An article in last month's Automotive News profiled several states that are pursuing legislative actions to close the gap between customer pay and warranty reimbursement. Virginia wasn’t included in the roundup — but only because we didn’t have '23 legislation on the issue. In fact, Virginia has enjoyed these protections for a quarter century, and many other states are following our lead and playing catchup. Educate yourself on warranty reimbursement in Virginia with this 3-minute read from Don.

Watch the video to see Geoff Pohanka speak at the NADA convention as the 2023 Chairman. NADA also has a great story looking at Pohanka Automotive Group's more than 100-year history, from Frank Pohanka's time as a jockey to today's operation, a leading auto dealership with 20 locations in Maryland, Texas, and Virginia.

An opinion piece this month in the Richmond Times-Dispatch looks at the political fight over the so-called "Clean Cars" law, which remains in place despite Republican attempts to repeal in 2023. As the RT-D notes: The law likely doesn't matter. VADA's Don Hall is quoted in the column: "We don’t have a choice, because we are going EV. Whether I like it or not, it is immaterial.” Read the full column here (login required).

Ashton Lewis, Jr. and First Team Auto Group contributed $15,000 to the Virginia Auto & Truck Dealers PAC.

Conducted annually since 2012, the NADA Dealership Workforce Study is the only authoritative and comprehensive examination of car and truck dealership employee compensation, benefits, turnover, retention, demographics, hiring trends, hours of operation and more. This study provides the latest workforce trends nationally and regionally as well as non-luxury vs. luxury brands. In addition, you can also see data across various sales volume ranges from low, medium, and high-volume stores. Deadline to participate: March 31, 2023.

Our 2023 Annual Family Convention is set for June 19-22, 2023, at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It's a quad-state affair along with the Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia dealers associations — and of course, VADA! Get details and register now.

We appreciate all our sponsors that have seen the value in supporting this Convention. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities, and if you're a potential sponsor on the fence, here's why you should attend.

We know you're out there doing good in the community — so be sure to tell us about it! Submit your stories of community service to be highlighted in the VADA monthly newsletter. Email jkelley@vada.com to submit your news.

Learn how dealers are saving up to 75% on their credit card processing expense and staying compliant — without impacting CSI. Join Amberly Allen and Laura Mellencamp of Dealer Merchant Services as they highlight one of the biggest topics in 20 Groups today!

What you’ll learn:

In 2022, DMS grew by 442%, making them one of the fastest growing automotive merchant service providers in the country.

VADA is pleased to welcome Jordan Jankowski from Armatus Dealer Uplift, our partner for Retail Warranty Reimbursement, to present this webinar to you. It will highlight:

Join us for a refresher on retail parts reimbursement, the success to date in Virginia, and some “insider baseball” on submitting for your annual labor rate.

...and speaking of RockED, VADA's Don Hall made a trip this week to New York City, where he filmed a series of videos on leadership and sales strategies. Stay tuned for access to these videos, which we'll share with peer groups nationwide.

Digital Air Strike is the leading social media, intelligent lead response, consumer engagement, and customer experience (CX) technology company helping over 7,700 businesses increase consumer response and conversions by leveraging patented AI-powered digital technology that generates measurable ROI.

A pioneer in digital response, social media marketing technology, and online reputation management solutions, Digital Air Strike deploys industry-specific mobile apps, software, intelligent messaging, and consumer engagement platforms to monitor, respond, improve, and convert more consumers into customers.

Aris Woolfolk

757.814.0248

Sqwire, one of our preferred partners, offers a course on Tax Basics along with lessons on other important financial topics. You can provide the entire Sqwire platform to your whole team (at no cost to them) to prioritize their financial wellness. Talk to the team at Sqwire to claim your special members-only discounted rate: www.getsqwire.com/vada.

VADA Partner ACV Auctions has provided a summary of their recent webinar series "Break Away from the Pack." Check out the article to learn about what was discussed in the webinars and reach out to ACV Auctions to learn more.

We're grateful for our many members who take advantage of our Program Partners and Allied membership, designed to meet dealer needs while providing competitive pricing AND serving the needs of the association. Every time you purchase a service via a partner, it's like you're buying from yourself - and that helps VADA maintain low dues and offer exceptional training and educational opportunities. We highly value our dealer partners and are working every day to make sure they know it.

Please take a moment to provide us with updated contact information. This information will be used to communicate legal & regulatory changes to the correct people.

Have something you want to see in our monthly newsletter? Contact us at jkelley@vada.com.