From SEMA eNews

After serving as vice president/general manager of Egge Machine Co. for 10 years, Ernie Silvers was recently appointed chief executive officer of the 90-year-old company, based in Santa Fe Springs, CA. His experience in and knowledge of the restoration industry make him well suited for his even newer role as chairman of the Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO), a segment of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).

As Silvers begins his new post, the council is experiencing positive momentum. The past few years have seen highly effective long-range planning meetings as well as a growing and successful new-product showcase at the Charlotte Auto Fair. The organization has also seen success with a number of popular projects, including the Take a Kid to a Car Show program and the Jeff Moses Memorial Scholarship fund.

“ARMO has proven its ability to do a few things extremely well,” said Silvers. “The plan is really quite simple: I won’t attempt to fix what isn’t broke. We’ll continue to improve and grow what’s worked well and focus on getting our members more actively involved with their council.”

Silvers used a football metaphor to compare his plan for the coming years: “Concentrate on catching the ball first, and then worry about running with it,” Silvers said. “It’s better to focus on doing a few things really well than many things poorly. Based on ARMO’s progress over the past few years, there’s no doubt we’ve learned to catch the ball, so to speak.”

As ARMO chairman, Silvers said he hopes to significantly increase voter turnout. He believes this can be accomplished by maintaining personal contact (telephone and e-mail) with each member on a regular basis. ARMO Select Committee members already operate an active telephone network to check in with members on a regular basis. Silvers plans to continue that plan and supplement it with an increasing number of opportunities for members to interact directly with Select Committee members through events such as a reception at the new-product showcase.

“Select Committee members will be far more visible and/or accessible in the upcoming months,” Silvers said. “There are now and will be plenty of opportunities for members to get involved with subcommittees and task forces.” However, he stressed the fact that the best support members can provide the council is by voting in council elections and, even better, attending the council’s open meetings when possible.

When asked about the value of joining ARMO and why prospective members should join the council, Silvers said, “The contacts and resources one can make by joining and/or becoming actively involved with ARMO are priceless. Interacting with fellow ARMO-member companies helps one realize quickly that they are not alone, meaning, it’s easy to locate someone else who has experienced a similar problem or challenge and the solution is seldom more than one conversation or telephone call away.”

For more information about SEMA or ARMO, go to: www.sema.org/armo .

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