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Georgieanna Bouchard, Client Service Manager St. James, N.Y. — Industry veteran Georgieanna Bouchard has joined the team of Create-A-Card as client service manager. In this role, Bouchard will manage the customer service department and assist with sales. Bouchard can be reached via email at customerservice@createacardinc.com.
Bouchard has decades of experience in the chauffeured transportation industry, and is well known to her industry peers. Having owned her own company for 20 years, Bouchard understands the dynamics and challenges that transportation companies and owners go through on a daily basis. She grew her business from the ground up showing her the importance of marketing on a shoestring budget as well as the depth and complexity of a well-organized and executed marketing campaign.
Bouchard served as secretary for the New England Livery Association between 2010 and 2013. She was the committee chair to the quarterly newsletter, Driven, as well as a volunteer on numerous other committees.
“I look forward to learning from, and growing with, such a distinguished and prominent industry icon as Arthur Messina,” says Bouchard. “I am extremely excited to be joining the Create-A-Card team. I have always been impressed by the level of customer service I received as a client. More importantly, I am impressed with the professionalism and dedication to the industry by Arthur Messina and the entire team. I now look forward to serving my friends and colleagues in the industry with a toolbox full of exciting ways to promote and grow their businesses.”
Create-A-Card, under the leadership of Arthur Messina, has evolved from a specialized printing company in 1986, into what is today, the industry's leading full-service marketing strategy and solutions provider. For almost three decades, Messina has taken a leadership position in ground transportation building a reputation as an industry innovator and the preferred partner for market-leading transportation companies.
Visit createacardinc.com for more information.
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Dearborn, Mich. — Ford announced that its best-selling van, the Transit, will feature an available SYNC 3 (the OEM’s communications and entertainment system), rearview camera technology, and new customization options for its 2016 models. Ford has produced more than 100,000 Transit vans and wagons at Kansas City Assembly Plant during the 2015 model year.
“These and other updates make the 2016 Ford Transit the smartest, most flexible van ever offered by Ford,” says Yaro Hetman, Ford brand manager for Transit, Transit Connect, and E-Series. “Transit replaces America’s best-selling van for 35 years, E-Series, first sold in 1961 as Ford Econoline, and we look forward to continuing our leadership in this important segment.”
SYNC 3 features faster performance, more conversational voice recognition, a more innovative smartphone-like touch screen and easier-to-understand graphical interface to help Ford customers connect on the road, according to a press release from Ford.
Dual sliding side cargo doors also will be available for the first time on Ford Transit medium- and high-roof vans—meaning customers can choose from 58 vehicle configurations, up from 47 in the 2015 model year.
“Transit customers appreciate that the vehicle is purpose-built to serve their businesses, and the enhancements we are making for 2016 are driven by customer feedback,” Hetman says. “We are making America’s best-selling commercial van even smarter and more flexible.”
The smaller Transit Connect and Connect Wagon will also receive updates for 2016. The flexible-fuel vehicle system will be standard equipment on 2016 Transit Connect vans with 2.5-liter I-4 engines destined for non-California emissions states. Flex-fuel Transit Connect vans are engineered to run on E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), unleaded gasoline or any blend of the two. Ethanol burns cleaner and is more renewable than conventional fuels.
Ford Transit Connect Wagon will include a standard second-row fold-flat bucket seats for the 2016 Titanium model. The bucket seats are available as a no-charge option on the XLT long-wheelbase model, while a six-way power driver’s seat is available in cloth for the first time on XLT. Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) with cross-traffic alert will be an option on 2016 Transit Connect Wagon XLT and Titanium models.
The vehicles will be available through Ford dealers beginning in September 2015.
Visit fleet.ford.com for more information.
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Commissioner Gregory May of Nassau County Taxi & Limousine Commission and Deputy County Attorney Robert F. Bedford Plainview, N.Y. — More than 45 members and supporters were in attendance when the Long Island Limousine Association (LILA) met May 26 at Bird Bus Sales’ service center. Chauffeur Driven Industry & Brand Ambassador Philip Jagiela, who also serves as LILA’s executive director, was among those who were present for the meeting.
Bird Bus owner Rick Reichenbach and Sales Manager Adam Tortora kicked off the meeting, with Reichenbach giving a presentation about the company’s three-year-old building, the design of which allows for “total vehicle sales and service under one roof to serve customer needs.” A tour of the facility was included in the evening meeting.
Commissioner Gregory May of Nassau County Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) spoke of the newly established entity, which was created at the end of 2014 in an effort to crack down on the area’s proliferation of TNCs and is expecting to be fully operational by the end of the summer. May said that the commission wishes to develop a good relationship with the industry while also working with state and local police for assistance—as well as the region’s black-car operators; while Consumer Affairs establishes the regulations, it will be up to the commission to enforce them.
“We desire to work with you as legitimate operators who can assist us with those who skirt the laws,” May said. He added that the commission is looking for an industry representative from within LILA to hold a TLC seat.
In an effort to not only focus on the business aspect of the industry but also address its members’ health, The Mojo Coach Debi Silber brought her nutrition, fitness, diet, and energy expertise to the meeting, explaining how a good exercise routine allows for a good mental routine.
Jagiela capped off the meeting by speaking on behalf of Chauffeur Driven, offering up new details regarding both the upcoming Nashville Executive Retreat and October’s Miami show.
LILA’s next meeting will be July 28, and it also will be hosting a clam bake as well as a fishing trip this summer.
Visit nslali.com for more information.
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