for the Automall - Jim Burke Ford Lincoln, Bakersfield

J I M B U R K E E M P L O Y E E U P D AT E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 5
Committed To integrity, Respect, Professionalism & Excellence
New
Face
for the Automall
T
he Automall has begun a multi-million dollar
renovation of the Ford and Lincoln exteriors, showrooms and service drive. The dealership will be
open and fully operational during the remodel, and the
purpose of this letter is to give you a preview of our plans
and some advance notice of how we will be working around
the construction.
Phase one of the project will be the Lincoln showroom.
We have moved the Lincoln sales staff and our rental office
into the Ford building while the work is done. The project should
be complete in January, 2017.
Phase two will be a modernization of our service drive. We will be
working around construction, which will involve re-routing vehicles through
the shop and, for a brief time, shifting the service drive entry to the south. This work should
begin in the spring of 2017.
Phase three will be an upgrade to our Ford showroom. This work should begin in the
spring of 2017 and completed by year end. While the Ford showroom is under construction
all of our sales staff will be located in the Lincoln building.
We are really excited about this investment in our facility and how it will allow us to
better serve our customers. It is a reflection of our commitment to the Ford and
Lincoln brands, and to the city of Bakersfield. Although working around construction always presents challenges, our goal is to make it as easy as possible
for our customers.
Getting to know
BABY NEWS
Alicia Velarde, pictured top left, inventory clerk at Oak, Street, delivered a baby boy,
Cristoval Rene Velarde, on August 1st, weighing 7 lbs. 11oz. and 19 inches long.
our Jim Burke Family
Vikki Dabbert Account Clerk
Shawn Underwood
S
s in recent spark
plug editions,
we’ve highlighted
individuals throughout the
company. I recently had the pleasure
of speaking with Shawn to learn a little more
about him. Shawn has worked for the company
for 10 years, starting out as a fleet sales assistant, moving to fleet salesman and then
eventually becoming our current commercial sales manager. Shawn is also
leading CEM Team #3 to keep our
dealerships a great place to work and
serve our customers. He has been
married for 18 years to his wife Natalie.
They have two boys, Bryce (15) and Drew (9). Shawn
said when he’s not working, he enjoys watching and
playing football, hunting and fishing. He especially
loves to watch his sons play football. Shawn is also
a big BC Renegade supporter and said you can find
him tailgating and enjoying all home games. You can usually
find Shawn roaming the halls of the fleet sales offices, assisting his staff any way he can and he always has a smile on his
face doing it. I completed our interview asking him if he had to
name one thing he enjoys most about working
for Jim Burke Ford and he said “my co-workers
and the friendships that have developed throughout the years.” Make
sure to say ‘hi’
next time you
see him!
75th Anniversary Sturgis
South Dakota Motorcycle Rally
ince 1938 Sturgis has welcomed motorcycle enthusiasts
from across the United States and around the world to
their annual Motorcycle Rally. This year, my husband
Danny and I, along with three other couples, made our way to
Sturgis South Dakota for the 75th Anniversary of the Motorcycle
Rally. The rally was held August 3rd – 9th. It was estimated that
more than 100,000 bikers attended the weeklong rally. This is
quite an accomplishment considering the town consists of less
than 6,500 people.
The guys enjoyed the ride to Sturgis, while the girls enjoyed
the flight! Some sights that we visited were; Mount Rushmore,
near Keystone, which was amazing! We also visited Deadwood
which holds the No. 10 Saloon where legend has it Wild Bill
Hickok was killed holding a poker hand consisting of two black
aces and black eights, this is now known as the “dead man’s
hand.” We enjoyed a taste of Hollywood meets Las Vegas while
visiting The Midnight Star casino owned by Kevin Costner,
and rode through Custer National Forest. We also took a ride
to Wyoming to see The Devils Tower where the movie Close
Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed.
I have to say that South Dakota’s beautiful blue skies, rolling
green hills and country side could very well be God’s country.
Although we were there for a week, we did not get to see everything there is to see. We had a blast and definitely will be
returning again. I recommend that if you own a motorcycle or
even if you don’t, Sturgis South Dakota is something to add to
the bucket list.
page 2
Fleet Sales Manager
A
Esteicy Birrueta, pictured top right, parts clerk at Oak Street, delivered a baby
boy, Mathew Estrada, on July 11th, weighing 5 lbs. and 18 inches long. Mathew
is welcomed by his 2 brothers and sister.
Vanessa Marin, pictured right, is a main shop service cashier, is due to have her
baby girl, Elenie Rose, on Sept. 24th. Her son and daughter are patiently waiting
for their new sister!!
—by Kaycee Schekel
Jennifer McPhee, assistant service manager, is due to have her baby boy,
Harrison, on October 13th. Harrison will have two brothers to compete with when he
arrives!! Jennifer went on maternity leave and we were not able to get a photo of her!
Jim Burke Ford
E
Air Devils
arlier this year, David Arellano (Maintenance) voiced his desire to go skydiving. He told Victor Arellano (Parts Back
Counter) of his idea one day while on break. Vic then took the idea and ran with it. He was telling everyone he could
about a possible skydiving adventure. Vic said that he had twenty five people say “Yes.” When it was time to collect the
money for the trip, thirteen people had paid. The original trip was planned for April, but on the day that they were scheduled
to skydive, it was raining, and Skydive Taft had to cancel their trip and
reschedule for late May.
On Saturday May 30th, six out of the original thirteen employees took
the forty-five minute drive to Skydive Taft. The brave six included: Mike
Bahena (Quick Lane Lube Technician) Bono Saucedo (Parts Back Counter)
Victor Arellano, David Arellano, Jesus Gomez (Main Shop Technician)
and Ernesto Salvador (Parts Front Counter). Each employee jumped with
an experienced skydiver, they call this, tandem skydiving.
Bono was the lucky one that got to go first. He said that before the jump
he had to mentally prepare himself. You think about what could happen
on a dive, and all these things go through your head. After his dive was
completed he said he was very pumped up and wanted to go again. “It
was exciting, it was such a rush!” Ernesto had never been on a plane before and after the plane took off, the realization hit him
that he would soon be jumping out of it. He said that he controlled his breathing throughout the dive, and that helped him stay
calm. Once the parachute opened, he just enjoyed the view, and said it was very peaceful. After he landed he felt like he had just
conquered the world!
Jesus Gomez concurred that it was a great experience. After he jumped out of the plane he felt a little overwhelmed and felt
like he couldn’t breathe, but once the parachute opened, he started to relax. After he landed he felt the adrenaline rush over him.
Mike Bahena said that he was fine during the plane ride, and he wasn’t nervous until the door swung open, and things got real.
After he landed all he could feel was the adrenaline pumping, and he just thought ‘wow!’
When asked if they would go again, without hesitation they all said “yes”. Jesus Gomez said that he would go again, but next
time he would go someplace with a better view.
Special thanks to this month’s newsletter committee: Vickie De La Cruz, Kaycee Schekel, Howard Whitson, Jessica Martinez and Vikki Dabbert.
page 3
SAVE
the DATE
Birthdays
9/1.............................. Bob Morales
9/3.............................. Jacob Bodle
9/4............................Miguel Tinoco
9/5.........................Yessenia Galvan
9/7...................... Richard Cisneros
9/8...................... Vincent Berardini
9/8............................Sierra Castillo
9/11................................. Jose Alas
9/11.......................Giovanni Cahue
9/13.......................... Robert Reyna
9/14.............................. Lupe Perez
9/15........................... Cat Martinez
9/15............................Angel Ruelas
9/15......................... Jaime Vasquez
9/17............................... Kyle Galaz
9/17.......................... Brian Hughes
9/18...........................Brian Conner
9/18.......................... Lio Fernandez
9/21................... Yolanda Escalante
9/22.................. Nuncio Caggianelli
9/22...................... Dino Hernandez
9/22........................ Sharon Perkins
9/23................... Roberto Gutierrez
9/23................... Miguel Hernandez
9/23.............................. Rick Torres
9/24...........................Staci Sanchez
9/26........................ Valorie Bullard
9/26.............................. Scott Cobb
9/28.....................Marcus Hampton
9/29...............Marcos Cruz Benitez
9/29.......................Fernando Tapia
9/30......................... Ramon Valdez
Can you guess
the employee to their correct pet?
M
ost of us have pets we love and what better way to show that than to
incorporate them into a mix and match game for a chance to win a
prize. For this game, write-in the employee number on the pet photo
that you think corresponds with the owner, and turn in this page to Human
Resources. The winners will get their names put in a jar and one lucky winner
will receive a gift card to Dewars!
1
2
Marlene
Stewart
3
Rob
Burke
6
7
Damon
Blanton
4
Jessica
Martinez
8
9
Brittney
Davis
11
12
Sierra
Castillo
5
Eddie
Espain
RJ
Williams
13
10
Dana
Spanel
14
Jeff
Northway
Bonnie
Bentley
Reese
Ruby, “Ewok”
Lindsey
Spurling
Joel
Salazar
15
Teresa
McDougall
Erin
Michal
Anniversaries
9/1
9/2
9/4
9/6
9/7
9/7
9/7
9/8
9/8
9/11
9/12
9/16
9/16
9/16
9/17
9/17
9/17
9/19
9/19
9/19
9/20
9/21
9/22
9/23
9/23
9/26
9/27
9/28
9/30
Dan Hay................... 38 yrs.
Alberta Murdock..........1 yr.
Federico Perez............ 8 yrs.
Rony Recinos............. 2 yrs.
Frankie Lopez........... 20 yrs.
Kaycee Schekel........... 5 yrs.
Danette Johnson........ 3 yrs.
Jesus Lara.....................1 yr.
Mike Von Allman..........1 yr.
Howard Whitson...... 23 yrs.
Mike Foster.............. 38 yrs.
Rudy Galicia............. 38 yrs.
Jesus Camacho........... 2 yrs.
Daniel Griffith........... 2 yrs.
Lowell Dow................ 8 yrs.
Esteicy Birrueta.......... 3 yrs.
Miguel Apodaca......... 2 yrs.
Michelle Coleman....... 3 yrs.
Lindsey Spurling......... 3 yrs.
Oscar Meza................ 4 yrs.
Bob Ely...................... 9 yrs.
Vikki Dabbert........... 28 yrs.
Brandon Allen ......... 12 yrs.
Lio Fernandez............. 2 yrs.
Elena Martinez........... 2 yrs.
Nicole Martinez........ 10 yrs.
DeeDee Crisman...... 22 yrs.
Jill Villa.................... 14 yrs.
Jaime Vasquez..............1 yr.
Jack Bauer
was rescued two
years ago from
the hands of
terrorists.
Smitty
is an 8 year
old Snorkie,
Schnauzer/yorkie
mix.
Warbenyagermanjensenis
is a 7 year old
Yorkshire Terrier.
Rusty
is an 8yr old
poodle mix.
Coco
is currently
an expectant
mother!
Pashka
is a 14 year old
Siberian Husky.
Alfie
loves to lay on
warm clothes,
fresh out of
the dryer.
was rescued
under a truck on
the commercial
sales lot.
Chimi
Rocky
(short for Chimichanga) was a rescue.
The only woman
Her name
besides his mother
represents her
that doesn’t judge him. fighter spirit.
Paisley
loves to play
ball and is full
of energy.
Lacy Lue
is a 2 year old
mutt that loves
taking selfies.
T.J.
was rescued from
the Wasco animal
shelter and now
rules the roost.
Sara
is a 4yr old
German Shepard/
wolf mix.
Sterling
was born in
my garden.
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