Meeting Minutes:
Friday, February 25, 2005
Volume 12; Issue 8

  

Table of Contents

Committee Reports

Membership Report
 (Click here to go to the Membership page)

Part 2 of the membership application for Barbara Kollman was submitted last week.  Since there were no objections, she will be invited to visit our group next week.

Social Report
 (Click here to go to the Social Event page)

The signup sheet  for the Salt River Rafting trip  was passed around again today.  This trip is not limited to MABE members.  Guests are welcome.  Please see the Social Event page for more details.

Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)

  • 03/04/05     Lisa Wolfe
  • 03/11/05     Joe Hesch
  • 03/18/05     Special Event
  • 03/25/05     No Meeting
  • 04/01/05     Brian Verbraken

Treasurer Report

Things are looking good.  Quarterly dues billing goes out next week.

Leads Report

46-28, 37-15, 37-26, 17-06, 17-05, 26-41, 26-17, 28-19, 07-02, 21-13, 21-17, 13-46, 35-13, 40-10, 40-28, 40-41, 40-32.

This week's leads focus...

Business Spotlight

Bill LaLonde was today's Business Spotlight.  As many of you already know, Bill is in the swimming pool business.  His main focus has been in the construction and remodeling of pools.  But recently his sons have added a new segment to the business, Advanced Deck Design.   Several people from the company they used to out source this job to asked to come over and join the new company.  Bill showed samples of decking options to the members.  One option to your standard kool deck is acrylic.  With kool deck you have to apply it to cement as soon as it hardens so they can cure together.  But you can apply acrylic to existing cement including patios and walkways.  They can also add design to your decks that look like tile or stone.  If you want to add a coating to your garage floor, Bill can help you with that too!

Notable Mentions

Board elections were held today.  Jim Bache and Brian Verbraken will replace Lisa Schnaidt and Wayne Unruh on the MABE board. 

We extend a warm welcome to our newest board members and big thank you to our exiting board members.  

Question of the Day

Joe Zingale is trying something new at his business.  They are adding GPS to the cell phones to track their crews.  They will know where they are at all times, how fast they are driving, etc.  He can even print reports based on the GPS information received.  Has anyone else tried this?

Dave Spiess - I use it to track my trucks.  I get an email if they are speeding.  I call them up and tell them to slow it down!

Mark Dreher - I have a client that rents out large equipment.  They use it to track how long a machine is being used (their customers have a daily limit) and if it has been moved off location.  They put liens on job where there equipment is to be used.  If the client takes it off location to do a quick job somewhere else, Mark's customer is no longer protected under the lien.  This gives them the proof they need to support (or deny) any claims.

Mike Tanner - I read an article about families using them in cell phones to track their kids.  Once mother could see that her daughter was in a car that was speeding and immediately called her to tell her they needed to slow down or come home.

Main Speaker 

Mike Tanner
Crosman Pest Control

There are four generations of Tanners that are in the auto-related business in Arizona.  His family first moved here for three reasons:

  1. Allergies

  2. The Airport (his dad was a trainer pilot)

  3. Too become cowboys

His grandfather started the trend.  He had experience in the auto industry when he moved here.  He went to the bank that provided auto businesses financial support and asked for the name of the company that struggled the most.  That is were his grandfather chose to work.  He turned that company around before leaving to start his own dealership.

Mike's father did a stint in the air force before moving here.  He opened his first dealership in 1942 and soon grew to own 5 franchises (including RV's), all located on one corner lot.  His father also had the foresight to get involved with Volvos.  He made an agreement with the manufacturer that allowed him to become the exclusive Volvo dealer for Arizona.   In 1999, they sold that dealership.  Part of that facility was the body shop that Mike now owns.

Mike grew up in central Phoenix.  His parents moved there so their kids could go to Brophy and Xavier.  Mike was 7 of 8 kids.  He was also the black sheep and attended a different school so that he could do more than just get educated.  He graduated and went to Yavapai Community College in Prescott.  It was ideal for him because they offered boarding and it wasn't too close to home so he could "have fun" but not so far that he couldn't run home if he needed to.

After graduating from the community college, Mike took a break from school and worked a short stint in Fairbanks.  He came back and started school at ASU.  He didn't have the grades to get into the architecture school so he did construction engineering instead - - Anything but automotive!!! 

Mike's first big construction job was the family cabin north of Payson.  His parents bought a small cabin up there in 1960.  It was an annual New Years tradition to get the family together to celebrate.  But with 8 kids, 25 grandchildren and now 12 great grandchildren, things got crowded.  In 1983, Mike built his parent a their own cabin next door.  His brother bought a 3 cabin on the other side.

In 1984 Mike began working for a framing contractor as the quality control person.  This lasted 6 months.  He then went back to school for a semester.  He decided that he preferred making money to homework so he dropped out for good.

Mike was talked into joining the family business.  They were experiencing growing pains so they asked Mike to be their construction manager.  It was not an easy job.  There were 3 phases to the project and things changed frequently.  To make matters worse, a recession hit and the real estate market tanked.  They eventually sold out to a major market dealer.  They could no longer compete against their advertising dollars.  And they industry had changed for the worst.  Car dealers were no longer reputable people.

In 1989 they realized that Mike's father had Alzheimer's and he eventually passed away.  Mike became the keeper of their estate.  This is itself was a full time job.  Mike had to do this while taking care of duties at the dealership.  Then his mom's health deteriorated.  She had a stroke and is now bedridden.  Mike and his sister are her main caregivers.  It has been very hard.  The lifespan of outside caregivers that they hire is 2 months because it is such a demanding position. 

The reason that Mike got into the body shop business is because he needed to earn an income but still needed time to care for his family.  No employer would understand his position so he had to work for himself.  The body shop didn't take right off.  But Mike new that most people went to their insurance agent or their auto mechanic for advice when they needed body work done.  So he got to know these people and soon they were sending him referrals.  He has scaled back on his advertising and focused more on making personal contacts and attending meetings like MABE. 

Once he gets the client in the door, he not only puts their damaged car back together.  He gives it to them in better condition than before the accident.  He started offering detailing as a way to advertise another segment of the business.  He wanted to offer something that people needed on a regular basis.

Mike left us when some statistics:

  • The national average for a person to have an accident is every 7 years.

  • Teenagers are the most likely to have an accident followed by the elderly.  In his opinion, 16 year olds should not be allowed to drive at night until they have at least a year of experience driving.  And, even though it is hard to do, we need to take the license away from an elderly person that is no longer a safe driver.  It is not worth the liability.

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