Problem:
Mark Barton owns a garage and is contemplating purchasing a tire retreading machine for $18,000. After estimating costs and revenues, Mark projects a net cash inflow from the retreading machine of $3,200 annually for 8 years. Mark hopes to earn a return of 9% on such investments.
Required:
Question: What is the present value of the retreading operation, rounded to whole dollars?
Note: Please provide through step by step calculations.