CHICAGO — Aftermarket executives from around the country have gathered in Chicago, Ill., this week to take part in the 14th annual Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS), which kicks off today. 
During the day-and-a-half event, attendees will hear more than 10 presentations, all organized around the theme of “Winning Strategies in a Changing Aftermarket.” This year’s event was given a major overhaul in the hopes of playing off of last year’s strong attendance, said GAAS Chairman, Dave Caracci. “We listened to past attendees and their requests for topics and issues, and the dynamic GAAS 2009 reflects their input,” said Caracci. “Industry executives are scrutinizing costs to attend events and demand ROI of intelligence, insight and data that they can transfer into immediate strategies. GAAS 2009 is built to deliver actionable take-aways for great business profitability, efficiency and competitiveness.”
The event will explore, from a variety of angles, the current economic climate and its effect on the aftermarket. This year’s speaker line-up includes Jeff Applegate, Citi Global Wealth Management; John Waraniak, SEMA; Bill Haas, ASA; Dr. John Wormald, autoPOLIS; William Strauss, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; David Portalatin, NPD Group; and Tony Cristello, BB&T Capital Markets. GAAS 2009 will also feature several panel discussions moderated by industry experts such as Jack Cameron, AASA; Rick Schwartz, Schwartz Advisors and Michael Klein, IDQ Holdings.
Also during the event, Mark Seng of R.L. Polk & Co. will announced the winners of the fifth annual Inventory Efficiency Awards. Brian Cruickshank, director of the University of the Aftermarket, will introduce the winning team from this year’s Leadership 2.0 class, which will give a presentation on their winning class project on attracting the next generation of automotive parts and service professionals.
For their participation in the symposium, attendees will receive 1.5 CEUs toward the University of the Aftermarket’s AAP/MAAP designation. The symposium has been approved by Northwood University for credit toward its Automotive Aftermarket Management degree.
Each year the net proceeds of GAAS are invested in the organization’s Scholarship Fund to help students get their automotive aftermarket career started. Additional scholarship funding comes from industry contributions from individuals, companies and foundations. Pete Kornafel, chairman of the GAAS Scholarship Selection Committee, and his wife, Annie, have stepped forward to show their support for the industry’s future by issuing a challenge. The Kornafels will match 100 percent of each donation to the GAAS Scholarship fund received before the end of the annual Symposium on Thursday, May 7, up to $15,000 in total. Each donation of $1,000 or more will receive a 2009 scholarship named in that person’s honor.
Stay tuned tomorrow for continuing coverage of the 2009 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium, brought to you by aftermarketNews
