THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506010442
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TARA TROWER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
As part of the effort to revitalize the midtown area, representatives from the city and area auto dealers met Wednesday to officially open the Hampton Roads General Motors Dealers Training Center.
Classes were already in session as Mayor Gloria Webb and the training center's director, Thomas Perry, participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The center, at 726 Harbor Drive, is the first of its kind because it is owned by a group of GM auto dealers and not the automaker. The facility will provide technical training for GM service technicians from 26 dealerships in Virginia and North Carolina, Perry said.
Previously, technicians had to travel out of state to participate in GM training sessions. GM will provide the instructors for the training facility.
``It is great to have the center so close,'' said Ashton Lewis, president of Bill Lewis Chevrolet. ``As a result of the expense and the distance, we probably haven't trained as much as we should have.''
Thirteen GM dealers formed an investment group to open the center. That core group will pay a monthly fee for unlimited training at no added cost, said John Kershaw, director of the GM training center in Fairfax and liaison between the dealers and GM. GM dealers who are not part of the investment group will be able to send their technicians to the center at a cost of $75 a day.
While GM provided the training materials, the dealers provided most of the funding. The exact amount spent on the center is uncertain because some of the dealers contributed equipment as well as cash, Kershaw said.
The building is owned by Bill Lewis Chevrolet and is being leased to the center at a discounted rate, Perry said.
``I've seen the area develop into an industrial complex and then deteriorate,'' said Portsmouth Councilman Bernard Griffin. ``So I am extremely pleased to see the area being revitalized again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff map
by CNB