My name is Mark Bochnowski and I’m the president of Lube ‘n Go in El Paso, Texas and I look forward to serving the Automotive Oil Change Association as president of the Board of Directors.
Lube ‘n Go was founded in 1976 by my grandfather, and I am in the third generation of family ownership. My father, John Bochnowski, is my business partner, and we operate 12 locations. I am proud to be in a position that can help the industry that has made such a large impact on my family. As we look at the first half of 2020, we can all agree that we have weathered very challenging times and come out stronger, more certain and ready for brighter days. The industry has done a fantastic job of remaining safe and healthy through our essential designation during COVID-19.
We have been able to adapt through unprecedented times, often at a moment’s notice. Our ability as an industry to fulfill new requirements and safety guidelines while counseling employees and encouraging them to feel safe during a time of change has been incredible. Our lube shops have served our respective communities and maintained a safe place for our customers. There has been a great deal of fear and uncertainty in the world and, by overcoming that, the industry is coming out of challenging times stronger than before.
AOCA has been working tirelessly to support our members while continuing to be a source of information and assistance. Almost immediately, the AOCA and its partners got to work to get crucial information out to members and to advocate for the industry's essential status. The periodic AOCA Talk Live! events were just one way that we helped members respond to the challenges.
I believe we have done a great job of showing the value of being a member. We’ve done this in several ways, especially through our work with experts like Joanna Johnson and Claudia St. John, who have worked to keep us relevant and provide endless information and guidance to our members. We’ve enjoyed planning our AOCA Talk Live! events and thank all of you who joined us via the web for those meetings.
Through the crisis of COVID-19, the value of AOCA membership has become even more apparent. Our strength in numbers is invaluable. Working together, we have proven we can protect the safety and prosperity of our essential industry. If you are not already a member, I would urge you to consider joining now. Now, more than ever, it’s vitally important to be a member of our industry driving association.
As we move forward, there are a lot of things to look forward to as an industry. The association will remain hard at work for you. We continue to work with Joanna Johnson on our Magnuson Moss Program, as well as the Right to Repair initiative. We are committed to updating and driving our training initiatives for both management and technicians. We will be hosting our remaining two management conferences this year. While we are hopeful the seminars will take place in person, we are working on a new virtual platform should that not be an option.
I look forward to seeing everyone in Las Vegas at iFlex in June 2021. I wish you all continued success and thank you for allowing me to serve you and the industry in my coming term.
