“An Oasis of Stability Amid a Downturn - New York Times” plus 4 more |
- An Oasis of Stability Amid a Downturn - New York Times
- RepairPal Launches Only Online Scheduled Maintenance Pricing Estimator ... - PR Inside
- RepairPal Launches Only Online Scheduled Maintenance Pricing Estimator ... - Market Wire
- Dealers team with NAPA - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
- Consumer alert! Five lessons in integrity from Treasure Valley ... - Idaho Statesman
| An Oasis of Stability Amid a Downturn - New York Times Posted: 07 Oct 2009 02:46 AM PDT ARLINGTON, Va. — While many metropolitan markets around the country are enduring steep increases in vacancies in their office and retail sectors, the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington is an oasis of stability — and even of prosperity. Served by five Metro subway stops within four miles, the corridor continues to attract new tenants, buyers and developers in the face of the deepest recession since the Great Depression. "It's really an anomaly, considering the tough economy we've been in since December 2007," said Sigrid G. Zialcita, managing research director for Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services firm. The firm's most recent figures for the corridor show vacancy rates of 8.6 percent for offices — compared with a national suburban rate of 18.3 percent — and 3.5 percent for retail space, the second lowest of 23 major markets surveyed, ranging from 3.3 percent in Washington to 27.5 percent in Orlando. Office rents in the corridor are actually up slightly, but remain below those in Washington, across the Potomac River. "For comparable Class A space, we're looking in the D.C. central business district at about $50 to the mid-$60s for trophy space," Ms. Zialcita said. But in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, rents for Class A offices are $39 to $45 a square foot. The 3.3-mile corridor extends from the high-rise riverside canyons of Rosslyn; through Courthouse, the seat of Arlington County's government; to hip Clarendon; to Virginia Square with its branch campus of George Mason University; and finally to Ballston, a few square blocks of high-rise offices, hotels and residences and also a hub for science and technology. "The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor will continue to be the most sought-after area in Northern Virginia in the foreseeable future," Cushman & Wakefield said at the end of June. "It has remained resilient during the worst recession in decades, and should continue to do so, as demand will remain healthy and new supply will be low for the next few years." The positive economic vibe was evident this summer with the announcement that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency would move its 800 employees from older leased space nearby into a new 355,530-square-foot building designed to meet Defense Department antiterrorism standards. The new Darpa building, slated to be completed in 2012, is part of a 1.2-million-square-foot mixed-use project called Founders Square. The developer is the Shooshan Company, which was already the dominant builder in Ballston. It previously built the Liberty Center, a one-million-square-foot mix of commercial, residential and retail space completed in March 2008. "We just consistently have new development in what we call urban villages," said Terry Holzheimer, Arlington County's director of economic development, recalling that "we were a decaying urban corridor in the 1970s." Since then, he said, "Arlington has been nothing but consistent in terms of adding buildings over time: 20 million square feet of office space and 20,000-plus housing units over a 25-year period." Government agencies and related contractors account for 60 percent of the leased office space in the corridor, Mr. Holzheimer said. Arlington County's 26 square miles were a part of the original District of Columbia, but were returned to Virginia in 1846. The transit-related development in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor has won national recognition for smart growth that mixes offices, shops and living quarters close to subway stops. "We really worked on creating a sense of place, and on what kind of development we wanted near our Metro hubs," said Barbara A. Favola, chairwoman of the county's governing board. Rosslyn was little more than a collection of pawn shops and auto repair shops until the 1960s, when new office buildings rose to accommodate government agencies forced to relocate after the razing of temporary buildings erected on the Mall during World War I. Those early Rosslyn high-rises are now gradually being replaced by office towers. "The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, with its immediate access to downtown Washington, D.C., is an ideal submarket for transit-oriented, mixed-use development," said Brian P. Coulter, chief development officer of the JBG Companies, which has been a major developer in Rosslyn and is also active in Ballston. |
| RepairPal Launches Only Online Scheduled Maintenance Pricing Estimator ... - PR Inside Posted: 07 Oct 2009 02:17 AM PDT 2009-10-07 11:13:01 - EMERYVILLE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/07/09 -- RepairPal ( repairpal.com :  ), the leading destination for auto repair and maintenance information, today launched the only online source of complete pricing information for scheduled maintenance services for the top 40 makes of cars, including the additional services that are most frequently recommended by mechanics and manufacturers. By incorporating the additional services with pricing for parts and labor, RepairPal provides all the information consumers need to easily determine how much they should pay for a regular service.
Auto manufacturers provide several different maintenance schedules for every vehicle -- a basic "normal" schedule in the owner's manual, as well as additional details about "severe" services to address differences in climate, driving habits, and other adverse conditions. Because of this complexity, consumers can see a wide range of prices and offerings at local shops and dealerships.
Mechanics often recommend additional services that make standard estimates practically impossible to establish. These extra services are usually based on individual customer's driving habits, geography (weather conditions can affect which parts may wear out faster) and special uses (such as towing trailers), and can significantly affect the final price of a regular maintenance visit.
"We spent fourteen months conducting research and employed sophisticated database modeling to develop our scheduled maintenance estimates,"
To use the new estimator simply go to repairpal.com, get an estimate for your vehicle, then select one of the service intervals listed under "Scheduled Maintenance" in the top left corner of the service selection pop-up menu. RepairPal provides scheduled maintenance estimates for all of the more than 6,000 vehicles under coverage and includes maintenance intervals up to 150,000 miles.
About RepairPal
RepairPal is an Approved Vendor for the Automotive Service Councils of California ( ASCCA :
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| RepairPal Launches Only Online Scheduled Maintenance Pricing Estimator ... - Market Wire Posted: 07 Oct 2009 02:10 AM PDT SOURCE: RepairPal Offering Is User-Customizable to Capture Variations in Climate, Location, Driving Patterns and Special Uses EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwire - October 7, 2009) - RepairPal (http://repairpal.com), the leading destination for auto repair and maintenance information, today launched the only online source of complete pricing information for scheduled maintenance services for the top 40 makes of cars, including the additional services that are most frequently recommended by mechanics and manufacturers. By incorporating the additional services with pricing for parts and labor, RepairPal provides all the information consumers need to easily determine how much they should pay for a regular service. Auto manufacturers provide several different maintenance schedules for every vehicle -- a basic "normal" schedule in the owner's manual, as well as additional details about "severe" services to address differences in climate, driving habits, and other adverse conditions. Because of this complexity, consumers can see a wide range of prices and offerings at local shops and dealerships. Mechanics often recommend additional services that make standard estimates practically impossible to establish. These extra services are usually based on individual customer's driving habits, geography (weather conditions can affect which parts may wear out faster) and special uses (such as towing trailers), and can significantly affect the final price of a regular maintenance visit. "We spent fourteen months conducting research and employed sophisticated database modeling to develop our scheduled maintenance estimates," explained David Sturtz, CEO, RepairPal. "We also consulted with our many experts to determine the other services that are typically recommended at each mileage interval under various conditions. The result of our efforts is a free, accurate and user-tailored product that's unique within the industry." To use the new estimator simply go to repairpal.com, get an estimate for your vehicle, then select one of the service intervals listed under "Scheduled Maintenance" in the top left corner of the service selection pop-up menu. RepairPal provides scheduled maintenance estimates for all of the more than 6,000 vehicles under coverage and includes maintenance intervals up to 150,000 miles. About RepairPal Award-winning RepairPal is the only automotive resource delivering free, "instant" RepairPrice Estimates via the Web and its popular iPhone mobile application. RepairPal provides the most accurate auto repair and maintenance information available anytime, anywhere, built by its team of factory-trained and ASE-certified technicians. RepairPal's patent-pending technology generates more than 70 billion unique RepairPrice Estimates for almost all passenger vehicles and every zip code in the country. It also has the most comprehensive directory of auto repair facilities in the U.S. and a proprietary database of each model's common problems. RepairPal is an Approved Vendor for the Automotive Service Councils of California (ASCCA) and a Member Benefit for the Automotive Service Association (ASA). It has established partnerships with AAA, CustomerLink, Cars.com, Bosch, ACDelco, Belo Interactive, AutoNation and Gabriels Technologies. RepairPal has won awards from Apple, The New York Times, PC Magazine, Laptop Magazine and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Founded by auto enthusiasts and experts, RepairPal is headquartered in Emeryville, CA. For more information, please visit http://repairpal.com. |
| Dealers team with NAPA - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Posted: 07 Oct 2009 01:13 AM PDT FORT WAYNE – Two area auto dealerships snubbed by Chrysler have rebounded by forming new ties with NAPA Auto Parts. Meyer Auto Sales in Monroeville sealed the deal in September, creating a NAPA-certified auto care center, a spokesman said Tuesday. Tomkinson Automotive in Fort Wayne signed on in June. The agreement – which cost Tomkinson $695 for one year – means service customers who have trouble with their cars can go to any NAPA-affiliated business for work covered by warranty. Tomkinson struck the deal to retain customers, said Scott High, service director. Without the alliance, the independent dealership couldn't assure customers who travel that their parts could be serviced under warranty out of state, High said. Tomkinson and Meyer lost dealership agreements with Chrysler LLC in June when the Detroit automaker terminated 789 U.S. dealership agreements to cut costs. Tomkinson continues to sell new BMWs. Both dealers sell used cars and offer maintenance and repair services. Meyer employs eight. Tomkinson employs 48 in sales and service. As certified NAPA auto care centers, the local dealerships receive in-person training, online training and advertising support. They use NAPA-brand parts and paint. "We're really happy," said Louie Meyer, service manager at Meyer Auto Sales. "We had several other options. This seemed like the best fit for us." Meyer declined to say what those other options were. Founded more than 80 years ago, NAPA stands for the National Automotive Parts Association. The company has more than 6,000 stores nationwide.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Consumer alert! Five lessons in integrity from Treasure Valley ... - Idaho Statesman Posted: 07 Oct 2009 12:23 AM PDT The Better Business Bureau works to be the leader in advancing marketplace trust. We accomplish that mission every day by setting standards for business, supporting businesses in doing the right thing, and educating consumers (this weekly column is a great venue). We tell you about the people and businesses not to trust because of their unethical behavior. The most fun we have is celebrating five businesses each year for being role models in acting with ethics and integrity. We call the program Integrity Counts. We received about 100 nominations this year. Judges reviewed the entries and chose a standout in each of the five business categories: micro, small, medium, large and nonprofit. Even in these challenging economic times, we found businesses setting the bar for ethics and integrity. All of us can learn valuable lessons of doing the right thing - all the time. Take Garry and Jerylin Plimmer at Garry's Automotive, for example. The auto repair shop unknowingly received a drum of contaminated brake fluid. The shop did a basic $60 brake job for a woman who was on her way to California. The dirty fluid caused the brakes to fail - in California. Garry loaded his pickup with the tools and parts necessary and drove 13 hours one-way to make the repair. It all happened over the weekend. Bill and Chris Keilty of Keilty Remodeling were showing work they had completed 10 years ago to a prospective customer when Bill noticed small spots in the linoleum. He pulled the homeowner aside and asked about the discoloration. Bill figured out the spots were rust from nail heads that had gotten wet during the remodel 10 years prior. He paid for new linoleum. We turn to Terry MacDonald at Window Wizard, where an employee walked across an unfinished deck while cleaning windows at a customer's home. The employee had no idea what he had done, but it was an expensive mistake, causing significant damage. Terry insisted that his company pay for the deck repairs. Kent Oram at Idaho Central Credit Union told us about a customer who was in a rush preparing for an out-of-state trip. The customer's bank card wasn't working, and there was understandable panic. Rather than pointing the customer to automated phone and computer "customer service" solutions, a teller took on the challenge, personally helping the customer. The teller walked the customer and his card to an ATM to test the account to be sure it would work. Brent and Brad Carpenter run Brown Bus Co. After a bus was involved in a fatal accident - through no fault of the bus driver - I called Brent to check in on him. His only concern was for the families involved. There wasn't a word spoken about his business. Integrity shines through in the most difficult times, when tough decisions are made and business owners do the right thing, even at extraordinary cost. Congratulations to this year's recipients of Integrity Counts. Thank you for setting a great example. Dale Dixon is president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau, a not-for-profit organization serving Southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon. Reach him at 342-4649 or ddixon@boise.bbb.org. |
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