As summer is winding down, you’ve probably turned your focus to the rest of the year, and so have we.

KADA organizes many events throughout the year for the sole benefit of our members. The 2022 KADA Convention at The Omni Grove Park Inn was an incredible success! We had the highest turnout to date and enjoyed lots of time together in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. The convention is always fun and informative; whether you attended this year or not, please mark your calendars for next year. It will be a very important event as we will be celebrating the 85th birthday of KADA. We hope to see you there June 19-22, 2023, at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

We’ve scheduled five district meetings throughout the state for October. Each one will have a 5:30 p.m. reception followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Dates and locations are:

• Oct. 4, 2022, Lexington Country Club, Lexington
• Oct. 5, 2022, Hurstbourne Country Club, Louisville
• Oct. 6, 2022, Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport, Erlanger
• Oct. 18, 2022, Lake Barkley State Park, Cadiz
• Oct. 19, 2022, University Plaza, Bowling Green

The first three district meetings will be on Eastern time, and the last two will be on Central time. We added the fifth meeting in Erlanger to give Northern Kentucky members a more convenient location to attend.

We are also hosting our Annual Golf Tournament on Monday, September 12, at the Frankfort Country Club. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Finally, the 2023 NADA Show and Expo is scheduled in Dallas, Texas, from Jan. 26-29, 2023. KADA’s Dan Renshaw is the NADA Show Chair and will host this event.

For more information or to ensure you have the latest information about all these events, visit https://www.kyada.com/upcoming-events.html.

From my perspective, the year’s biggest remaining event is the midterm election in November. Sometimes people tend to ignore midterm elections, but that would be a big mistake right now because of current attacks on the franchise system. We need to have the right people in place to make decisions about our industry, and the right time to get them elected will be Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. We must also educate our political leaders about what’s at stake for everyone — not just dealers. Ending or diminishing the franchise system would hurt the state as a whole.

Member engagement will be a critically important part of our efforts. If you are a dealer or part of your dealership’s management team, please consider inviting candidates, state representatives and senators to your dealership so they can see for themselves some of what Kentucky dealerships contribute to Kentucky’s economic prosperity.

NADA collects data about how Kentucky’s new-car dealers contribute to Kentucky’s economy, and the results are significant. They recently released their report from 2021, and the data is impressive, to say the least.

With 232 new car dealerships in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, we are boasting close to 28,000 jobs, $11.7 billion in sales, and $70,000 in average annual earnings. Each dealership employs approximately 55 people, with payroll totaling $893 million. State sales taxes paid were $709 million. Almost a tenth of all U.S. new vehicle registrations were in Kentucky.

If the franchise system were to go away or become weakened, so could much of that money that is so important to the local community. Franchise systems, by their nature, are local organizations that benefit their communities. Other models are often not local, meaning money is siphoned out of state to some central location, and those dollars are no longer guaranteed to stay
in Kentucky.

Another difference between the franchise model and other models also has to do with where headquarters are located. Central planning never cares about local concerns the way locals do. Those involved don’t live where we do, and they don’t have the same interest in Kentucky’s well-being and future. Why should they?

Don’t take the risk of assuming everyone will understand why the franchise system matters. The franchise system is worth defending for many reasons. Ending or even weakening the franchise system as we know it would put the interests of strangers ahead of our local communities.

Now is the time we all can prepare for November. Think about what you can do over the next few months to help us educate the decision-makers who will determine our future, then follow through. Please call me if you have suggestions or ideas. Our members are skilled and experienced, and I always benefit from hearing what you say.

I am honored to serve you. Please stay in touch.