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By Michael Roknick
Herald Business Editor
If there’s such a thing as
a New York minute then
Michael Wiseman has
found a way to do it faster –
whatever it is.
A fast talker, a fast work-
er a fast ... you name it,
that’s Wiseman.
As the co-founder of
Olde Hickory Financial Ser-
vices LLC, the energetic
Wiseman had good training
grounds in New York City,
his hometown. Growing up
on Staten Island he attend-
ed school in lower Manhat-
tan.
He eventually found him-
self on Wall Street, working
the phones for First In-
vestor, a wholesaler to oth-
er stock brokers. Wiseman
vividly recalls when the
market crashed in 1987 and
watching the ticker tape
bleed with huge stock loss-
es.
“The tape was two hours
late that day and I watched
it as the Dow Jones aver-
age went down 100 points,
200 points, 300 points ... In
looking back the volume of
stock that was traded that
entire day is now done in
the first three hours,’’ he
said.
Dealing mainly in mutual
funds, Wiseman yearned to
sink his teeth into stocks
and cast about for a place
he could set up shop and
move his family. It was at
this time that David Levine,
a partner of the former
Butler Wick & Co.,
bumped into Wiseman and
lured him to the firm’s
Sharon office.
Wiseman packed up his
family’s suitcases in 1997
and headed to Sharon to be
a Butler Wick broker. He
now jokes about the car
trip which took him two
days to reach his final desti-
nation.
“I just wasn’t used to
driving a long length of
time,’’ he said.
Upon arriving in town he
took an instant liking to the
area.
“The people here were
immediately friendly to
me,’’ Wiseman said.
One unexpected thing
happened to him after he
arrived.
“I found my faith here,’’
he said.
He didn’t place much
emphasis on his Jewish
faith before he moved to
the Valley. But after joining
Temple Beth Israel,
Sharon, that began to
change. He became in-
volved in the temple and
developed its Stock Market
Sweepstakes, a fundraiser
which became an annual
event.
There were some odd
quirks of living in a small
city that took some getting
used to, of course. Com-
pared to New York, hous-
ing prices here were bar-
gain-basement low and the
daily commute that could
easily last an hour in the
big city took two minutes in
Sharon.
After working at Butler
Wick for a decade, Wise-
man said he felt a need to
work for himself. He part-
Car business
has gotten better
By Tom Davidson
Herald Staff Writer
When Coy Price was start-
ing in the car business, the
economy was in a downturn
and people were reeling
from an energy crisis
spurred by Arab oil embar-
goes in the 1970s.
America’s infatuation with
bigger, better and faster cars
was tempered by rising
prices at the pump, and
smaller, more efficient Japan-
ese cars gained traction
here.
The first car Price sold
was a 1978 Datsun B210
coupe. With a sticker price
of $2,700 and an exaggerated
estimate of almost 50 miles-
per-gallon, the car was popu-
lar despite its utilitarian de-
sign.
Thirty-four years later,
Price is still in the car busi-
ness.
The economy is in a
downturn, and people are
still reeling from an energy
crisis spurred by the realiza-
tion that one day the world’s
oil supply will be tapped out.
The trend is toward small-
er hybrid or electric cars, but
it’s tempered by more effi-
cient gas-powered cars,
trucks and sport-utility vehi-
cles, according to Price.
For Price and his dealer-
ship, Lakeland Chrysler Jeep
Dodge in Hempfield Town-
ship, it means business has
been steady despite no elec-
tric or hybrid offerings from
Chrysler.
“We probably had our
third best year,” in 2011,
Price said.
The recession that’s con-
founded the rest of the na-
tion is simply another trough
to live through here. Be-
cause of the decline in the
industrial base of the
Shenango Valley, Price
called the area “recession
proof.”
The rest of the nation is
also starting to show signs of
recovery. In the auto indus-
try, the numbers are proof of
that.
Before the recession hit,
16.5 million new cars and
light trucks were sold in
2007; in the midst of the re-
cession in 2009, they sunk to
10.5 million, but last year
sales were at 12.9 million.
“So you can see it’s head-
ing back up,” Price said.
At Lakeland, the big seller
is the Jeep brand, and espe-
cially sport-utility vehicles
like the Grand Cherokee.
It’s no longer a gas guz-
zler and the latest model will
get more than 26 mpg on
the highway.
“Jeep’s 45 percent of our
business,” Price said.
Sales of used cars are also
strong, although because of
the demand it’s a sellers’
market because more people
are driving older cars and
there are fewer for sale at
dealerships, Price said.
While cars have changed
in the decades Price has
been in the business, much
has remained the same
when it comes to selling
cars, he said.
“The first thing is to take
care of the customer,” he
said. “The old adage is the
salesman sells the first car.”
The second, third and
fourth are sold by the service
department, he said.
“I would say we probably
have 40 percent repeat cus-
tomers,” he said.
Brian Knierman, sales
manager of the dealership,
said salesmen have to know
their product today, because
consumers are more in-
formed than they’ve ever
been.
“When I started in the
business there weren’t win-
dow stickers on cars,” Knier-
man said.
Now, people know how
much the dealer paid for the
car, and they’ve used the In-
ternet to research the pros
and cons of each model.
“You’ve got to know your
product,” Knierman said.
“The market is so competi-
tive.”
Outlook
Sunday,
February
Sharon, Pennsyl
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INANCE
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Ryan Plumbing ...
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ABOUT O
This year’s th
Go,” looks at how
es and organizatio
needs of logistics,
movement of prod
es.
Along with sta
Herald invited bus
tries and organiz
readers about
through stories an
A small label
“The Outlook” acc
report from a local
ganization.
Saturda
Veteran salesmen
have seen a lot
Tom Davidson/Herald
Coy Price, owner of Lakeland Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, relaxes for a moment at his Hempfield Township dealer-
ship. A 34-year veteran in the car industry, over the years Price has seen a number of shifts in consumer buying
habits for vehicles.
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP
Contributed
Michael Wiseman co-founder of Olde Hickory Financial Services LLC in Hermitage,
takes a moment to play with his children, from left, Andrew, Julia and Eric. Original-
ly from New York, Wiseman moved here in 1997 to take a job as a stock broker and
now calls the area his home.
HERMITAGE
Trading paces
suited financial
firm’s founder
See
TRADING,
page E-8
Broadened m
Salem Tube
as seen its up
over the year,
new niche ma
pand sales of it