At the CAWA 2017 annual dinner meeting, held in conjunction with Industry Week in Las Vegas, Jack Gosnell of Next Level Parts, Inc. was installed as the Association's 2018 Chair of the Board. Other officers installed included: Vice - Chair Dan Hanson, Jr. of Hanson Distributing Company; Treasurer Matthias Kopecky of SSF Imported Auto Parts; Secretary Tom Seboldt of O'Reilly Auto Parts and; Immediate Past Chair Michael Antonelli of Vantage Marketing Global. 

The dinner was once again exclusively sponsored by Motorcar Parts of America and all proceeds from the event will go to CAWA's Memorial Scholarship Fund. The keynote speaker of the evening was Ted Wise, former COO and Co-President of O'Reilly Auto Parts, who gave an informative and compelling presentation regarding the evolution of O'Reilly's and how it corresponded to the evolution of the auto parts industry. 

Next year's event will be held, as is customary, the Sunday night (October 28, 2018) before the AAPEX and SEMA Shows. For further information regarding these events contact [email protected].

Chair of the Board Mike Antonelli addresses the attendees

Past Chairs of the Board participate in the red vest ceremony

The disclosure includes all ingredients and "contaminants of concern" to be placed on the product label and on the manufacturer's website. The Cleaning Products Act defines cleaning products as "any product used primarily for commercial, domestic or institutional cleaning purposes, including an air-care product, automotive product, general cleaning product or a polish or floor maintenance product." 

In addition to requiring manufactures to disclose a list of ingredients, the law mandates pictographic images on the label to communicate potential health impacts of toxic chemicals present. The law differs from California Proposition 65 because it requires cleaning product manufacturers to provide ingredient information, expands disclosure to allergens as well as toxic chemicals and does not create a private cause of action. 

The online disclosure requirement for the Cleaning Products Act takes effect January 1, 2020, and product labeling takes effect January 1, 2021. For questions, contact our California based legislative advocate Gary Conover at [email protected] or 916.233.9655.

On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1008, which will add a section to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) containing new state-wide restrictions on an employer's ability to make pre-hire and personnel decisions based on an individual's criminal history, including a significant and far reaching "ban-the-box" component. 

AB 1008, which is effective on January 1, 2018, continues the recent flurry of criminal background legislation activity in California, including new statewide regulations on the consideration of criminal records in employment decisions and the City of Los Angeles's recent ban-the-box law, which also mandates an individualized assessment of an applicant's criminal history prior to any employment decision based on a criminal record. 

Should you have questions regarding these type of matters, contact CAWA attorney Steve Marmaduke at 916.441.2430 or [email protected]. Recall, as a member you can receive up to ½ hour a month in FREE legal consultation. See www.cawa.org for the attorney in your state. Another member benefit.

In theory sales is pretty simple: communicate the right way with the right people, and you'll make sales. It's in practice that most people complicate the issue. So how do you keep it simple? 

Assuming you're selling something where someone has to deal with you for any length of time, in other words, you're not selling batteries at Walmart, you need to get several points across, one: you care, two: you're trustworthy, three: you understand their problem, and four: you're competent and can solve their problem. 

That said, effective communication begins with mindset. First, you must be completely sold on and have confidence in your product, your company, and you. Next, you have to have empathy for the people you're selling to and you must put them first, before your company, your product, the sale, and even before you. If you enter the sales conversation with confidence, caring, and compassion, putting the other person's needs first, you're off to a good start. For the next step in the sales process, click here. Source: John Chapin

CAWA has entered into an agreement with the firm of Burch & Cracchiolo to provide FREE legal services to members in the Copper State. The lead attorney is David M. Villadolid and he can be reached at 602.234.9943. For the attorneys in California and Nevada visit www.cawa.org and click on free legal services tab. Another member benefit.