The Journal Times from Racine, Wisconsin • 22

BUSINESS the Journal Times SUNDAY October 23, 1994 Twin Disc lo oton for Double-take at Douglas Taco Bells If you spot a Taco Bell on Douglas Avenue and moments later see another on the other side of the road, there's nothing wrong with your eyesight The company, based in California, will open the new $220,000 restaurant at 3358 Douglas Ave. this week. It will be twice the size of the store it replaces at 2721 Douglas with enough room for 70 people and a drive-through window, according to Sara Guest, company spokeswoman. The existing restaurant is 20 years old, and it was time for some updating, Guest said. So far, the company has not decided what to do with the old Taco Bell.

New outlook for corner Gary Pederson has laid claim to what he con LAURA SUMNER COON Business Editor With $4.2 million in cash and $53 million in back orders to nil for the next six months, Racine manufacturer Twin Disc Inc. is looking for new business. "It's unlikely the traditional markets will provide the growth we need," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael E. Batten told shareholders Friday at the company's annual meeting. The 76-year-old Twin Disc, headquartered at 1328 Racine is looking to boost its profitability with acquisitions or new affiliations, Batten said.

Meanwhile, Twin Disc is at the end of a five-year restructuring program meant to make its Racine and Belgian plants more productive. Already, the company has seen some results. Despite relatively flat sales over Twin Disc designs and makes heavy-duty transmission equipment for agricultural and industrial machinery, commercial and pleasure boats, and other off-highway vehicles. In processes that used to have an average 88 percent production of capacity, the cells are producing at 110 percent productivity, Joyce said. "We are building our Kentucky plant here in Racine," he added, alluding to the much rumored discussion several years ago about a company-debated move.

Twin Disc employs about 650 people in Racine and 1,000 worldwide. But in order to really grow, the company recognizes that it cannot depend on its traditional markets. One way to grow was to concentrate on broadening its aftermarket sales of Twin Disc parts to distributors. Twin Disc has more than 100 the last three years, Twin Disc ended its fiscal year in June with net earnings of $4.4 million, roughly 62 percent over the year before, Batten said. Officials said there were several reasons for the earnings gain.

One is Twin Disc's continued effort to consolidate manufacturing at its plant on 4600 21st St. For five years, the company has been changing its production mode from traditional assembly line methods to cell manufacturing. More sophisticated machinery is strategically placed in a concentrated area, or cell, where one worker can perform many manufacturing steps. So far, three cells have been completed, two are in the process of being completed and 12 more are planned for the 21st St plant, said Michael H. Joyce, president and chief operating officer.

independent distributors around the world. The return on aftermarket sales is much more profitable and quick than some other growth strategies, Batten said. In July, Twin Disc bought minority interest in Palmer Johnson Distributors LLC, one of its independent North American distributors. "We are working with existing distributors to improve service and in getting them into new markets," Joyce said. In 1993, Twin Disc bought Southern Diesel Systems Inc.

in Miami, a former distributor of the company, for $3.5 million. Twin Disc has not yet realized all of the benefits of that operation yet, Joyce said. Batten had high hopes for Southern Diesel, which he said was strategically placed in southern Florida to take advantage of anticipated open markets in the Caribbean, Cuba, Central and South America. In addition. Twin Disc has and is turning to product development to strengthen its position.

A new marine transmission for the commercial market and another for pleasure crafts hit the market. The company, Batten said, also is designing an automatic transmission for specialty trucks, such as subway or street cleaners, that could be in production within a year. Batten repeated that the company is looking to acquire or align itself with like companies to boost the bottom line. As Joyce said: "We are in a mature market and we can't wait for the market to improve, we need to be creating our own markets." Twin Disc is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its ticker symbol is TDL siders one of the best busi- Win) ODD JDETD 5 ness corners in town.

Pederson, owner of the Racine ReMax real estate franchise, bought the business complex on the northwest corner of Spring Street and Highway 31 for Car sales industry takes on new look as women join dealerships blzbits Laura Sumner Coon Knight-Ridder News Service Aft Gar saleswoman Lynne Cahoon has been awarded enough baseball caps and man- sized sunglasses at trade shows to last a lifetime. A feminine woman in a distinctly male occupation, she also gets tired of "major league" male egos and crude behavior on the showroom floor. skzr- 1 A -J i-S A 1 1 Ik J- or perhaps because of it the car sales business is caught in a time warp. It's an industry moving forward while holding firmly to its past. 'Trying to shake its old image without losing what has worked.

Some dealerships still decorate their showrooms with balloons and painted windows, displaying the overt eagerness that has won business in the past. Others lean toward a more understated elegance polished floors, low-lit waiting rooms, artwork on the walls. Saleswomen get caught in the time warp, too, describing their female customers as "ladies," "girls" or "gals" while arguing forcefully for treating women with respect. Roger Moody, owner of Friendly Chevrolet in Fridley, recently promoted saleswoman Barb Vashro to finance manager, an emerging area for women industrywide. One of his prize salespeople is Carol Dooley, who has sold cars for 24 years.

The Minneapolis Star even wrote her up in 1970 as a "hip salesgal" who "may not understand points and plugs but who does understand people." Moody sounds sincere when he says he would love to hire more women, if he could get them to answer a "help wanted" ad. Still, he relates all this in a gargantuan wood-paneled office that is a veritable shrine to hunting, replete with a stuffed pheasant and photos of limp-necked ducks that could make women customers think they've landed in a men's club. Women haven't entered the car business in significant numbers until the past 10 years, either as employees or customers. Now, depending on who's doing the estimating, women are said to have a hand in 70 percent to 90 percent of all car-buying decisions. At Hopkins Honda, where half of the 10-person sales force is female, women buy up to 60 percent of the cars, says General Manager Doug Stearns.

Saleswomen are trying to play to those numbers by advertising in newspapers, paying attention to women who visit the dealership with men and promoting themselves as female-friendly. In a 1994 survey by the National Automobile Dealers Association, 15 percent of the men said they prefer to work with a saleswoman. Real change may come in the auto industry when more women own dealerships and can set their own stage. Almost 16 percent of the 2,146 graduates of NADA's Dealer Academy are women, either managers who want to buy a dealership someday or the children of owners who will inherit the family business. Knight-Ridder News Service A Theresa Norsted is the only woman selling cars in the Downtown Jaguar dealership in Minneapolis, Minn.

$430,000. "It's got excellent exposure there," he said. "It's one of the busier places in town." Pederson said he plans to remodel the re-foot storefront that faces South Green Bay Road for his real estate business. That's just part of the building, which totals and has nine other tenants. ReMax's 25 employees will move from their current office at 218 Washington Ave.

when remodeling of the new location is complete. Another honor George Stinson has done it again. The president of General Converters and Assemblers, 1325 16th is one of 12 minority supply businesses noted for its achievements by the National Minority Supplier Development Council based in New York. According to a council's press release, Stinson's firm has won a regional 1994 Supplier of the Year award chosen from a pool of 15,000 such businesses in the country. The awards are given annually to minority suppliers who have distinguished themselves and their businesses by successfully demonstrating growth in sales and employment while overcoming significant obstacles.

The 12 will appear at a conference this week, where three will be named national winners. Last month, Stinson accepted the U.S. Small Business Administration's honor of "minority small business person of the year." General Converters and Assemblers employs 150 people, is 25 years old and has grown its sales consistently. The business provides packaging for larger companies and rebuilds wooden pallets. It's a picture of charity Local investors can take stock in the arts Nov.

3 if they invest through Kemper Securities Racine office that day. Branch Manager and Senior Vice President Ronald Steimle said a portion of all commission brokers make that day will go to the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, 2519 Northwestern Ave. It's part of the Kemper Securities Community Charity Day. Each of the firm's 150 branch offices will be giving part of the day's proceeds to local nonprofit organizations.

Biz Bits otters readers a roundup of business happenings In Racine County. If you have something of Interest, send It to: Laura Sumner Coon, Business Editor, Journal Times, 2121 Fourth Racine, Wis 53403 or caff 634-3322, extension 303. got into the business in 1978. He echoes others when he says car saleswomen are more detail-oriented than male counterparts, more likely to walk the extra mile for their customers, more considerate of people's feelings. "That's one thing women do better than guys, the little details that give the customer a good perception," Reaume says.

"Little personal things like getting extra sets of keys, a tube of touchup paint, arranging their first oil-change visit with the service adviser." Women in the business call it consulting rather than selling. "You spend time with people; you get to know their likes and dislikes," says Theresa Norsted, the only saleswoman at Downtown Jaguar in Minneapolis. If she knows a customer enjoys skiing or boating, Norsted will mention her own interest in those sports. When she bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for her 40th birthday, she shared that, too. With Jaguars ranging from $54,000 to $84,000, Norsted's customers expect extra service.

"The salesperson has to sell themselves first before they can sell a car," she says. A 14-year veteran in a business notorious for its turnover, Norsted has been with the Jaguar dealership since 1990. Before that, she sold Mercedes-Benzes and Cadillacs. She says saleswomen must be especially willing to stick with the business and stay with one dealership to earn their credibility. "There were a handful of women back when I started," she says.

"A lot of women washed out. You've got to have commitment. You can't go in for a year or a summer. You need credentials and background." Women also need an aggressive spirit to match that of men. Shrinking violets don't make it in this business.

"It's tough. You'd better have a wide backbone," says Diane Weeks, who often tops "We had a salesman who'd pass gas. I said something," she says. "It doesn't radiate professionalism." Cahoon has sold cars and trucks for two years at Quality Pontiac Buick CMC in Cannon Falls, Minn. To say she loves her profession may be an overstatement.

Auto sales is difficult, Cahoon says, but she thrives on the challenge. She is good at her job. "I've been told I could sell anything," says Cahoon, who consistently moves at least 10 units a month. She would never work at a hyper-competitive city dealership, preferring her position as one of four salespeople and the only woman in a quiet commuter town of 3,400, 30 miles south of St. Paul.

She likes working for owner and general manager Judy Hasti in a business that may trail only the military in its numbers of men and its love of tradition. Cahoon is one of 12,200 car saleswomen in the country, or 6.6 percent of the business, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. That figure is up 9 percent from 1993 and compares with a 5 percent increase in total car salespeople. Women are slowly changing the male-dominated auto industry, helping it to evolve from the stereotype that labeled car dealers slick charlatans, what Cahoon's husband calls "almost-honest Jacks." Some sales managers even are urging their salesmen to watch how the saleswomen operate, to learn from and emulate their style. "The business has changed a lot over the last 15 years," says Larry Reaume, used-car manager at Borton Volvo in Minneapolis.

"Women's attitudes and voices are being heard and respected much, much more, and that's good Reaume, 43, grew up in the car business. His dad owned a Pontiac-Buick dealership in Le Sueur, and Reaume himself her male colleagues in new-car sales at Whitaker Buick Jeep Eagle in St. Paul. A fast-talking, no-nonsense saleswoman, Weeks affords little time in her workday to anyone who doesn't want to buy a car including friends and reporters. "My priority is selling cars, so I can't make appointments unless it's for that.

I can't even schedule a tee time on the golf course," she says. Car saleswomen have to walk a fine line between becoming one of the guys and being too much a lady. To give away their one trump card, to be brash and mannish, could scare away the 34 percent of female customers who say they prefer the softer sell of a saleswoman. But to shy away from competition in a business where income is earned strictly by commission could spell career suicide. Any advantage counts in sales, and women seem well aware of that.

They're invariably well-coiffed, like the blonde, tan Norsted, whose fitted suits flatter her figure and appear calculated to draw the eye of her Jaguar customers, many of whom are men. Yet, car saleswomen have to be careful not to abuse their advantage, especially in winning favors with management. "Most of the ladies I've seen in the sales environment can be extremely competitive," says Reaume of Borton Volvo. "The ones I've seen fail are the ones that used their gender for whining, telling management they're not getting a fair shake." It's all a matter of style. Men tend to get down to business faster, while women inveterate people pleasers try to befriend their customers first.

"Male salespeople are perceived as having more product knowledge, but women are perceived as more honest about product attributes, product capability and price," says Art Spinella, vice president and general manager of CNW Marketing in Bandon, which tracks industry trends. Despite the presence of women PEOPLE IN BUSINESS Schllesmann Raguse Rulseti Appointments and Promotional Josoph C. Lawtor, 44, has been appointed chief executive officer and president of Gander Mountain Inc. in Wilmot. Lawler joined Gander, a specialty merchandiser of outdoor and recreation equipment, in 1992 as president, chief operating officer and director.

Ralph L. Freitag, chairman of Gander's board, said Lawler has been the driving force behind strong sales and earnings growth. Jamas R. Rulaafi was promoted to general manager of the heavy duty and industrial division at Modine Manufacturing 1500 DeKoven Ave. He will replace L.

Daan Howard, who was promoted to vice president, Modine Europe. Rulseh joined Modine in 1977 and has been in a variety of engineering, operations and management positions. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University Wisconsin-Platteville. Carl t. TMwall has been appointed to the executive committee of Racine Federated 2200 South St.

He will also continue as corporate director of human resources. Tidwell will be responsible for all human resources, particularly employee development programs. Lao BH is plant manager for Sta-Rite Industries in Waterford. He previously was manufacturing manager of the Menasha molded products Versa Technologies 9301 Washington has hired several new people: Jaffray E. Bark has joined the company's Mox-Med Inc.

division in Portage as an application engineer. He will provide direct assistance in the design and engineering of customers' products. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. WMfrad Walah is manager of customerproduct development for Mox-Med. Walsh most recently was with Ohmeda, a division of BOC Health Care in Madison, she has a bachelor's and master's degree from Indiana University.

Jack Wojclacfiowekl is the quality control supervisor at Moxness Products Inc. in East Troy, another VersaTek division. He has a certificate in quality engineering from the American Society for Quality Control. Richard Schllcmmann, formerly of Racine, was named manager of the auto finance division for Wells Fargo Bank in Walnut Creek, Calif. Dr.

Mlchaal P. Lsnmann has joined the staff of Emergency Management System in Kenosha. Lehmann graduated from Rush University College of Medicine in Chicago in 1991. Awards and oartfflcatloni Lanard Trusky, who completed a four-year apprentice program at Gateway Technical College, was the first-place winner in the carpentry category at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners State Apprenticeship Contest. After completed 30 minutes of studying a blueprint of a project.

Trusky will represent the State of Wisconsin at the North American Apprenticeship Contest in Philadelphia next month. Tad Raguss was recently recognized by the United Postal Service for completing 20 years driving without an accident For his record, he was presented the 20-year safe driving award. Jalanaky's Sports Marina, 4901 Washington was awarded "Dealer of the Year" in the 1994 Boat Motor Dealer Magazine, winners are chosen for their ability to find and cater to specific markets and for their ability to excel in boat sales, customer satisfaction and superior service. The dealership is owned by Wayne and Dennis Jalensky. The dealership also received the Yamaha Marine 1994 "Best in Class" award for service.

NJkkl Johnson has completed the course nee essarv to earn her Charted Life Underwriter professional designation in the insurance industry. Johnson is a registered representative and agent with the Conover Agency in Racine of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Mary Mandaracnatd, a registered nurse and breastfeeding instructor at St. Catherine's Hospital In Kenosha, received certification from the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners Inc. Compiled by Deontrae Drane i ii 1 Trusty Lehmann Tbfwall.