On Wednesday, October 29th the VADA Board of Directors met in Richmond for their scheduled meeting. While the Board took time to review the health of the association, their primary focus was on the current market challenges and what the association can do to help Virginia’s dealers.
After covering a review of the association’s operations, provided in advance in great detail to Directors, the Board turned its attention to the upcoming 2009 session of the Virginia General Assembly. With the successful victory in our five-year tax battle, the association is now in a position to commit our resources fully to franchise legislation.
Numerous pieces of proposed legislation meant to combat unfair manufacturer practices were reviewed, discussed and debated. Each of the proposed bills is designed to target disturbing trends which manufacturers have been employing recently in order to shift the burden of their recent losses onto dealers.
The Board received presentations from three of Virginia’s declared candidates for Governor; current Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R), State Senator Creigh Deeds (D), and Delegate Brian Moran (D). Each candidate explained their platforms and why they feel they deserve the support of Virginia dealers.
The Board took time to review several new Virginia programs directly targeted at reducing dealer costs and increasing dealership protections. These include the AutoCheck Express product, a vehicle history report service from Experian which is currently saving dealerships between $15,000 and $150,000 annually, and the ADP Document Express (DOX) program which provides VADA endorsed forms at a significantly reduced cost.
Both programs have been well received by dealers and are helping dealers significantly reduce their expenses.
The Board reviewed VADA’s Red Flag Rule guidance and training which is unquestionably the easiest and least expensive way to implement to critical Red Flag Compliance program. Team VADA released a simplified four-page template and hosted a one-hour training webinar on the template. This was provided free of charge to VADA Member Dealers.
This training and guidance is still available to VADA Dealer Members online. To access the webinar and template dealers should contact Michael Allen, VADA Director of Public Affairs, at mallen@vada.com or 804.545.3012.
The Board took the time to recognize our outgoing Chairman Ed Lewis of Harrisonburg Nissan for his strong leadership this year and during the final drive in our tax battle. The Board also recognized our retiring board members: Past Chairman Gardner Britt of Ted Britt Ford in Fairfax, Past Chairman Richard Carter of Haynes Jeep Chrysler in Richmond, and Joe Jacoby of Joe Jacoby Chrysler Jeep (formerly) in Warrenton.
The Board welcomed our newest Directors: Steve Fay of Battlefield Ford in Manassas (District 2), Ron Ferguson of Mooers Volvo in Richmond (District 8), and Cathy Stohlman of Stohlman VW Subaru in Vienna (District 1)
The Board selected your new 2009 Chairman of the Board: Art Hudgins of Holiday Chevrolet Cadillac in Williamsburg! Art grew up in the dealership and has most recently served as VADA’s First Vice Chairman.
The Board also elected its newest member of the Executive Committee. David Warren, President and Owner of Altavista Motors, was selected as VADA’s new Secretary. David began his automotive career as a cashier in 1990 and, after working in various positions, purchased his first dealership in 2000. A native of Charlotte, NC, he is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.
The Board directed staff to continue seeking new ways to help dealers during these challenging times. Dealers may send ideas and suggestions via email to TeamVADA@vada.com.
The next meeting of the VADA Board of Directors is planned to be held during the 2009 Team VADA Convention which will be at The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Pennsylvania, June 29 – July 2, 2009.