Small Business Solutions - Christopher Kersting

Ivy Hartman: Welcome to SBTV.com's coverage of the 2008 SEMA Show here in Las Vegas. I'm Ivy Hartman and I'm very honored to have with me Christopher Kersting the CEO and President of the SEMA organization. Chris welcome to small business television! Christopher J. Kersting: Good morning. Ivy Hartman: Absolutely! Yes it's been a good morning, on day two here at SEMA. Christopher J. Kersting: That's right. Ivy Hartman: Talk about the small business members of SEMA and how many of them actually make up the organization. Christopher J. Kersting: Well, most people would never guess this. SEMA is an organization of 7000 member companies, over 7000 and most of those companies are little tiny companies. We're talking maybe 5-10 employees. And even here at the SEMA Show, we have about 2000 companies exhibiting. 500 of those approximately are new first-time exhibiting companies, many of them of course very small businesses. So, manufacturers that might only have 5 or 10 employees, so this show and this association are really important to these small businesses. Ivy Hartman: Well that segways into my next question, how important is SEMA to these small businesses, especially during the tough economic times that we're facing? Christopher J. Kersting: So, you have an organization that basically bounds together the resources of all these little players and with that collected resource, we're able to do things to them that they could never do on their own. And in a tough economic climate, businesses need to work a little bit smarter, they need to work a little bit leaner, they need to figure out how to do the very best they can with the resources they have. And we've been working really hard to tailor all our educational programs this year to help companies get through a tough time, to prepare for the show in a way that they really make the best use of the show, to get the most out of it. And recognize that this market will turn and by being at the SEMA Show, they're positioning their products for when the market finally does turn around. And as you can see, even against the headwind, this show is rocking. Ivy Hartman: Absolutely it is! I'm hearing that it might be one of the second largest attended in SEMA history, despite. Christopher J. Kersting: We will know until the end of the week, but it's shaping up really nicely. Ivy Hartman: I know that you guys do a great job of doing market research for your members and getting that information to them. Have you been serving your members currently in finding out what their greatest challenges are or issues are right now that they're facing or they're looking for? Christopher J. Kersting: A big challenge for the association, but which is also kind of our strength, is that we have such a diverse group under the umbrella of SEMA membership. So, we have all sorts of different functions, some associations are only a manufacturers association, we are manufacturers, we're distribution, we're retail, installers, we're publications, we're all those companies. So, when we think about what SEMA does, we have to keep that in mind. Then, we also have many different segments of the automotive niche. So, we have of the specialty niche, we have guys in truck and off road, we have racing and performance, we have the mobile electronics people, we have the wheel and tire guys. So, it's really a challenge to tailor all those programs and try and meet different needs. Now we've developed the system of councils. So, the councils help do that for us. They listen to what the members are most interested in, what they need the most and we try and provide that through the councils. And then through the broader organization, we have a Board of Directors, they bring to us a good sense of what it is that we need to be focusing on and the focus is really changing. Here's our crazy time in the automotive industry, a time of high, big-magnitude changes. And really in a way, some of us don't know exactly what that means, a year from now, two years from now. So we're having to pay extra special attention to what's happening with our membership, what's happening out there in the environment to say what is it. Our big area of focus in a time like that is education. Trying to come up with programs that are responsive to the things our members are telling, business technology, how do I incorporate business technology in my small business. Business technology creates efficiency. So, that's an area as an example. Complex vehicle technology, vehicle technology is coming at these guys faster and in many cases, much more complicated than it's ever been. So, we're building programs to try and help sort that out for them, and help them get to a place where they can integrate their products a little bit more easily. Those are a few examples of how we respond kind of at the specific level. Ivy Hartman: Perfect. I know that, you were talking about different committees. And also a part SEMA's role is to legislatively get involved with it, so that they can benefit their members and the industry. Let's talk about the PAC approved button in the legislative process that SEMA has. Christopher J. Kersting: So, at the Federal level and especially given the developments with the elections this year, we expect a tougher regulatory environment for business. So, it's going to be really important for small businesses to pay attention to the organizations that are representing them in Washington DC. And a big part of that is, knowing which of the members of Congress are paying attention to our issues and are supportive of our issues and they can be Democrat or Republican and support those folks so that they get reelected. Well, a Political Action Committee is one way that an association can help do that, but it's interesting with the Political Action Committee, there are lots of rules, lots of requirements. One requirement is that you sign a little permission slip to let us talk to you about it. We're here at the show trying to get lots of people to sign up to be PAC approved. But they can also come onto the sema.org website and find our PAC Approval Form, get signed up and then we can let them know about the issues, we can let them know about the help we need to keep our PAC really thriving and keep those folks in Congress. Ivy Hartman: Okay, Chris changing gears a little bit, how is the SEMA show? It's been going on since the late 60s. How important is the show to the organization? Christopher J. Kersting: This show is a very special show among trade association activities, lot of different trade associations put on a trade show. Ivy Hartman: Right. Christopher J. Kersting: But when you come to this show you can see business-to-business commerce is one piece of this thing. But this is also a cultural happening. The automotive industry, the automotive culture around the world comes to SEMA to see what the trends are, to see what the latest cool things are, to kind of get re-energized with all that passion that comes from the innovation that shows up here. Let's start with this. Everybody at this show; all 2000 manufacturers are making a product for something that was delivered into the consumers' hands as a perfectly good finished product to begin with. Ivy Hartman: Right. Christopher J. Kersting: So, your mission is everyday I got to make something that makes that finished product better. So, it's really marvelous and that energy and what happens here, really kind of gets people going for the year. Sends them back out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. So, it's not just the business-to-business commerce, but that matter of kind of getting your finger on the pulse of what's cool, what's happening in our industry today. Ivy Hartman: And something I want our viewers to know is that, you can't let your finger on the pulse of it over our cameras, but when walk the floor, you can really sense, this is an international show. I mean, really and there are deals and things being made with decision makers that you might not be able to do. From all over the world people are here. It's just amazing, talk about the international event? Christopher J. Kersting: Well, it's tremendous, it's growing, it's one of the strongest growth areas for the show and it's in part fed by the matter that the vehicle manufacturers are needing to be global organizations in order to do well, to be efficient themselves. And that means we're seeing more common platforms used in different places. And we're seeing American nameplates in these countries and that helps kind of feed that interest in parts that are made for American people. So, we're helping our members. We have an international department. We've got presence in Europe, we've got presence in Mexico, we are in deep touch with Brazil, we've got presence overseas in the Pacific Rim, we've got people on the ground in China. And we're trying to help our members understand pathways to get into those markets. And that's a great thing because a lot of times when the US economy might be down, economies overseas are up and so it gives you a little bit of a hedge. But I think, we have maybe 8000 visitors this year from abroad, just buyer and visitors to the SEMA show and that's really tremendous. Ivy Hartman: It is remarkable, to be here and see all the different languages being shared. Membership for SEMA, do you see it swinging or shifting as the current economic -- or how do you, what trends do you see as far as membership growth or decrease for the organization? Christopher J. Kersting: It's been growing almost at an amazing rate really over the last 10 years. And part of that, I think maybe 10 years ago we might have been 3500 member company, or something like that and we're over 7000 today. And I think a lot of that growth was spurred by the matter that the media has kind of picked up on the automotive culture more than ever before and more and more consumers out there know about customizing vehicles, doing trick stuff. And that's feeding a bigger market. More companies are coming into that market. Like I said, close to 500 first-time exhibiting companies at this show, every year for the last 5-6 years. That's what's growing our market, growing our membership. So, I see that leveling off for low values, with an economy like we have right now, I see that kind of leveling awesome. But I'm still amazed that we have such a strong number even this year, against that headwind of new companies and all those companies who joined SEMA. And so it'll keep going and it'll keep growing. People love to innovate and they want to make a business out of that. Ivy Hartman: I am going to let take your official hide off for a minute, we're going to do a little bit of fun, I would like to know what your favorite thing is? Or are you a car enthusiast? How did you get to be the position you're in? Christopher J. Kersting: Well, you can't be in this job as long as I have and not be a car enthusiast. But I came to this by a completely different background. I was Legal Counsel for SEMA when I started out and had the great pleasure of working for the law firm that still today serves as SEMA's General Council, a fellow by the name of Russ Deane. And over the years I got more and more involved with our Board of Directors and different projects and it became more and more of my time in my life, and that's how I kind of found my way into SEMA and ultimately into the opportunity to lead this organization. Ivy Hartman: I'm definitely a restoration girl, so that appeals to me. Everything is really neat to look at. So what are -- Christopher J. Kersting: Like muscle car or? Ivy Hartman: Muscle car for me. But even both, I mean, I like classic cars too. It's something both. I mean, I own a couple myself, so it's fun. What about you, what is your kind? Christopher J. Kersting: My aspiration, I want to have like a 1950s truck. And I like both the Chevy trucks and the Ford trucks from that era. So, I collect, I get magazines sent to me. All the publications send magazines into SEMA and I get a couple of truck magazines, a couple of classic truck magazine and I tear pages out of them. I have a little folder that I keep and one of these days, I'm going to have a really cool truck. Ivy Hartman: And just the right one. Christopher J. Kersting: That's right. Ivy Hartman: Chris Kersting thanks for spending time with us at SBTV.com. Christopher J. Kersting: It's great to be with you guys; you perform a great service for small business, so we are happy to support it. Ivy Hartman: Thanks again, keep up right here, we're going to continue to bring you all things in automotive from the SEMA Show 2008 here in Las Vegas.