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Boca Raton, Fla. — The Florida Limousine Association (FLA) has made some recent personnel additions, and has also set a legislative event into motion that will take place later this month.
At the beginning of March, FLA hired former NLA Executive Director, longtime chauffeured transportation company operator, and founder of PALM Association Management and Consulting Philip Jagiela as its new executive director.
“The FLA’s in the middle of this huge fight now with the TNCs and trying to change the legislation in Tallahassee, and we needed an executive director,” said FLA President Rick Versace of A1A Limousine & Airport Service. “We figured with Philip’s years of experience and contacts in the industry, he could really get our organization set up properly and get new members.”
According to Versace, Jagiela will be involved in FLA’s day-to-day operations, primarily in regard to building membership and helping the organization grow.
Jagiela, who was also recently named as Chauffeur Driven’s new Industry and Brand Ambassador, is not the only member of the CD team to partner with the Florida association: President and Publisher Chris Weiss has also joined the FLA board of directors.
“We know Chris has been involved in LANJ and some of the other associations across the United States,” Versace said. “Our organization needs his kind of perspective from a more national level to help us see what people are doing in other parts of the country, and I think that will be an invaluable help to our board of directors.”
FLA will hold an association meeting in Las Vegas on March 16, which will precede Florida For Hire Vehicle Day on March 25. The legislative day, which Versace describes as “a massive show of strength in the Capitol of Tallahassee,” aims to have more than 100 operators from throughout the state converge and meet with their elected officials about TNCs.
“Companies from all over the state will come to Tallahassee for an intense day of lobbying and meeting,” he said. “We’d really like to show that we’re here and we’re concerned—and that we’re not going away. We welcome competition. We don’t have a problem with them as long as they do everything we have to do. That’s the message we’re trying to send.”
Versace sees Florida For Hire Vehicle Day becoming an annual event, though the Florida limousine and car-service associations—all of which are now under the FLA banner—have been sending small delegations of members to Tallahassee every other week and will continue to do so until May 1, which is the end of the current legislative session.
The FLA is also currently planning to hold a Miami meeting in April.
Visit floridalimousine.com for more information.
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Philip Jagiela was recently hired as LILA’s Executive Director
Commack, N.Y. — The Long Island Limousine Association (LILA) recently hired Chauffeur Driven’s Industry and Brand Ambassador Philip Jagiela as its executive director.
According to LILA President Robert Cunningham of Platinum Limousines, the position will draw upon Jagiela’s industry knowledge and experience to the benefit of the association’s members and meetings.
“We were looking for someone to increase our membership, and also bring in speakers and sponsors,” Cunningham said. “I’ve known Philip a long time, and he is just very knowledge about the business, he has the contacts, he has the know-how, and that’s what we’re looking for. We feel that he can really increase our membership and our meeting attendance.”
LILA’s next meeting is scheduled for March 31.
Visit nslali.com for more information.
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Rochester, N.Y. — The most recent meeting of Limousine, Bus, Taxi Operators of Upstate New York (LBTOUNY) was held February 25. In addition to showcasing a few buses from sponsor Empire Bus Sales, the evening meeting hosted a three-person panel and had the roughly 25 members in attendance discussing topics such as state taxes and the association’s first-ever Day on the Hill.
The increasing burden of state taxes is a hot issue for Upstate New York operators. LBTOUNY has spent nearly two years pushing its bill to get the state sales tax eliminated, an effort that had previously met with success in the Senate but stalled out in the House, according to LBTOUNY President Kevin Barwell of Giorgio’s Limousine Service.
“We still have our bill in the House with Senator Schimminger and we’re going back to the Senate, where we’re hoping to get Senator Robach to sponsor that bill,” Barwell said. “The fight’s going to start again, and we’re looking for assistance from everybody who has helped us in the past.”
Members also addressed a new state tax that had come to LBTOUNY’s attention shortly before the meeting, which pertains to any automobile with a gross vehicle weight ratio exceeding 26,000 pounds. Barwell says that the association will “need to get the full details” on the proposed tax that would go into effect next year, but is concerned about another cost being passed along to New York State taxpayers.
“We do a lot of senior work with our coaches, and these seniors do not have that additional income,” he said. “They’re not going to be able to do their trips anymore with that loss of revenue. We’re very concerned.”
The meeting also hosted a new-trends panel comprising Mark Crisafulli from Haylor, Freyer & Coon, Rob Maloney from Empire Bus, and Dave Bastian from Towne Livery, and was moderated by Barwell.
“They talked to members about what people are looking for, and they also discussed new problems for vehicles now, and what the best warranties are,” said Barwell. “Everybody learned a lot, so it was definitely worthwhile to have those three members—one from bus, one from car, and one from insurance—talking about new things that are affecting the industry right now.”
While TNCs are still a passionately discussed topic among LBTOUNY members, Barwell says that the association is “staying the course” in that fight. “Our goal is to educate others and to focus on fair legislation for everybody,” he said. “We’re not opposed to TNCs operating in this area, we’re opposed to them operating illegally. I don’t think they understand that.”
Local concerns rounded out the meeting. One of LBTOUNY’s committees has been meeting with area wineries to foster a relationship between them and the association, ensuring that its operators are following wine trails’ rules and policies. Disregarding established protocol is grounds for being banned from the wine trails.
LBTOUNY is also planning its first Day on the Hill in Albany, tentatively scheduled for May 20, which Barwell hopes will become an annual event.
“We’re going to open it to all the operators in the state, and we hope to get some of the other associations up here,” he said. “I think it’s been too long since the state heard our voice. They don’t really know who we are but we want to change that.”
The next LBTOUNY meeting is planned for April 22 in Syracuse.
Visit lbtony.com for more information.
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