Posted on 01/16/2009 11:54:34 AM PST by BGHater
Automobile dealers are suffering, and minority dealers are getting hit especially hard by the steep economic downturn, said Legacy Chevrolet owner Emanuel Jones.
Jones, acting on behalf of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, is calling for the Obama administration to free up loan money from the Small Business Administration to help the struggling dealerships.
"It is a lot more severe for minority dealers," Jones said. "Traditionally, they have smaller stores in smaller communities."
Jones, also a Georgia state senator from Henry County, will make his plea today at a news conference in Atlanta. Representatives from other minority business associations including the state Black Chamber of Commerce and Black Contractors Association are expected to attend.
Jones and other members of the Minority Automobile Association leadership met last week in Washington with members of Obama's transition team. The state senator wants to make his case all the way to the top.
"I would like to meet with the president," Jones said.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed an executive order that opened up SBA funds to minority dealers, Jones said. That ensured survival for many dealerships that were caught in the economic struggles of that time.
"And every one of them paid the money back," Jones said.
Jones would like to see the federal loan program opened up to all dealers, he said. The National Automobile Dealers Association is also pushing for SBA loans for its membership, Jones said. He is a member of that group, as well.
"It is a two-pronged approach," Jones said.
Columbus Nissan dealer Rob Doll said it would be confusing if both organizations request access to the loan fund.
"We have a black president and some organizations feel they need special attention because things are not equal," Doll said. "If the NADA has asked the government, why are they asking for the same thing for minority dealers? That does not make sense to me."
Deep trouble
Jones said many minority dealerships are in deep trouble.
The dealers are being squeezed by the lack of available loans for everything from repairs to floor planning, which allows them to stock vehicles.
"The dealers are suffering losses and their net worth is disappearing," Jones said.
Lenders such as GMAC and Ford Credit are not making funds readily available, and traditional banks, caught in their own financial mess, are balking at loans, Jones said.
"We need access to loans," Jones said. "There is nowhere else to go."
Jones points to one of his friends who has been a dealer for 34 years. He would not identify the man, but said he was in danger of going out of business.
"It's the reason I am so passionate about it," Jones said. "He needs some help and he has told me about others in the same situation. This downturn has hurt so many people. But we are not talking about saving individuals. We are talking about saving jobs."
Columbus dealer Jay Stelzenmuller, owner of Jay Auto Group, said all dealers should be treated equal.
"The economy has hit white dealers as hard as it has hit black dealers, Chinese dealers, Korean dealers and anybody else who is in this business," Stelzenmuller said. "It is not fair to treat any one segment of our community any differently from another."
Jones owns dealerships in Columbus and McDonough, Ga. He recently sold his Ford dealership in Marion, N.C., and sold his Toyota dealership in Union City last year. Jones bought the bankrupt Bill Heard Chevrolet store in Columbus in December. He paid about $25 million for the store and its inventory.
“and minority dealers are getting hit especially hard’
BS
You are a racist sir. Even through we have a black president, affirmative action needs to expand. If you disagree, you are a racist.
race-based bailouts?? why not after they decide to bailout leftwing activist orgs
Please help us, fellow brotha!
All black “minority” groups should be disbanded after January 20th.
They have lost their minority status with representation in the House, Senate, Supreme Court and now the Presidency.
It’s time to join the ranks of us regular-Americans.
“It is a two-pronged approach,” Jones said.
And this taxpayer knows just where those two prongs are
going to end up.
Worded another way, the owner is saying that minorities, and by minorities he means blacks, are horrible salesmen.
I think the decision to place a dealership in a rundown area of town has more to do with the lack of marketing and ability to buy than the skin color of the dealership owner.
Mitt Romney could open up a Lexus dealership in Stop-Six Fort Worth, and I'd lay money down that he'd have a difficult time selling to the locals.
Bigelow Motors, Washington Ave. Belleville, NJ. Over 75 years Chrysler dealer. Open Saturday. Closed Monday of the next week.
Minority dealers get special terms and preferential treatment from domestic manufacturers. Ford is especially active in giving stores to dealers who otherwise would not be able to open one. -— I’m in the business and can cite examples.
Why should minority owners get aid when others don’t? Give aid to all the dealers who need it, or give it to no one.
....Ford put a black man in at our county dealership...they called it a “developmental dealership”....guess that was to get Jesse Jackson off their ass....any rate, the black dealer wasn’t a bad guy but wasn’t a very good business man....within 3 years he wrecked a 60 year old business....so they tried another black guy and he was even worse....now the old owners (white) are back in charge and things have straightened out...I met one of the black guys and kind of felt sorry for him....he tried hard, but was way out of his depth...and I think; very unhappy due to his situation...in the long run Ford didn’t do him any favor.
Aren’t you a racist for not pretending that he did well? We pretend about everything else.
You see such failures all the time and I put the blame at the feet of the educational system. They have spent years and years making certain no child had to feel the sting of failure. Certainly a great example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. It has a nasty habit of exerting itself when common sense has not.
It’s sad that the school system has systematically failed to prepare children for life in the real world. No grades, no keeping score, free lunches, the list goes on and on. As laudable as their intentions they have done students no favor. In a perverse sort of way it’s sort of like those mortgages where you make very small payments at first then get hit with higher than normal payments for years and years. It’s good, maybe, for them while it’s going on, but once the cold water of life in the real world hits them in the face they are at a loss to cope or even understand why it’s happening.
Actually, now that I think about it, it’s even more like potty training. For two years or so the kid’s only experience with a dirty diaper is very positive. Someone comes along, talks to them in baby talk, picks them up, changes their diaper, powders their soft little butts and put them back down. Not a bad deal. But then, one day everything changes. Instead of getting all that tender care when they dirty a diaper they get scolded and hollered at. They had no idea it was coming, and really can’t understand why they have suddenly done something bad.
Kinda rambled here, but I think you get the idea. The most effective way to maximize the chances of success is to teach what it means to fail, and that failing is simple a part of reaching goals.
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