he had secured both a motorcycle and a tattoo by the end of his first day on campus. That's where it started, and he's currently on motorcycle number 58. Sam began working in retail at a sporting goods store as a kid, selling motorcycles in college, and eventually found his way into a job as a retail sales trainer. He found out about LEMCO (Ed Lemco's company) in 1999, and Ed brought him on in 2000. Sam became the director of training for Lemco in 2003, running the nine-month long Management Develop- ment Programs. With financing support from Mark Tkach and Bill Coulter (RideNow), the three bought the company from Ed in 2005, and named Sam as the new CEO. The name changed one year later to RPM Group (named after one of the training modules, Retail Pow- ersports Management). Sam made an attempt to form alliances with OEMs, a constant source of friction for many dealers. While RPMG continued to add new members, Sam created an exclusive program with Michael Lock and Ducati. This was the first genuine attempt he had seen of an OEM truly wanting to help its dealer base through a private 20-club group (four of them, actually). Assurant then pur- chased RPMG in 2007 in an attempt to launch their products through RPMG venues. When Assurant exited the 20-Club business in 2009, leaving Sam a free agent, he decided it was a good opportunity to go independent. Since that time, he's done work with Triumph, Harley-Davidson, Arctic Cat and Polaris, as well as hundreds of independent dealers. In 2011, Sam started to work on the creation of a training website, and then launched Sam's Powersports Garage on March 1, 2012. Sam "fuels" the site with his experience in the pow- ersports industry and content from the seven 20-clubs he currently moderates, as well as the in-dealership training that keeps a guy "real." Sam has been a columnist for Powersports Business since 2012 and is presenting at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. STEVE JONES GART SUTTON & ASSOCIATES Steve has been in the power- sports industry for nearly 40 years. An avid rider, he raced motorcycles for many years. Steve has worked as a techni- cian, service manager, parts manager and sales manager. He spent more than 20 years with major powersports manufacturers as a field service advisor and as a DSM. Since 2003, Steve has been a consultant, instructional designer, GM and projects manager for GSA. He has helped develop training solutions for many major manufacturers and conducted numer- ous dealership on-site consulting sessions. An experienced facilitator, he has spoken on topics such as sales management, parts department management and service department manage- ment. Steve is a columnist for Powersports Busi- ness is presenting at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. MIKE LEE GE CAPITAL Mike Lee is the IT Leader for Customer Experience and Collaboration technologies for GE Capital Americas. His team's primary focus areas are developing online cus- tomer solutions and social media initiatives across 12 businesses. Mike has been with GE Capital for 17 years and has held multiple roles within Information Technology. Prior to his current role, Mike was the IT Leader for GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services. Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Distribution from Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y, and currently works in Bethesda, Md. LAURA LEMCO MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY CONSULTING SERVICES, LLC Laura Lemco grew up in her parents' Honda, Suzuki, H a r l e y - D a v i d s o , a n d Husqvarna dealership. She worked with Ed Lemco throughout the years in the motorcycle consulting business, taking it over in 2010 as Ed returned to his passion of retailing. Laura focuses on using analytics to improve the decisions dealer principals make every day. She provides certified business appraisals and loves the challenges of helping both buyers and sellers in transitions. Laura is presenting at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. DAVE MCMAHON POWERSPORTS BUSINESS Dave joined Powersports Business as senior editor in 2011, and was named editor in chief in 2012. He manages and facilitates the training session speakers for the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo, as well editorial content for the PSB media platforms, including the magazine, website, e-newsletters and webinars. Dave is presenting at the Powersports Business Institute @ AIMExpo for the second time. MARK MOONEY PIED PIPER MANAGEMENT COMPANY Mark has been in the motor- cycle industry for more years than he wants to admit. He has worked in and run every department in a dealership as well as owning his own multi-line dealer- Connect the names with faces at PSB Institute See PSBI Speakers, Page 14