Kenneth Bartz of Tom Dwyer Automotive in Portland was one of four national winners in the recent 2007 Professionals' Choice Auto Parts VIP Race Weekend promotion sponsored by the Automotive Parts Associates (APA). Four winners attended the Sept. 30 NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway.

Mike Alexander recently opened a collision repair shop in Lakeview under the name Alexander's Auto Body. Alexander is also a disc jockey at a local radio station in Lakeview.

Haslam Auto Sales in Pendleton has closed after 18 years due to investigations by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) into illegal actions. DMV found that Haslam failed 36 times to provide vehicle titles and registration to the agency within 30 days, and the firm was fined $9,000. Several vehicle sales from earlier this year have not yet been issued titles or registrations. Facing several other violations and fines, the firm closed it doors.

 
A recent fire at Sweet Home Radiator & Muffler Service in Sweet Home destroyed the business owned by Ron Forsythe. Fire crews from four districts battled the two-alarm fire. The uninsured building received $250,000 in damage.

Don Morissette, one of Portland's largest home builders, has opened Ecomotion, a dealership that sells Zap electric cars, trucks, and scooters. The Sandy Boulevard operation in Portland claims to have the largest Zap inventory in the country.

Lithia Motors recently moved its Dodge Chrysler Jeep franchise from its downtown location to its long-planned 80-acre site near the Medford airport.  After operating downtown for nearly four decades, the move to Lithia's new Rogue Valley Auto Mall will also soon include its local Honda, Volkswagen, Nissan, BMW, Toyota, and Saturn franchises. Lithia, which operates dealerships in several Western states, is also completing a $35 million BMW dealership near Safeco Field in Seattle, moving its existing Capital Hill store to that location, and has broken ground on a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in Spokane.

Transmission Exchange Co. in Portland has announced that it recently introduced the Tow Matrix Super Heavy Duty transmission for Chevy and GMC 4L80E transmissions engaged in towing, engine braking, snow plowing, and other extreme applications. The Tow Matrix package includes a variety of heavy-duty products to meet the needs of commercial use.
 
WASHINGTON
Gee Automotive Cos. of Spokane, one of the largest auto groups in the Northwest, has closed all of its dealerships in West Seattle that were purchased from Steve Huling last January for $5.3 million. Huling Bros. Buick was founded more than 60 years ago, with Chrysler and Chevrolet franchises later added. Ryan Gee, president of Gee Automotive, said the West Seattle dealerships never recovered from a 2006 scandal that involved Huling sales personnel stealing money from a mentally ill man who purchased a truck from the firm for cash, and later signed the truck over to a salesman while he was undergoing psychiatric treatment. Money was also stolen from the man's residence. Gee said his firm did not learn of the theft and fraud issues until after the purchase deal was completed, adding that the scandal caused a $300,000 decline in monthly sales since the matter was made public. Gee is filing legal actions against the former owner. More than 160 employees at the dealerships and an auto body repair facility were terminated in early October.

 I-5 Toyota, a longtime dealership in Chehalis, has received the 2006 Toyota Motor Sales President's Award for outstanding customer service and dealership operations. The firm has received the award for each of the last three years.

Jim Gedney, national sales manager for Pace Edwards in Centralia, has been chosen as one of 2007's finalists for the Young Executives Network (YEN) Young Executive of the Year Award. The award recognizes those who have had a positive impact on the industry and have demonstrated exceptional service, integrity, professional growth, and business ethics. The winner of the YEN award will be made during Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week in Las Vegas this month. YEN is a committee of SEMA.

Circle & Square Auto Care celebrated its 30th anniversary on Oct. 13 at an open house at its Port Hadlock facility near Port Townsend. The shop was founded 30 years ago by Alex Fowler and has been owned by Reto and Jana Filli for the past 20 years.

Scott Haynes has been named the new district sales manager for Washington and Alaska for NGK Spark Plugs. A 14-year automotive aftermarket veteran, Haynes was formerly a district sales manager for ACDelco.

Tami Wagster, the owner of Mobile Maintenance & Mechanics in Redmond, is one of three nationwide recipients of the Automotive Management Institute's (AMI) $1,000 education scholarship awards, given in conjunction with Automotive Video Inc. The award is applied to expenses to attend AMI management seminars at the Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) in Las Vegas this month. Wagster is a member of ASA-WA and serves as secretary of the Seattle/East King County unit. She is completing her AMI Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) designation. "I'm honored to receive this industry award," she said. "It offers me an opportunity to attend this educational event and share the knowledge I obtain with the rest of our team."

Westbay Auto Parts, the largest chain of auto parts stores in Kitsap County, has announced it will be using NAPA Auto Parts as it primary parts and accessories supplier. It will remain locally owned and operated as it has since it was founded in 1961. The current NAPA stores in Port Orchard (Westbay's headquarters), Silverdale, East Bremerton, Port Hadlock, and Belfair will transfer from their current locations to Westbay stores in those areas. The Westbay stores in Bremerton and Poulsbo will transfer into the current NAPA Auto Parts location, and Westbay will take ownership of NAPA stores in Purdy and Kingston.

West Hills Honda in Bremerton recently held a grand re-opening of its new dealership after 18 months of reconstruction at the longtime franchise.

Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) has announced that it will close its Seattle manufacturing facility by the end of December in a move designed to strengthen its long-term competitive position. CVG's Seattle operation produces interior trim products for heavy-duty trucks and marine products for OEMs. About 115 jobs at the Seattle facility will be eliminated as a result of the plant closure.

Smart Service has opened its second facility in Mukilteo at the Mukilteo Speedway. The six-bay facility specializes in Subaru repair service. Owner Mike Corbin also operates a Smart Service facility in Shoreline.

Baggott Motors in Palouse has terminated its relationship with Chrysler after 78 years in the new-car business. Owner Mike Baggot said the firm will still sell used vehicles and provide parts and service.

RI Distributing in Kent, a longtime parts wholesaler in the Puget Sound area, has been purchased by Uni-Select Northwest, the Auburn-based Parts Plus parts distributor in the region. According to former RI partner Steve Bradford, all the RI employees, including his 3-year business partner Herb Brown, are now employed at the Auburn facility in various capacities.