plus 4, Green Tree Road dispute moves to federal court - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Green Tree Road dispute moves to federal court - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
West Allis man charged with attempting to kill wife - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Over 900 GM and Chrysler car dealers try to get businesses back - MLive.com
Over 900 car dealers try to get businesses back - Chippewa Herald
Your Reader-Submitted Articles - Hartford Courant

Green Tree Road dispute moves to federal court - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 01:29 PM PST

Jan. 21, 2010 | Wisconsin will expand its apprenticeship programs to help nearly 3,000 unemployed workers get training for green jobs ranging from wastewater treatment plant operators to energy auditors.

The state has received $6 million in funding for statewide clean energy job training for targeted groups, including veterans, workers laid off from the auto industry's cutbacks and other unemployed workers.

The state Department of Workforce Development's Wisconsin Apprenticeship program will be expanded to create new apprenticeship programs for weatherization technicians, energy auditors and wastewater treatment plant operators. It will also expand apprenticeship programs for the electric power industry.

Partners in the grant include the Wisconsin Technical College System, the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, Milwaukee Area Investment Board, Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board, Wisconsin Energy Corp., Ruud Lighting, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., among others.

The initiative calls for 2,950 people to be trained and for more than 2,500 to get employment in energy and related fields. The stimulus-funded initiative, announced Wednesday, calls for $190 million to be allocated nationwide. »Read Full Blog Post

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West Allis man charged with attempting to kill wife - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 01:58 PM PST

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Over 900 GM and Chrysler car dealers try to get businesses back - MLive.com

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 01:08 PM PST

By The Associated Press

January 22, 2010, 3:21PM

AP PhotoA real estate signs stands at Cook Auto, a former Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealer in Little Rock, Ark. The American Arbitration Association says 21 percent of GM and Chrysler dealers being shut down have appealed the automakers' decision to close them.DETROIT — Michael Wolf is taking a big gamble that he can convince an arbitrator to give him back his Chrysler-Jeep dealership.

He's among more than 900 car dealers nationwide who have signed up to appeal decisions by General Motors Co. or Chrysler Group LLC to revoke their franchise agreements and shut them down.

GM wants to close 2,000 dealers by October of this year, but 700 of those will remain open because the automaker allowed them to keep selling some of the company's brands while taking away others.

Both companies say the closed dealers weren't performing well, and they need to make the cuts to keep the remaining ones healthy so they can invest in better showrooms and more advertising to boost sales. Many dealers were in locations away from where customers now shop, work or live.

But the politically connected dealers said the companies unfairly took businesses that were in their families for generations, and they persuaded Congress to pass a law requiring binding arbitration. The American Arbitration Association, which will handle the hearings, says 32 percent of the closed dealers filed appeal paperwork by Friday afternoon. The rest have until midnight Monday to file.

When Chrysler took Wolf's franchises in June, his family kept the dealership open by selling used cars and with its repair service. They joined a group of Wisconsin dealers who took Chrysler to federal court, saying that state law protected them from being severed from the company. The appeal is pending in New York.

Now, Wolf will spend anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000 on legal fees in an effort to get the franchises back.

He's not sure if he meets every criteria to win, but he says Wolf Motor Cars has been profitable mainly from repairs and selling used cars, and it invested heavily in a building 10 years ago to upgrade its facilities for customers.

The arbitration association says its people will consider a dealership's profitability, the manufacturer's business plan, the dealership's economic viability, and whether the dealer met objectives outlined by the automaker.

Wolf concedes his new car sales had dropped, but says that's because Chrysler's sales were down nationwide. Last year, U.S. sales dropped 36 percent.

"The last couple of years haven't been terrific," he said. "We're in an area where there have been a number of businesses shut down. There's job losses. These affect business."

But he says he exceeded Chrysler's metrics in other areas including customer service satisfaction, which at times was the highest in Wisconsin or the nation.

"It wasn't because of a poor rapport with our customers or anything like that," he said.

Automakers know that some dealers like Wolf will win, meaning many neighborhood car lots could reopen. GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. has said he expects hundreds of dealers to get their franchises back during the process, which must be wrapped up by June 14.

India Johnson, an arbitration association senior vice president who is in charge of the appeals, said not all the dealers who file will get binding arbitration hearings. Some filed paperwork to preserve their appeal but may not proceed, while others may settle with the automakers before hearings, she said.

The hearings, which must be held in the dealership's home state, are likely to cost both sides a lot of money. Some dealers may lack cash to pursue them because they've closed their businesses or aren't making as much as they once did.

Wolf said dealers who appeal are gambling the legal fees in an effort to keep franchise agreements that alone are worth $500,000 to more than $2 million.

The nonprofit arbitration association will do all it can to keep costs down, Johnson said. In some cases, dealers may represent themselves without an attorney, and arbitrators in some cases may cut their hourly rates, she said.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has said the automaker may challenge the constitutionality of the arbitration law in federal court, but spokeswoman Kathy Graham said Friday that no decision has been made.

Graham said Chrysler already has had to hire people to handle the paperwork, and it likely will need teams of lawyers and company officials to attend multiple hearings on the same day in different states.

GM plans to have about 4,100 Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac dealers in the future. Chrysler had 2,352 dealerships remaining at the end of December.

Although he's pursuing arbitration, Wolf is worried about what he'll get if he wins. Chrysler, he said, has used names from his service database to direct customers to other dealerships.

The automaker also will give him a new franchise agreement with a new set of rules and perhaps tougher goals to meet in the future.

"They can rewrite the whole book," he said.

But he's got a good location on a main highway, and he'd like to keep making a living selling Chryslers and Jeeps.

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Over 900 car dealers try to get businesses back - Chippewa Herald

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 01:15 PM PST

Over 900 car dealers try to get businesses back

No comments posted.

By TOM KRISHER
Friday, January 22, 2010 3:16 PM CST

Michael Wolf is taking a big gamble that he can convince an arbitrator to give him back his Chrysler-Jeep dealership.

He's among more than 900 car dealers nationwide who have signed up to appeal decisions by General Motors Co. or Chrysler Group LLC to revoke their franchise agreements and shut them down.

Wolf and his wife have owned Wolf Motor Car Co. for 22 years in Plymouth, Wis., halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay. But inexplicably to him, his business was one of 789 nationwide that Chrysler forced to close last June while it was going through bankruptcy protection.

GM wants to close 2,000 dealers by October of this year, but 700 of those will remain open because the automaker allowed them to keep selling some of the company's brands while taking away others.

Both companies say the closed dealers weren't performing well, and they need to make the cuts to keep the remaining ones healthy so they can invest in better showrooms and more advertising to boost sales. Many dealers were in locations away from where customers now shop, work or live.

But the politically connected dealers said the companies unfairly took businesses that were in their families for generations, and they persuaded Congress to pass a law requiring binding arbitration. The American Arbitration Association, which will handle the hearings, says 32 percent of the closed dealers filed appeal paperwork by Friday afternoon. The rest have until midnight Monday to file.

When Chrysler took Wolf's franchises in June, his family kept the dealership open by selling used cars and with its repair service. They joined a group of Wisconsin dealers who took Chrysler to federal court, saying that state law protected them from being severed from the company. The appeal is pending in New York.

Now, Wolf will spend anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000 on legal fees in an effort to get the franchises back.

He's not sure if he meets every criteria to win, but he says Wolf Motor Cars has been profitable mainly from repairs and selling used cars, and it invested heavily in a building 10 years ago to upgrade its facilities for customers.

The arbitration association says its people will consider a dealership's profitability, the manufacturer's business plan, the dealership's economic viability, and whether the dealer met objectives outlined by the automaker.

Wolf concedes his new car sales had dropped, but says that's because Chrysler's sales were down nationwide. Last year, U.S. sales dropped 36 percent.

"The last couple of years haven't been terrific," he said. "We're in an area where there have been a number of businesses shut down. There's job losses. These affect business."

But he says he exceeded Chrysler's metrics in other areas including customer service satisfaction, which at times was the highest in Wisconsin or the nation.

"It wasn't because of a poor rapport with our customers or anything like that," he said.

Automakers know that some dealers like Wolf will win, meaning many neighborhood car lots could reopen. GM Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. has said he expects hundreds of dealers to get their franchises back during the process, which must be wrapped up by June 14.

India Johnson, an arbitration association senior vice president who is in charge of the appeals, said not all the dealers who file will get binding arbitration hearings. Some filed paperwork to preserve their appeal but may not proceed, while others may settle with the automakers before hearings, she said.

The hearings, which must be held in the dealership's home state, are likely to cost both sides a lot of money. Some dealers may lack cash to pursue them because they've closed their businesses or aren't making as much as they once did.

Wolf said dealers who appeal are gambling the legal fees in an effort to keep franchise agreements that alone are worth $500,000 to more than $2 million.

The nonprofit arbitration association will do all it can to keep costs down, Johnson said. In some cases, dealers may represent themselves without an attorney, and arbitrators in some cases may cut their hourly rates, she said.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has said the automaker may challenge the constitutionality of the arbitration law in federal court, but spokeswoman Kathy Graham said Friday that no decision has been made.

Graham said Chrysler already has had to hire people to handle the paperwork, and it likely will need teams of lawyers and company officials to attend multiple hearings on the same day in different states.

GM plans to have about 4,100 Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac dealers in the future. Chrysler had 2,352 dealerships remaining at the end of December.

Although he's pursuing arbitration, Wolf is worried about what he'll get if he wins. Chrysler, he said, has used names from his service database to direct customers to other dealerships.

The automaker also will give him a new franchise agreement with a new set of rules and perhaps tougher goals to meet in the future.

"They can rewrite the whole book," he said.

But he's got a good location on a main highway, and he'd like to keep making a living selling Chryslers and Jeeps.

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Your Reader-Submitted Articles - Hartford Courant

Posted: 22 Jan 2010 01:08 PM PST

We can all make a difference. Due to the tragic recent events in Haiti, from January 22 through February 14, Parsons Buick will donate 5 percent of the first $200 of any service, repair, or body shop order to Haitian Relief efforts through Unicef.

Parsons is also offering to match 5 percent of customer's personal donations. All personal donations can be given directly to the cashier through the cashier's window or they can be placed into donation boxes located in Parsons showrooms and service areas.Customers can also deliver donations to the cashier's window.

All donations will go directly to UNICEF's Haitian Relief Fund.

Parsons Buick of Plainville is located at 151 East St All checks can be made payable to Unicef. One hundred percent of the donations will go to the Unicef Haitian relief fund.

Parsons Buick of Plainville carries a line of pre-owned vehicles that includes various makes and models and has a full-service auto body shop and service department. Parsons Buick is celebrating 60 years of service in 2009. Contact Steve Parsons in Plainville at 860-747-1693 for more information.

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