<b>FIAT comes to New River Auto Mall</b>

FIAT has joined the lineup of brands at the New River Auto Mall in Hardeeville.

FIAT vehicles will be offered for sale at the Hilton Head Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealership, which has been a cornerstone of the New River Auto Mall since 2006.

“We have had a great relationship with Fiat Chrysler Automotive for 11 years through our ownership of Hilton Head Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram,” said Warner Peacock, Coastal States Automotive Group president and CEO. “We are looking forward to now representing this additional brand in their lineup.”

FIAT currently offers five models: 124 Spider, 500, 500 Abarth, 500c, 500L and 500X. The vehicles will be available for sale at Hilton Head Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram FIAT.

“We know people in the Lowcountry will be excited to buy these cars locally,” said Peacock. “We will also service FIATs in our service center and have certified technicians on staff. This new brand gives us another opportunity to put forth a new product that people want to drive.”

<b>Beaufort to offer business workshops</b>

To improve customer service, the city of Beaufort Finance Department is launching an online service for business license renewals, hospitality and accommodations tax payments.

The process is simple, and to ease area businesses into the system, City Finance Director Kathy Todd will be offering workshops in October.

The sessions will familiarize business owners with the process and help them create their log-in access as well as receive personalized attention in getting set up. The city is partnering with local chambers of commerce to promote the workshops.

“Putting business license renewals online as well as the monthly hospitality and accommodations filings will certainly make it more convenient for businesses to process their renewals and submit their monthly filings, especially for businesses with operations in more than one city or jurisdiction,” Todd said.

As the online option rolls out this fall, business owners can still submit their license renewals on paper.

“Business license and accommodations tax payments can be made online or by the traditional format of the manual report being mailed or brought to City Hall in person,” Todd said. “We are simply trying to provide an easier and more streamlined opportunity for those who want to take advantage of secure online payments.”

Workshops on the system are scheduled for City Hall’s first-floor conference room at 1911 Boundary St. They will be held from:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">• 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11
• 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12
• Noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20
• 9-11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 21</p>
Participants should bring their laptop or table computers.

<b>Volvo Hilton Head </b><b>pioneers new program</b>

Volvo Cars Hilton Head was hand-selected by Volvo Car USA to be the first in the nation to build and initiate the new Volvo Personal Service program, which was officially launched on Sept. 28.

Volvo Cars Hilton Head, under the leadership of longtime business partners Chris Elliott and Mike Turner, was chosen to work with a team from Sweden from among the more than 300 Volvo dealers in the country to pioneer this revolutionary reinvention of the industry’s repair and maintenance model.

The project has been in the works for more than a year and is now ready for unveiling to customers.

“Volvo continues to be a 360-degree innovator in the automotive industry – first seat belts, then airbags and now autonomous-driving vehicles and a fully-transparent service experience for our customers,” Elliott said. “It’s a brand we are proud to represent and look forward to more opportunities to be first-in-the-nation when the first American-made Volvos roll off the new South Carolina assembly lines in 2018.”

The essence of the program is to transform and streamline the service experience by pairing customers with a personal service technician (PST), who guides the customer through the entire process, which eliminates redundancy and fosters trust and transparency as customers are encouraged to watch their PST diagnose and work on their vehicle in the comfort of the renovated showroom.

<b>Gresham receives </b><b>award of excellence</b>

Beaufort Association of Realtors Executive Janet Gresham recently received the South Carolina Realtors James R. Peters Association Executive Award of Excellence during its 2016 annual conference at Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston.

The James R. Peters Association Executive Award of Excellence is presented to an individual who has excelled in his or her role as an association executive.

SCR’s awards committee chooses the individual to be recognized for their outstanding and ongoing voluntary commitments to the association.

Gresham’s involvement in the real estate industry spans 28 years.

In addition to her many duties as CEO of the Beaufort Association of Realtors, she has served on SCR’s Strategic Planning Committee, as AE representative of the SCR RPAC Trustees, SCR Executive Committee and on the SCR Finance Committee.

She has received numerous association certifications throughout her career.

<b>Yost joins Weichert’s </b><b>Bluffton office</b>

Missy Yost has joined Weichert Realtors Coastal Properties’ sales team. Yost was a real estate paralegal for 15 years. She is a member of the Hilton Head Association of Realtors. She is based in the Bluffton office and can be reached at 843-707-6956.