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^l)e Cljarlotte
THURSDAY,APRIL 3, 1997
7A
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Auto
leasing
pitfalls
CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
Job shadowing puts students in real world
Auto leasing can be confusing,
especially with aU the jargon the
agents use. Here are some key
terms to know when leasing a
car.
The lease rate is essentially
the interest rate used to finance
the car. The residual value is the
estimated value of the car at the
end of the lease. Capitalized cost
is the price of the car plus some
miscellaneous charges, and it
should be well below the manu
facturer’s suggested retail price.
Capitalized cost reduction is
your down payment, given up
front to reduce your monthly
payment.
Another confusing factor; the
low monthly payments are not
the most important thing to con
sider. Think about three things:
the vehicle’s price, the lease’s
finance rate and the car's value
at the end of the lease. If you
don’t like what you see in any
one of these, the time to negoti
ate is before you sign the con
tract.
Lemon/Iiability coverage
Could anything be more sour
than the experience of buying a
car that turns out to be a lemon?
Yes. Leasing a lemon. Not every
state’s lemon laws protect you if
you lease your car instead of
buying it. In many states, cover
age depends upon the lease
agreements and warranties, and
in other states, if you lease a
lemon, you’re just out of luck.
Your state attorney general’s
office can tell you about the law
in yoiu state. Find the number
in the government pages of the
phone book.
Another possible surprise
when leasing a car: most lease
contracts require you to have
more liability coverage than
what’s required by state laws,
and most insurance companies
require the same coverage on all
your cars. So any other cars you
own must carry the higher poli
cy limits which will increase
your car insiuance costs.
Good shape
Contracts require that a leased
car must be returned in good
shape. But what if you and the
leasing company don’t agree on
the definition of good shape?
Unfortunately, in this situation,
you are not the one in the dri-
veFs seat.
You can get some protection by
bringing the car to a dealer for
an inspection a month or two
before the lease ends. If there
any problems, you can get them
fixed before returning the car
instead of the company charging
you for them.
What are your options in the
extreme case, if a leased car is
stolen or totaled? Your insur
ance should pay the leasing com
pany the car’s market value, but
you wiU owe more than that on
the lease financing. You can
probably buy insurance to cover
this difference from the finance
company; it’s called gap insur
ance.
Where you drive and how far
Having a car is aU about being
free to drive where you wish,
right? Your car leasing company
doesn’t think so. A provision
that’s frequently overlooked in
leasing contracts sharply
restricts the places you can
drive. Some may forbid you to go
out of state, or even out of your
area for more than 30 days at a
time. If you violate these condi
tions, you may be considered in
default. You’ll have to pay the
See AUTO on page 8A
By Herbert L. White
Charlotte-Mecklenburg stu
dents are taking a hands-on
approach to work.
More corpdartions are allowing
students to learn about the
workplace through job shadow
ing programs. Bell South had
one in February with junior high
school students ' and the
Charlotte Chamber sponsored
Dare to Achieve last month for
junior high and high school stu
dents. Over 200 area business
leaders hosted students from 39
schools.
The Dare to Achieve program
was sponsored by 100 Black
Men of Greater Charlotte, the
Chamber and Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools, the pro
gram provides business and
community leaders the chance
to help young adults better
understand the world of corpo
rate and civic Charlotte-
Mecklenburg. In return, volun
teers gain insight into the school
environment.
The BellSouth program, also
sponsored by the Telephone
Pioneers of America, was a
state-wide project designed to
give students an up-close look at
the workplace. Students from
from Albemarle Road and
Kennedy middle schools
observed how’ workers respond
ed to customers’ requests for
telecommunications services as
well as a look at how a major
business operartes.
“Job shadowing provides stu
dents with practical knowledge
about what their future may be,”
said Pioneer President Clara
Kirkpatrick. ‘Tt gave CMS stu
dents a view of the world of work
with insights into the responsi
bilities required to be good
employees and contributing
members of society.
“The experience gave our stu
dents a positive motivation to do
good in school. This opportunity
will help students focus on their
future and provide goals for
which they can obtain.”
Job shadowing is an excellent
experience for students, said
Keith Faulkner, Albemarle
Road’s career development coor
dinator. “Our students got the
opportunity to see the impor
tance of a lot of things and how
they relate to one another in
both the workplace and the
school environment,” he said.
“They experienced how impor
tant computers are in the work
place and most importantly, how
essential teamwork was to cany
out the missions of the business
forward to reach its goals. That’s
a lesson they hope to take back
to Albemarle Road Middle
School and spread it to other
students.”
PHOTO/NATIONSBANK
NationsBank and N.C. A&T State University have combined forces to open a coiiection center on the A&T campus. Thirteen A&T
students work at the site.
NationsBank, A&T open center
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Charlotte-based
NationsBank and N.C. A&T
State University are giving
students first-hand banking
experience with a new pro
gram.
Thirteen A&T students work
at an off-site collection center
on the Greensboro campus.
The center, located on the sec
ond floor of the student union,
is the bank’s only collection
unit not located on
NationsBank property. The
facihty opened Feb. 18 and is
open from 4-9 p.m. Monday
through Thursday and 8 a.m.-
1 p.m. Saturday.
“We are pleased to join forces
with an outstanding universi
ty like A&T,” said John
Abadie, president of
NationsBank Dealer Financial
Services Group, which over
sees Credit Services. “This
relationship promises to help
students learn new skills and
plan for their careers. It also
makes them members of the
NationsBank team and an
important part of om- success.”
The groundwork was laid for
the A&T center in 1996 when
university and bank officials
mapped out the facility’s pur
pose, design and number of
employees. In January,
NationsBank interviewed
more than 200 A&T students
before selecting 13 for the pilot
program. Students started an
intense two-week training
period in February to learn
basic banking skills and are
expected to work summers.
They are also required to per
form at the same level of full
time employees at the
Greensboro collection center.
Employees range from fresh
men to graduate students, and
are committed to working for
NationsBank for a full year,
which includes part-time
employment dining the sum
mer. At the end of their obliga
tion, students have the option
of staying with NationsBank
as a part-time or full-time
employees.
“Our students are excited to
be part of the pilot program
and want to learn as much as
possible to further their own
goals,” said Lillian Couch,
director of human resources at
A&T. “We look forward to a
long, successful partnership
with NationsBank.”
The relationship between
NationsBank and A&T is
helpful to both sides.
Greensboro’s tight job market
made it difficult to find
prospects for the 1,700-
employee center full-time, but
A&Ts campus center provides
a ready pool of students who
wfll earn paychecks and expe
rience.
“We are proud of the link
that has been established
between NationsBank and
A&T,” said John Haynie, a
NationsBank vice president
and collection administrator
who has overseen the pro
gram.
Price of
ambition
is steep
Black
businesses
face tough
choices
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDIANAPOLIS - Business
experts say many minority-
owned businesses with ambi
tions to sell products and ser
vices to major corporations face
a tough choice: Lowering their
sights, or getting bigger.
“The day you can hang up your
shingle and think you’re going to
walk into (EK Lilly and Co.) and
do business is gone,” said
Donald E. Jones, executive
director of the Indianapolis
Regional Minority Supplier
Development Council.
The reason is that big corpora
tions, to save money, are cutting
the number of suppliers they
deal with — in some cases dra
matically.
Lilly, for example, last sum
mer announced plans to save
$220 nullion a year by reducing
its supplier base.
Other corporations are taking
similar steps. As a result, small
er suppliers, which include
many minority businesses, are
being squeezed out.
‘Tf you’re big enough, you can
be a main player. If you’re not,
then you're probably going to
have to play a tier down from a
I .illy,” Jones said.
Russell J. Bunio, a top pur
chasing executive with
Cummins Engine Co., said the
Columbus, Ind., manufacturer
had more than 1,000 suppliers
for its heavy-duty diesel engines
in the early 1980s. Now
Cummins has 369 suppliers,
even though engine sales have
increased substantially.
The practice of buying more
goods and services from fewer
suppliers favors larger suppliers.
Patricia Gamble-Moore, a vice
president at First of America
Bank, said small mEiintenance
companies lost out when the
bank went shopping for one ven
dor to maintain aU its branches.
“Unless you have the capacity
to handle major contracts, you’re
going to suffer,” Gamble-Moore
said.
Smaller minority businesses
are more likely to depend on a
few contracts, and, as a result,
loose a major source of revenue
when even one contract leaves.
“Then they have to go back
and scramble to try to replace
that business,” Gamble-Moore
said.
Jones is tying his message to
the council’s annual minority
business trade fair. “The New
See BLACK on page 8A
Business Briefs
S ylvia Grier has been
named as a delegate to
the N.C. Governor’s
Conference on Small Business.
Grier, president of BIRS Co.
International, will help priori
tize legislative and regulatory
issues facing small business in
the state at the April 6-7 con
ference. Among the topics to be
discussed include^taxation,
capital formation, managing
the state enterprise, environ
ment, health and paperwork.
The conference, which is mod
eled after the 1995 White
House Conference on Small
Business and sponsored by
AT&T, IBM, N.C.
Entrepreneur, Centura,
Carolina Power & Light and
Wachovia,
focuses on
priorities for
changes in
state laws
and regula
tions so that
small busi
nesses can
fluorish.
_ Grier
For more
information on the conference,
call (910) 962-3116 or access
the internet at
http://cte.uiicwil.edu/dpsee
/sbtdc/govsconff.
Herbert L. White
PHOTO/C.W. WILLIAMS HEALTH CENTER
They’re Open: Michelle Marrs, CEO of C.W. Williams Health Center and Daniel Doolery, chair
man of the board, cut the ribbon on the center's Family Practice Center at 508 Eastway Drive.