Joe Falk Named Chairman of Chesapeake Hospital Authority
Joseph A. Falk has been named chairman of the Chesapeake Hospital Authority for 2010 - 2011. A native of Chesapeake, Joe is the owner of Little Joe’s Autos Mitsubishi/Suzuki on Military Highway. Having served on the Board since 2007, Joe previously served as vice chairman, treasurer and secretary of the governing board.
As an active community member, he has served on the Chesapeake Health Foundation Board and the Virginia Motor Vehicles Dealers’ Advisory Board. He is a past president of the Virginia Independent Automobile Dealers Association and currently serves on the Chesapeake board of directors for TowneBank.
The Chesapeake Hospital Authority is an 11-member board of area citizens that oversees the operations of Chesapeake Regional Medical Center and its anchor facility, Chesapeake General Hospital.
AYES Survives… And Thrives In Virginia
It is no secret that after many years of phenomenal growth, the Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) program has been faced with significant challenges during the recession.
As many automobile manufacturers struggled to survive in the downturn, many found it necessary to walk away from their support of AYES, at least temporarily. We are pleased to say that six manufacturers have stuck with AYES. BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Mercedes, Subaru, and Toyota remained firmly committed to the program. Chuck Roberts, President of AYES, is in talks with many of the manufacturers who left and they have expressed interest in coming back on board.
Special Thanks To BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Mercedes, Subaru, and Toyota For Their Continued Support of AYES!
The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) also decided to eliminate their support, but they have given indication they are looking to return. In addition to NADA’s exit, several dealer associations pulled out of AYES and those states are now being handled by two regional managers.
But it appears that things are turning around. After a year of reorganization and realignment with ASE management, AYES is alive and well.
Student participation remains strong and intern counts are even with last year. Now that the dealer shakeout is almost complete, there seems to be renewed interest in AYES. An aging, retiring technician workforce is creating shortages of technicians with the skills necessary to work on the new technology that is coming out at lightning speed and many of the experienced techs have not been able to switch easily between brands. Our young AYES students do embrace the new technology and are flexible enough to embrace change.
The 2010 AYES conference was held in Orlando, Florida, June 19—23. The conference included more than 200 AYES instructors from all over the nation, which is impressive since attendance was not mandatory this year due to the strain on school budgets. The conference re-energized everyone associated with AYES.
The AYES corporate board led by Jim Sinclair of Subaru will meet in August and the ASE/AYES program should be growing and moving forward once again as the industry calms down and improves.
We also want to extend our deepest thanks to our many dealers who have remained committed to AYES in Virginia and have helped Team VADA’s partnership to remain at the top of the heap!
Ted Filer Passes
Edwin "Ted" Earl Filer of Richmond passed away on July 2nd at the age of 80. A longtime Virginia dealer and VADA Member, Ted owned Filer Ford of Virginia and Mechanicsville Motor Company. He served as president of the Richmond Automobile Dealers Association.
Ted was a graduate of John Marshall High School in Richmond, Virginia where he was named All-City, All-State and All-Southern in football. In 1952, Ted graduated from the College of William and Mary where he played football, earning All Southern Conference honors and induction into the William and Mary Sports Hall of Fame.