“We always need to make a nickel look like a dollar….. We’re fighting car companies,” says Kathleen Schmatz, of the legislative clashes she wages with other industry groups and companies on Capitol Hill. And that’s only half the battle. As CEO of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, it’s Schmatz’s job to drive legislation in favor of her members through Congress and to navigate new trends in eco-friendly trends in the auto industry. She’s a relative newcomer to the job, who grew her career publishing automotive trade magazines in Akron, Ohio, before shifting gears to take the executive vice president position at AAIA. And that job was a trial run, to see if… Read More