It’s been a busy time, and as we welcome the warmer days of spring and watch the COVID vaccine begin to make a much-needed change, I can’t help but feel positive about the future.

First, we’ve seen the close of another successful General Assembly Session. It was an active 2021 session, meeting with legislators in person and via Zoom, as well as countless calls and emails. Thank you to everyone who reached out to their local representatives – we couldn’t have done it without you. Numerous times this past session, we asked for phone calls and emails from you all, and every time, you all answered that request loudly and boldly. Your voices were heard; your voices helped make a difference!

It’s hard to imagine that a little over a year ago Covid-19 drastically changed our lives, and began forcing us to redesign and rethink our priorities. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves, our families, the people we work with, and the health and direction of our nation. But in the midst of these difficult times, I watched how dealers – in Virginia and here in Kentucky – rose to the occasion and continued to persevere and adapt to an ever-changing business landscape with shifting customer demands.

Although sales slowed initially, many of you saw your most profitable months in years. This essential need to innovate remains, and we must keep pushing forward to improve our processes and facilitate the customer buying experience, both online and in person. We will see more “disruptors” emerge with new ways of doing things. Saying that, I’m confident that car dealers have learned and grown much over the last year and will continue to be the cutting-edge ambassadors of technology.

As an organization, we worked on several issues regarding PPP loans, the trade-in tax credit and electronic registration and titling.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to tune into our brand-new Kentucky Horsepower podcast, where we give a full legislative recap and discuss what the future landscape may look like.

We also look forward to the KADA Annual Convention, June 14-17, at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida. I encourage you to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to network with fellow dealers – many of whom you may not have seen for a while – have fun in the sun with your family and hear from top industry speakers.

Engaging with KADA is something everyone will benefit from. This is an industry whose success is collective from the dealers, their voices, their vision and their wisdom.

And finally, I am always available for our dealers. I am here as a resource and look forward to working with and serving the needs of KADA for many years.

Thank you!