Devin Owens is Bianchi Honda's Employee Spotlight

We sat down with one of our diligent Service Advisors and asked him a few questions about himself and how he got into the business.

Q: What is your favorite thing about working here?
A. The people I get to work with everyday.  My co-workers make Bianchi a very enjoyable place to work.

Q: How did you get into the Automotive Industry?
A: During the winter period of my previous job, I was looking for a job to help pay bills and found this one and have been here ever since.  I am really glad I found it too. I love the industry and love working here.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?
A: I like to sail and golf. I try to divide my time evenly between the two, but it’s hard to do both when there is three feet of snow on the ground!

Q: What is one thing that people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: That I’m a licensed boat captain for vessels up to 100 tons.  At the job before I worked here, I was a Junior Captain on the Victorian Princess (the paddle boat down by Dobbins Landing).

A Green Victory

Not only are we the number one Honda dealer in the state of Pennsylvania for the past 7 months running, but we have some of the best golf players!  Bianchi Honda’s team won the competition against several other local dealers in Cars.com’s Golf Tournament.

The 2nd Annual Cars.com Golf Tournament was held on June 20th at The Country Club in Meadville, PA.  Twelve other local dealerships participated, but it was Bianchi Honda that ended up taking home the victory.

Our team consisted of four Bianchi Honda employees: Jason Porreco - GSM, Ken Gushie - Business Manager, Alex Varzally - New Car Sales and Logan Sauer - Service Porter.  All four are excellent golfers and they represented our store with pride.  They had a lot of fun playing at the tournament and with the other dealers.

The entire staff offers their congratulations to Jason, Ken, Alex and Logan for a job well done.  We look forward to next year’s tournament. 

Bianchi Honda Blue Jackets Go 8-0

Congratulations to the Bianchi Honda Blue Jackets, a dek hockey team of Erie for beginners, for going undefeated! With a record of 8 and 0, the Blue Jackets went undefeated in the Beginner’s League of the Erie Dek Hockey organization.

Unsure of what Dek Hockey is? It is also known as ball or street hockey. It isn’t played on skates, but sneakers instead. They play on asphalt that has been marked just like a hockey rink would be.  The Erie Dek Hockey League has groups for all ages ranging from age 5 to 50+.

The Bianchi Honda Blue Jackets are in the beginner league, which is coed and is a great league for children to learn the sport and how to work on a team. 

Jax, one of the players on the Blue Jackets is the son of our Resale Manager, Sean Stone!  He did a great job this year and we are all very proud of all the hard work Jax put into the season. Congratulations to everyone who participated and helped make it a winning season! 

Vacation Interrupted

You just bought a brand-new, beautiful Honda Pilot - the perfect ride for a family trip across the country. You just got all the kids and all of your stuff loaded up and you finally get to put that 3rd row seat to some good use. You're on your way, cruising along and minding your own business when out of nowhere, traffic starts to slow down. You think nothing of it when all of a sudden you hear a loud CRASH and your car jerks forward uncontrollably.

This is what happened to Camille McConnell and her family.  While on their way to Maryland, just two hours away from their destination, the family was rear-ended by a Ford E-250.  Camille just purchased the 2012 Honda Pilot not even a week before the accident had occurred.

Everyone involved in the accident was safe including her two young sons.  Camille was kind enough to share her story on Facebook with us. 

She posted:  “Jason, thanks again for sending me that letter about trading in my 2011 Pilot for a 2012. I am sure it could have been the same with the 2011, but you now have a spokesperson for how safe the 2012 Pilot is. On the road to Maryland today, 2 hours from our destination, we were rear-ended by a Ford E-250 that did not notice that traffic had slowed. The whole back of our truck was destroyed. All five of it's passengers walked away, including my 1 and 4 year old boys. Only bumps and bruises.”

Everyone at our dealership is so thankful that the entire family was able to walk away free of any serious injury.    Camille’s mother, Mary DiTullio, took the time to share her thanks that the Pilot helped save her daughter and her family’s lives. “Thanks Jason and everyone at Bianchi Honda for providing quality cars.”

We take great pride in the Honda brand and the top-of-the-line safety that each vehicle provides. The 2012 Honda Pilot was named a “2012 Top Safety Pick” by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS).

Bella Is Bianchi Honda's Pet of the Month in Erie, PA

Four million cats and dogs—about one every eight seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year. Often these animals are the offspring of cherished family pets. Spay/neuter is a proven way to reduce pet overpopulation, ensuring that every pet has a family to love them.  Many cats and dogs who die as a result of pet overpopulation could have made wonderful pets.

A solution is possible and starts with each of us taking one small step: getting our own pets spayed or neutered. To help stop pet overpopulation further, consider adopting your next pet from an animal shelter.

Bianchi Honda cares about animals, and proudly supports the efforts of the local animal shelters including the A.N.N.A. Shelter and the Humane Society.  As animal lovers, we like to do our part by featuring a "Pet In Need" each month in our newsletter.

This month's PET IN NEED (Pictured at right):

BREED:  Yorkshire Terrier Mix

LOCATION: The A.N.N.A. Shelter in Erie PA

NAME: Bella
     
AGE/GENDER: Adult Spayed Female

NOTES:
Hi, my name is Bella. I am an adult spayed female Yorkshire Terrier mix. I am a lovable little girl but I wasn’t always this friendly. I was found in an abandoned house, my owner left and never came back for me. I was full of fleas, dirty and terrified of everything. Now that I have been here for a couple weeks I have really begun to come out of my shell. I love people that I know but it takes me a while to warm up to new people. I am looking for a quiet and patient home that will help me learn that all people are nice and that I don’t need to be afraid. Once I am comfortable with someone, I love to cuddle and be pet. I would do best in a home without children where I can just relax and be pampered.