Thank you to our December Newsletter Committee

J I M B U R K E E M P L O Y E E U P D AT E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4
Thank you to our December Newsletter Committee: Nick Annunziata, Cathy Reese, Barry Hopfe & Mitch Mullan
Things
You
Auto
Know
Friday, 11/21
Dealership Clean Up Day!
Thursday, 11/28
Closed for Thanksgiving
Approximately 450 Hot Dogs
and over 300 Bags of Chips
were consumed on the recent
Team Jersey Day and BBQ!
Wednesday, 12/24
Christmas Eve
Closing at 1 p.m.
Thursday, 12/25
Closed for Christmas
Wednesday, 12/31
New Year’s Eve
Closing at 5 p.m.
Marla Moreno chose to
donate her winnings from
the Halloween Costume
Contest to the Bakersfield
Homeless Shelter! What a
wonderful Cinderella!
Thursday, 1/1
New Year’s Day – Closed
2015 Head Bobbing
Mustangs Are Here!
W
by Nick Annunziata
ow! I’d say that’s the best looking Mustang yet. It not only looks good, but performs
even better. At first I was surprised Ford decided to take another stab at a turbo 4cyl.
The last one made was the SVO model in 1986, but make no mistake this 2.3 Eco boost
is nothing like the 2.3 in 1986. This mill produces 50% more horsepower than its predecessor
and ten horsepower more than the 2005 mustang GT… V8!! Boasting 310hp and 320lb –ft. of
torque this 2.3 Eco boost is a great testament to Ford engineering.
The Mustang GT has also bumped it’s horsepower up to 435 and an even 400lb –ft. of torque.
That even horsepower and torque curve will leave you pressed to the back of your seat through
all six gears. If you prefer an automatic transmission you can still shift through the gears with
the available steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. This option allows you to override the
automatic transmission and shift through the gears with a push of a button.
Not impressed yet? Well I have 2 words for you… Track Options. That’s right; Ford is giving
the true Mustang enthusiasts what they want. Let’s be honest you didn’t buy a 435hp sports
car to go putt around town on the weekends did you? Heck no! You want to smoke those tires,
accelerate through corners and hold that gear to 5000rpm. Well… Fords got your back. With
options like Electronic Line Lock and Launch Control (manual transmission) you can get better
track times than ever before. By the way these are track options, not stoplight to stoplight
options. I’m sure that rule will be followed to a T.
Overall the new Mustang has delivered on all cylinders. The styling and performance options
make it an easy sale. I know I’m sold….I’m still trying to convince the wife that it’s imperative
that I have one though.
Consumer Experience Movement:
The Road to the Finals!
Have you ever thought about why some teams make it to the playoffs more often than others?
Many times the answer is the quality of communication between the management or coaches and the players on the team. A good
organization will encourage feedback from the players and the coaches will take that input and help the team get to the next level.
So that brings us to you, really all of us, and what we can do on a daily basis to improve our dealership and the opinion of the
consumer to make our company the best that it can be.
We have come so far in the past few years, through the Consumer Experience Program, that the momentum is beginning to
accelerate. We need to continue to do what we have been coached to do, and repeat it often. The little things that are so valuable are
the ones most often overlooked. Just saying “hello” to everyone at work is a start. Picking up after yourself and others is another.
Starting a task before the day that it is due is yet another.
Most of us work in departments that have many people. Those days that flow the smoothest are the days that each of us are concerned about the next person that has to move the ball forward. When we plan ahead and consider how we affect the next person
we become one team. One team striving to reach the same goal.
In most areas, someone listens to the customer’s needs, put it to words that can be interpreted, perform the tasks needed, and
completes the necessary paper work required before the Customer arrives to pick up their vehicle.
How well we perform that with consistency and a smile will take us to the playoffs.
Dear Jim
Burke Ford,
My name is Sofia Magana and
I am a freshman at Wasco
High. I would like to take the
time to thank you for financially
supporting my 2014 Kern
County Market Hog. … I learned
a lot of responsibility from
this experience. I learned how
to raise an animal and how
much love and attention he
actually needs. This experience
helped me grow as a person
and has helped me appreciate
the FFA program and all it has
to offer. … The biggest thing I
learned was that it takes a big
commitment to raise an animal…
The money I have earned, I
plan to save for college and for
my future project in the FFA.
I’d like to attend Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo or UCLA. Again
thank you for your generosity.
Sincerely,
Sofia Magana
Ice Cream Social!
I
n September we celebrated the end of summer with an Ice Cream Social! It was
a small way to say “thank you” to our employees for a job well done over the
hot summer months in Bakersfield!
There were 3 flavors of ice cream to choose from and almost any topping you could
think of to customize an ice cream sundae to suit your taste!
You can always count on Mike Foster to bring a banana from home to make a banana split
but this year he brought something different….a bacon bowl! Dewar’s has nothing on him!
Many thanks to Wendy Morrison and Adriana Pena from our Human Resources
Department for organizing this event!
Rideshare Week
R
ideshare Week took place October 6th – 10th and was
sponsored by Commute Kern. According to their
website, “Rideshare Week is an annual statewide campaign that promotes carpooling, transit and other alternatives
to driving alone as a means of easing traffic congestion and
improving air quality.”
We had twenty employees pledge that they
would be sharing the ride, or taking an alternative means of transportation for that week.
To encourage participation, Commute Kern
offered to raffle off prizes to the participants.
So, to encourage our employees to sign up, we
Chris Castillo
offered up the option that if you were going
to pledge to share the ride for the entire Rideshare Week, we
would enter your name into our raffle five times. If you were
By Wendy Morrison
only able to pledge two days,
your name would be entered
twice, and so on. 80% of our
employees that entered the
raffle, pledged all five days.
Chris Castillo, Oak Street Tamara Porter; Administrative Intern
for Commute Kern, Margaret Murkland
Parts Wholesale, won the and Susanne Campbell; Rideshare
Coordinator for Commute Kern.
Jim Burke Ford raffle and
selected a $50 Chevron gasoline gift card as his prize (he shares
the ride with Javier Pena also Oak Parts Wholesale). While,
Margaret Murkland, Oak Street Parts Clerk, won an iPod shuffle
from the Commute Kern competition!
Check out Commute Kern online at commutekern.org to
learn more information about their organization, view traffic
reports, road conditions, and air quality.
Halloween Hi-Jinx!
O
n October 31st the 2nd Annual Halloween Bake-Off was
held at the downtown store to benefit the Bakersfield
Homeless Shelter. The planning committee went all
out by ghoulishly decorating the conference room. Haunting
sounds were provided by DJ Mason DeLaCruz. Participants on
the committee were Victoria DeLaCruz, Natalie Gaona, Erin
Michal, Elena Martinez, Maria Crowe, Naomi Jimenez, Danette
Johnson and Jessica Martinez. Items were judged on creativity
by Chad Manning, Kaycee Schekel and Vicki LaMont.
First Place went to Elena Martinez with her graveyard decorated cake, Sharon Perkins came in second with a cake decorated with ghosts, and Jennifer Beltran won 3rd place with her
presentation of brain pops on a platter!
After the judging was completed the entries went on sale and
a total of $160 was raised for the Homeless Shelter.
Later in the day, Halloween Costume Contests were held at
both the auto mall and the downtown locations!
Participants at the auto mall were
Frankenstein’s Wife, a Top Gun Pilot,
Cinderella and a Flapper! At the downtown store was Batman,
a Broken Doll, a team of 3 Referee’s, Super T, 3 Blind Mice and
the Farmers Wife, a Zombie, Tony Montana from Scarface, Jimmy
Conway (aka Robert DeNiro) from Goodfellas, a Jilted Bride, 2
Vampires, a team of 3 representing a vehicle contract, a Cat, a
Deer Hunter, the Buck Commander from Duck Dynasty, and a
team of 5 from Mario Bros!
Winners were picked based on the response of the crowd and
the winner from the Auto Mall was Cinderella (Marla Moreno)
while the 1st place and 2nd place winners in the individual
category at the downtown store went to the Jilted Bride (Erin
Michal) and Super T (Teresa McDougall)! The winner in the
team category went to the team of 5 from Mario Bros (Kaycee
Schekel, Lindsey Spurling, Dana Spanel, Leslie Rodriguez, and
Brittney Davis)!
Regardless if you participated or not, I believe we
all had a great time and enjoyed the camaraderie!
Many thanks to everyone who participated
in the spooktacular events!
Lincoln MKC “Launch”
Partners with Junior League of Bakersfield
O
ur partnership with the Junior League of Bakersfield to help launch the all-new Lincoln MKC was a great success. Our
team helped facilitate 122 test drives in a four hour period, which helped the Junior League raise over $5,000. These
funds are then re-invested through grants to support non-profits that work with women and children in Kern County.
All of the test-drivers were affiliated with the Junior League, and many of them were new to the Lincoln brand. Their response to
the MKC was overwhelming and many showed interest in speaking with our sales team or taking advantage of our Date Night
test drive program.
Joe Hay explained, “The best part of the event, for me, was watching how well our team worked together to execute the test drive
experience and help Jim Burke Lincoln put its best foot forward. The volunteers who staffed the event included people from all
different departments, and they did a great job demonstrating our values of professionalism and excellence. Special recognition should go out to Frank Villa and
Joel Salazar, who are back counter parts people by day but could have convinced
anyone they were salespeople, and Jill Villa, who helped recruit and organize the
team. It was just a really fun day.”
The Junior League of Bakersfield is an organiJLB actively seeks to impact the community through
zation of women committed to promoting direct service programs. Our current focus of child
voluntarism, developing the potential welfare reflects our commitment to serving the needs
of women and to improving the of our community. JLB projects focus on improving
community through the effective the lives of women and children in the community
by providing volunteers, training and funding to nonaction and leadership of trained profit organization in Kern County. The projects last
volunteers. Its purpose is exclu- for approximately three years and applications are
accepted in the fall for consideration.
sively educational and charitable.
Birthdays
Marla Moreno....................................... 12/1
Natanya Moreno................................... 12/4
Adam Martinez.................................... 12/8
Art Franco.......................................... 12/11
Kyle Northway..................................12/12
Eddie Espain....................................... 12/15
Matt Muñoz......................................... 12/16
Lance Mitchell................................... 12/17
Ted Aurand......................................... 12/18
Temo Martinez.................................. 12/18
Frank Villa ........................................ 12/18
Andy Hamm....................................... 12/19
Lori Crawford....................................12/21
Sal Lugo..............................................12/22
Jill Villa ..............................................12/22
Marco Ramirez...................................12/23
Ernesto Salvador...............................12/26
Vickie De La Cruz..............................12/27
Alek Golden-Morris...........................12/28
Christopher Castillo.........................12/29
Anniversaries
12/4
12/6
12/10
12/12
12/19
12/26
12/30
12/30
Misty Carrillo........................8 yrs.
David Banda......................... 29 yrs.
Joe Whitby..............................7 yrs.
Valorie Bullard.................... 18 yrs.
Marlene Steward....................9 yrs.
Veronica Mendivil..................3 yrs.
Gil Sernas...............................9 yrs.
Sergio Garcia............................1 yr.
Opens in Auto Mall
A
hardy team of four Auto Mall Techs launched the
Express Lane Service in mid – October. The team is
led by the 18 year veteran of Jim Burke Ford, Fernando Tapia (pictured right).
The additional members are Evan Barnard, Jesus Camacho, and Aaron Morrison.
The Express Lane is built on the same framework as our own very successful QuickLane at the Oak Street location. It features the Works – Timing Process which allows
the customer to monitor the progress of their vehicle on their phone, thru our website,
and on monitors in the waiting lounge.
The short term goal is to handle 25 vehicles per day and as production increases
we will add additional teams to handle the work flow. The Express Lane is open from
7:00am till 5:00pm – Monday thru Friday.
With the addition of the Auto Mall location, we will be able to offer easy access and
quick service to all our customers from both ends of town. “One of the best features that
I’ve seen is the ability to handle customers during the lunch time hour” states Roger
Lara. “We can take in a vehicle at noon and have them on their way within the hour.
We have never been set up to offer this type of service for our customers.”
Special thanks go out to Daniel Griffith, and Jesus Camacho (former Quick-Lane
aces now working as techs in the Auto Mall) for their help and insight in setting up the
Express Lane. Also, a special thanks to Nick Annunziata (Quick Lane Manager) for his
assistance in getting this project off the ground.