LIVING OUR VALUES OF INTEGRITY, RESPECT, PROFESSIONALISM AND EXCELLENCE. JIM BURKE EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER, MAY 2014
Jim Burke Lincoln
Previews the
New Lincoln MKC
by Joe Hay
im Burke Lincoln hosted two events in mid-May to give a select group of Bakersfield residents a special sneak peak
of the 2015 Lincoln MKC. The MKC is the newest vehicle from Lincoln, a small premium crossover that shares
platform architecture with the Escape and takes aim squarely at the Acura RDX, Audi Q5 and Mercedes GLK. The
MKC does not go on sale to the public until late June, and Jim Burke was able to secure a pre-production version to
demonstrate before the launch date.
The first event was with the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on May 14th. Jim Burke hosted a mixer for the
Chamber’s membership in the showroom, with the MKC displayed prominently in the center. Over 90 people came and enjoyed
complimentary wine from Imbibe, live music provided by Mauro, appetizers from Coseree’s Kitchen, and the chance to see
the MKC before the general public. Jim Burke Ford Lincoln is a new member of the Hispanic Chamber and this event was a
great way to reconnect with their membership and introduce the future of the Lincoln brand. Chad Yost, Lincoln Specialist
pictured below left, gave a presentation on the features of the new MKC and the Chamber awarded $7,500 in scholarship funds
to two local high school students.
The next night Jim Burke Lincoln hosted a special event just for employees and their families to preview the MKC. The
MKC was showcased in the Lincoln showroom, parked next to a 2014 Escape “titanium” to highlight the differences between
the two vehicles. Although the two vehicles share the same underpinnings, there is not a single piece of identical sheet metal
on the outside, and the MKC is noticeably lower and wider. Employees enjoyed live jazz guitar compliments of Pat Caploe and
refreshments from Luigi’s while having the luxury of pouring over a new vehicle in a private setting before it is released to
the public. Automall General Manager Joe Hay, pictured below right, noted that “We really enjoyed getting an opportunity
for our employees to preview the MKC. This vehicle has the potential to transform our Lincoln business and we will all play
a part in its future success.”
The Lincoln MKC’s starting price is projected to be $33,495. It will offer the
choice of a 2.0 or a 2.3 liter Ecoboost engine along with various other innovative
technologies. We expect our first vehicle to arrive before the end of June. Please
see Chad Yost and Sam Olson, Lincoln specialists, or any member of our sales
team for further details!
J
A hearty thanks to this month’s
newsletter committee:
Armando Gonzalez, Joe Hay,
and Tom Moser!
BRIGH
T SPOT S
Living Our Values Of Integrity,
Respect, Professionalism
and Excellence.
From Frank Thahim,
New & Used Sales Downtown
I wanted to share this story with
our team as I had a customer, Jutta
Ramirez, purchase a 2014 C-MAX
Hybrid a couple of weeks back. She was
very concerned about not being able to
get the advertised MPG as she had read
some negative things on the internet. She came in
to drop off her car to get the windows tinted last
night and she is still on her first tank of gas with
677 miles driven and is averaging almost 49 MPG!
She is one happy customer and all she has done
to get this MPG is pay attention to the Brake Coach
in the cars display.
I received a call from the Editor
of Ford Motor Company’s Frontline
Magazine in Detroit. She wanted to let
me know what a pleasure it has been to
work with Augie Reyes. She said Augie
was the first person to raise his hand
to volunteer to provide them feedback
on “texting”. He also was quick to get them the
content they were looking for and send in his edits.
He has been great!
We look forward to the article in the June edition
of Frontline. Great job Augie!
—Dan Hay, President
Sales Team At It’s Best!
The team at Jim Burke Ford made
for a very easy experience. Rob Boyd
(pictured left) and Don Summers
worked things out, all I had to do was
pick the color and sign a few forms.
My stepdaughter has already went and
bought a Fiesta from Rob since I leased
my Fusion, and her husband bought a Focus last
year. Jim Burke Ford is the only place to go for a
new car!
—Lola Nickell
Please join us for our annual
JIM BURKE
COMPANY
Daniel Contreras, New Vehicle Salesperson
Auto Mall Employee of the quarter
PICNIC
Naomi Jimenez, Contract Office Supervisor
Oak Street Employee of the quarter
Meet Leslie Rodriguez!
he Service Department has a great new team member!
Leslie stood out from the crowd of very qualified
applicants, during the interview process to select a
full time Appointment Coordinator. She was offered
the position in January. She learned the position very
quickly and has been instrumental in our successful integration
of the appointment scheduling system across both locations.
Leslie was born and raised in Bakersfield. She graduated from
North High in 2009, where she played softball and tennis. When
not at work, Leslie enjoys spending time with her one year old
daughter Mila and playing racquet-ball or Soccer with family
and friends. She claims to be a mean ping pong player as well!
Since entering the workforce Leslie has always worked in
customer facing roles. She has served customers with major
retailers such as, Home Depot, Jamba Juice and Starbucks. Her
friendly, outgoing personality has been well received by our
service customers. Leslie’s strong communication skills and
genuine concern for the customer have helped the department
provide a higher level of service. Her daily duties include,
answering incoming service phone calls, assisting customers
with warranty and other general questions, scheduling service
appointments for both stores, as well as educating customers
about QuickLane. Additionally, Leslie tracks declined services
and missed appointments for follow up.
Using the scheduling system, Leslie (alongside of Bonnie
Bentley, Lindsey Spurling, Vanessa Marin and Samantha Bera)
is able to quickly determine what type of service the customer
needs, find the next available technician at either
store and give the customer their choice of
appointment time, date, Service Advisor,
even Technician! Their work is allowing
us to operate as one team with two
locations and utilize all of our resources
better than ever.
Our new service scheduling office is
located to the north of the Oak Street
show room, behind Chad Manning’s
office. Stop in and introduce yourself to
Leslie when you have a chance. You can
look forward to learning more about other
rising stars in our service department in
upcoming issues!
T
Leslie Rodriguez, left, pictured wi th Lindsey Spurling, Assistant Service Advisor
Remember to
turn in your
"Old Key"
guess!
tion e 1914
i
d
A T ra
S inc
Happening Thursday,June 12th from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Pioneer Village at the Kern County Museum.
QWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWE
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7
Caramel
Candied
Apples
7 Iced Tea
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7 Popcorn
7 Lemonade
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Celebrating 50 Years
7
Sno-Cones
7 Soft Drinks
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of the Mustang!
7 Fresh Fruit
7 Bottled Water
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7 Root Beer Floats
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7 Bingo
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7 Tri-Tip
7 Egg Toss
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7Fried
Chicken
7 Scavenger Hunt
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7 Roasted Potatoes
7 Sack Races
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7
Pinto
Beans
7Explore Old Town
We're unlocking the doors! Our Scavenger
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7
Green
Salad
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Hunt will give you a chance to explore
k
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7 Broccoli Raisin Salad
the "old town" of Pioneer Village and
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7 Carnival Games
7 Fruit Salad
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uncover some fun and interesting facts!
7 Bounce House
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Forms and instructions to participate will
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7 Rock Climbing Wall
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be available at the Registration Table as
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7 Peach Cobbler
7 Face Painting
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you enter Pioneer Village. Participants
7 Apple Crisp
7 Sand Art
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answering the clues correctly will be
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7 Cinnamon Rolls
7 Bo Bo the Clown
entered in a drawing for $100.
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7 Cookies
& Yip-Yip the Chimp
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Music by
We've built our very own Gold Mining Trough! Experience the
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days of the much storied California Gold Rush! Learn how to
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pan for gold under the guidance of real prospectors!
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Reservations received by May 27th
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automatically enters you in the
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Early
Bird Door Prize drawing!
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Bring your family, but not your pets... they may be run over by the mustangs! Family includes spouse & dependent children living at home.
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If you are single, bring one guest! We love your pets, but please leave them at home—the museum does not permit them.
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Grub & Activities At Pioneer Village
Snacks
Western Themed Dinner
Drinks
Olde Time Family Fun
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Augie Reyes sets the bar.
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Employees
of the 8
Quarter
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MUSTANG CLUB EXHIBIT
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Family
Scavenger Hunt
Kid’s Carnival
Dessert
GOLD PANNING Presented by Golden Valley Prospectors
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Door Prizes Like Crazy & $500 Grand Prize!
THEE MAJESTICS
Anniversaries
6-3 Fernando Tapia................18 yrs.
6-3 Bono Saucedo....................10 yrs.
6-4 Chris Strong......................13 yrs.
6-4 Jesus Gomez...................... 11 yrs.
6-4 Alek Golden-Morris............ 1 yr.
6-5 Yolanda Escalante.............8 yrs.
6-7 Sharon Perkins................ 32 yrs.
6-8 Mickey Wade.....................33 yrs.
6-8 Sergio Aguilera..................2 yrs.
6-8 Evan Nelson........................2 yrs.
6-13Hugo Salceda......................7 yrs.
6-14Brittney Davis...................... 1 yr.
6-14Aaron Leyva......................... 1 yr.
6-15Bob Hallum........................10 yrs.
6-16Fernando Leal ................. 17 yrs.
6-16Javier Pena........................ 17 yrs.
6-17Debbie Ehler.................... 29 yrs.
6-17Melinda Whiteley................ 1 yr.
6-20Alan Giblin...........................9 yrs.
6-20Joey Cortez..........................3 yrs.
6-20Cece Espinoza.....................3 yrs.
6-25Ken Covey..........................34 yrs.
6-25Steve Witt...........................30 yrs.
6-26Maria Crowe......................30 yrs.
6-27Chris Ortega......................... 1 yr.
6-28Joey Silveira........................4 yrs.
6-29John Hay..............................3 yrs.
QUICK LANE NEWS
by N i ck Annun z i at a
uick Lane’s Works Timing is making waves with Ford Motor Company.
Over the past month, several representatives from Ford Motor Company
and Quick Lane have dropped in to see what all the commotion is about.
From the expressions on their faces when they walked into Quick Lane,
I would have to say they were impressed with the customer’s display. I was
able to show them the entire back end of the system including reports that are used
to pay the lube tech’s bonuses.
They enjoyed the ease in which the system was able to be navigated. They could
see the obvious benefits of being able to look into the shop from anywhere with the
touch of a button (this feature is not only beneficial to our customers but also to a
manager or advisor). Just pull out your smart phone and log into to www.quicklane.
workstiming.com. I explained that on this website you could even reserve a time by
pressing the “Reserve Now” button. The button will call the shop and from there you
can reserve your place in line. These are all features neither of them had seen before.
They were impressed with the system’s ability to generate a text informing customers
when their vehicle is started and when it is finished. The advisors even receive text
messages if one of their jobs happens to miss a start time or estimated duration.
They spoke with the technicians about how they felt about the system. Most of
them responded that they thought it made the shop more organized which can be a
huge benefit.
The main thing that impressed them was that the system is working. If you look at
the report reflecting “Meeting Estimated Promise Time” you can see the techs are all in
the high 90th percentile. We’re hitting these estimated promise times and start times.
With the right advisors and technicians, the Works Timing is a very effective tool.
I think all of the representatives from Ford and Quick Lane walked away with a good
understanding of the system and of how our team is making it work.
Q
A Great Friend & Employee Retires
by A r man do Go n z a l ez
n Thursday, May 15, 2014, we all gathered to say our goodbyes to a great
friend and employee as he retired. Kirk Perkins first came to work at Jim
Burke Ford, in 1984. Kirk began working as a mechanic in the late 70’s, when
he got work as a cotton picker mechanic. He then moved to work on vehicles,
in Atascadero, then San Luis Obispo before returning to Bakersfield at Earl’s
Automotive. After a few years at Earls, he decided to move on and came to work at Jim
Burke Ford as a used car mechanic, under Bob Reed. Kirk worked for us for two years,
(1984-1986), before leaving. Kirk returned to Jim Burke Ford in 2004 as a Dealer Trade
Driver. In 2013, he started helping the parts department as a driver when they became
shorthanded. Kirk became a permanent
driver for the parts department and was
a key to improving the customer service
level in our delivery process. Kirk enjoys
working on computers and baking his own
chocolate chip cookies; convinced that
he’ll outperform Mrs. Fields. Kirk retired
on April 22, 2014, and now plans to enjoy
his woodworking hobby to keep busy. We
all wish Kirk the best in his retirement.
So Kirk enjoy, relax and have fun.
O
Kirk Perkins pictured with spouse Sharon, Chief Accountant at Jim Burke, and two of their five children: Michael and Zenia
HR
FROM
Birthdays
Irma Gaspar.......................................6-2
Mike Bahena......................................6-3
Gene Flora..........................................6-3
Raul Medina.......................................6-3
Catherine Mahan..............................6-5
Donovan Hawk................................. 6-7
Jason McLey...................................... 6-7
Matthew Clark..................................6-8
Stacey Hodge.....................................6-8
Hugo Salceda.....................................6-9
Diego Ruiz........................................ 6-10
Chris Castillo.................................... 6-11
Ashley Grombly.............................. 6-11
Tomas Mejia..................................... 6-11
Salvador Garcia...............................6-12
Eric Salazar..................................... 6-13
Veronica Mendivil.......................... 6-14
Juan Amaro...................................... 6-18
Vic Arellano..................................... 6-19
Sal Ramos.........................................6-21
Ronny Riggs....................................6-21
Miguel Apodaca............................. 6-22
Garrett Clark ................................. 6-25
Dawn Grant..................................... 6-25
Charles Stubbs................................ 6-25
Emilio Duran...................................6-27
Melinda Whiteley.......................... 6-28
Please note that open enrollment for health insurance is coming
up soon the week of June 9th. We are finalizing the numbers and
will have deduction information to you soon. Make sure you look
at your situation carefully and be prepared to make decisions the
week of June 9. If you have questions or need help, call Human
Resources at extention 744.