Martian Messenger. The MARS INTERNATIONAL IS MOVING DUE TO GROWTH. VOLUME 7, ISSUE 11 November 2006

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1 VOLUME 7, ISSUE 11 November 2006 MARS INTERNATIONAL IS MOVING DUE TO GROWTH INSIDE THIS ISSUE MARS MOVING 1 TO NEW LOCATION MARS AT SEMA 2 M.A.R.S. International is proud to announce that it has acquired a new Office, Warehouse, and Training Facility. The new location is 1360 Post and Paddock Drive in Grand Prairie, Tex. This facility is approximately 24,500 square feet and will be fully utilized due to the growth of the company and its current expansion plans. Lincoln Property Company, the building owner, is renovating the building for M.A.R.S. and anticipates completion prior to the year end. M.A.R.S. International has been in its current facility at 2001 East Division Street in Arlington, Tex. for over 10 years, utilizing approximately 9,500 square feet for its entire operation. The Post and Paddock location is approximately 5 miles from the current location. This new facility provides for the doubling of its Texas-certified training program and its warehouse and franchisee supply program. Since 2003, M.A.R.S. International has more than doubled its franchise body and employee base, said Mel Luigs, President and CEO. Total system-wide sales for M.A.R.S. services has more than quadrupled over this same period as customer acceptance of our appearance reconditioning services has become more pronounced with our growth. M.A.R.S. International anticipates growing to 1,000 Operators over the next 5 years as its expansion continues. M.A.R.S. International is a registered franchise in all 50 states and is also offering franchises in Canada and Puerto Rico. WELCOME NEW 3 MARS OPERATORS OP OF THE MONTH 4-5 DALE DAWKINS OP OF THE MONTH 6 CONTINUED WELCOME NEW 6 OPERATORS CONTINUED MARS MISSION To become your Car Care Specialist by removing from sight all cosmetic blemishes from your automobile. To improve the appearance of ALL automobiles everywhere by utilizing our proven appearance restoration, cosmetic blemish repair and enhancement services. To provide convenient access through the high volume retailers that consumers frequently visit. WE will accomplish this mission by recruiting, training, and equipping the industry s finest professionals and supporting them to advance both their skills and their careers.

2 PAGE 2 MARS AT SEMA MARS is exhibiting at the world s largest automotive industry event this year with a booth at the SEMA Show. The booth, located in the Restyling section of the show, will promote the MARS franchise and the comprehensive systems offered only by MARS. We are excited to reveal the MarsMobile at the SEMA show, said Donovan Hall. We have designed a vehicle optimized to provide a superior reconditioning platform. Soon this vehicle will be an added option for new franchises and will also be available to our current base of Operators. MARS worked in conjunction with Knapheide to design a custom vehicle capable of providing comprehensive reconditioning services in a mobile operation. Created and organized to provide easy access to all 27 reconditioning systems that MARS Operators are trained and certified in, the MarsMobile clearly defines a commitment to provide out of this world service. Visit MARS at SEMA in BOOTH # Attendees at the SEMA Show will also get a preview of a new franchise concept offering MARS services to the general public. M.A.R.S. Mobile Retail is a new way to get M.A.R.S. quality service outside the business-to-business environment. While M.A.R.S. Operators have serviced thousands of vehicle dealers throughout the United States for the last decade, M.A.R.S. has never before offered its services to the general public in an accessible manner, said Mel Luigs. As early as next year, you will be able to get the same M.A.R.S. services dealers have been enjoying for years, including minor paint repair, stain and odor removal, along with windshield chip repair. Many times the Windshield repair is FREE as it is covered by insurance without affecting the customer s deductible.

3 PAGE 3 MARS LAUNCHES 14 NEW MARS OPERATIONS IN OCTOBER! Bascom St. Romain (TX) owned an auto detailing business in Louisiana before joining MARS. Bascom is joining Erwin Dugger s operation as a Team Leader. He will be working with Erwin to grow and expand the business and manage new dealership accounts. Scott England (IA) was an investment advisor and has worked in the financial services industry for over 12 years. He has started his MARS operation with the intent to build multiple teams that will service both wholesale and retail markets in Iowa. Bruce Forness (NC) was working at Radio Shack when he began to explore MARS. He was ready to make a career change, and MARS seemed too good to pass up. Bruce plans to grow his business and take pride in doing great quality work on John Forness s team. Nick Cole (SC) sold cars in Alaska before moving to South Carolina. He is glad to have a career that will allow him to spend more time with his family, yet remain in the automotive field. Scott Pigg (CO) was selling bond futures and working a lot of hours. He is looking forward to spending more time with his family while developing his MARS Steve Renner (TX) was a sales manager working at Pepsi before joining MARS. He is excited about the chance to spend more time with his family while working with Karl Brown to expand the reach of MARS in their area of Texas. Corey Amaya (NC) has a background in bodywork and was an I-car certified TIG welder before signing on with MARS. Corey will be working on Lock Flowe s team to increase the market share of MARS in their area of North Carolina. Daniel Buckingham (NV) was a real estate agent before seeking a new career opportunity. He wants to create a strong presence in his local area and create positive relationships with his customers. Kevin Hart (FL) is a business owner, and is excited about the possibilities that MARS offers. He plans to build a profitable, reputable and honest business by working hard and providing quality services. Robert Barber (TX) kept busy doing a variety of jobs before coming across the MARS opportunity. Robert is joining Jason Owen s team and will work to expand the growth of MARS in their area of Texas. Story continued on Page 6.

4 PAGE 4 O perator of the Dale DAWKINS Montana Dale Dawkins knew his football career would likely be short-lived, so he was looking for an opportunity that would provide for his family. My lifelong background has been athletics, said Dale. I played football for the University of Miami during their national championship years and then was fortunate enough to play for the New York Jets for five years as a wide receiver and special teams player. That was an incredible opportunity for me and I really enjoyed that entire experience. However, I quickly learned that NFL really stands for not for long, so I began preparing for life after football. Dale s desire was to own businesses, be involved in real estate, and be a mentor along the way. My brother-in-law owned a MARS franchise in Montana and he was always telling my wife how well he was doing and what a great business MARS was, recalls Dale. Then his career went in a different direction and he was looking for someone to take over his franchise. That s when I started investigating the possibility and the huge potential I saw really got me excited. Dale took the leap and moved his family from Florida to Montana to take over his brother-in-law s MARS Month November 2006 Dale Dawkins has grown a successful MARS business through the quality services he provides and his professionalism. and snow, but we are very happy to be away from hurricanes! Having lived in Florida all our lives made moving so far away quite a drastic change, but we are all loving it and it has been a great experience. While moving a family across the country can pose quite a challenge, Dale has found managing the growth of his business is even more challenging! We moved from Florida to Montana just a little over a year ago, so we are all still adjusting to the cold Story continued on Page 5

5 PAGE 5 OPERATOR OF THE MONTH CONTINUED... This is such a great business that it s pretty easy to grow and expand. But the challenge is to maintain quality of service as you begin to expand to the point where you can t handle it all yourself and you feel pulled in many directions at once. Dale is realizing that he can t manage the continued growth of his business on his own. FROM PAGE 4 very gratifying. Dale s favorite service is leather repair. It continually amazes me how it s possible to take something so damaged and seemingly beyond repair and make it like new again. I get a lot of satisfaction from the disbelief of clients as well! But paint touchups and scratch removals are definitely staples for me. Seeing the amount of work available has caused me to realize that I definitely can t do it all alone. So I can either stop and stay where I m at and be satisfied with that, or I bring on more people and run multiple trailers with confidence that the same quality service I offer will be maintained throughout my entire team. I ve chosen the latter because I am never satisfied to just stay at my current level. I love a challenge and I m excited to see my business grow and have the opportunity to help others be successful as well. While Dale is realizing the growth potential of his business, he has discovered that the best way to attract new customers is from the referrals of existing customers. When you combine quality work with professionalism, word-of-mouth proves to be incredibly profitable. Of course, being professional and offering quality workmanship is crucial, but developing a rapport with clients is also key. It continually amazes me how it s possible to take something so damaged and seemingly beyond repair and make it like new again! The extra time and effort I ve taken to develop relationships has not only been very beneficial for my business, but has been great for me personally as well. And while developing relationships with his customers is an enjoyable part of the day, doing the work is also The goals that Dale set out with, to own his own business, be involved in real estate and to be a mentor are all things he has been able to accomplish. - Dale Dawkins Thankfully, I have been able to accomplish those goals, but I am always looking to continue to grow and expand. While he will continue to build on these goals in the future, he has added another objective to build his team and expand his MARS I am just super excited about the growth I see coming to my area in particular and it s my goal to tap into it by expanding my team and helping them to be successful in reaching their goals as I strive to reach mine. Outside of working a successful MARS business, Dale enjoys playing golf and basketball but mostly likes spending his free time with his wife and kids. My wife, Lori, and I met in high school and have been together for 22 years. Lori is a stay-at-home mom who takes care of all the bookkeeping for our business in Florida as well as our MARS We have five awesome kids: Alexa, 12; Kassady, 10; Blake, 8; Jadyn, 6; and Giana, 4. As all five kids are getting older and more involved in sports and activities, it is absolutely awesome to not be a slave to my schedule and to be able to be present and active in all their endeavors.

6 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 The PAGE 6 WELCOME NEW OPERATORS CONTINUED... Dan Hass (WI) worked as a manufacturing supervisor in the plastics industry before joining MARS. He plans to grow the business as much as possible while providing quality services to the dealerships in his area. FROM PAGE 3 Randy Keahey (AL) owns a pressure washing business, but was looking for a more promising career. He is excited about growing his MARS business and establishing long-term customers. Douglas Pitot (AK) is the first MARS Operator in the state of Alaska. He has experience in the automotive industry and wants to grow the wholesale side of the business, but is also interested in a successful mobile retail Russell Bledsoe (OK) was the manager of a Radio Shack and was looking for a brighter future. He wants to build a strong wholesale business while offering his services to the retail public. Russell wants to dominate his market and be the one everyone calls for reconditioning work. Fast Shelter - A Great Solution A few months ago, MARS partnered with Fast Shelter to offer Operators a portable workstation that offers protection from all the weather elements Operators incur throughout the year. Fast Shelter has been manufacturing this inflatable shelter nearly 10 years, said Kevin Little, Supply Operations Manager. After all of our research and field testing, this product provided superior protection and flexibility for the price. These units offer a lot of flexibility for the Operators in the field. Each shelter is equipped with a number of D-Rings sewn into the interior and exterior surfaces for additional lights, hanging equipment, tie-downs, and optional banner signage. The shelters are rated to withstand up to 20 mph winds and temperatures as low as -10 Fahrenheit. store, Kevin added. These shelters offer MARS Operators a great opportunity to extend the number of hours they work during inclement weather, and keep earning while their competition is sitting at home waiting for the sun to come out, said Donovan Hall, Chief Marketing Officer. These units will pay for themselves in no time, while insuring MARS Operators the ability to work and provide the quality service their customers have come to expect. I love mine, said Dan Doherty (WI). I wouldn t have been able to work three days last week without it. Even more amazing is that it takes less than five minutes for one person to set-up and inflate these structures and less than 10 minutes to deflate and