NIADA, NABD Team up for Training

operations.

Ken Shilson unveiled the program at his recent NABD conference in Atlanta. Several NIADA representatives were on hand, including CEO Mike Linn, President Don Fincher and President-elect Chris Martin.

Fincher and Martin are both CMDs who also do in-house financing.
Despite being in the business for decades, Fincher said he learned a lot from his CMD training.

You can never say you ve learned everything you need to know, Fincher said.

The two groups are gathering input from dealers to shape the content of the classes. Some topics are already marked for inclusion, such as compliance and financial management.

We ll sit down and figure out what makes sense, Linn said.

The new program received a positive reaction from the audience at the NABD event. Several conference attendees were already CMDs, and said they would enroll in the new course.

One hope for the CMD program is it improves the tarnished image of buy-here, pay-here dealers. A series of unflattering articles in the Los Angeles Times has lead to new calls for increased regulation of the sector.

The new designation could enhance the image of buy-here, pay-here dealers.
The better we look, the better off we are, Fincher said.

Linn said the NIADA website allows consumers to search for CMDs in their market. This option draws a lot of interest each month, he said.

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throughout his involvement with the association. For years, he presented dealer compliance seminars across the country, which later evolved into pioneering on-demand and live webcasts through NIADA.TV. More recently, Whann's "Car Counselor's TARP" (Together Automotive Retailing Prospers) program brought lenders and dealers together at a time when funding was difficult to find. His "Dealer Tech 2.0" series stresses the importance of social media interaction for dealers.

Keith has been instrumental in representing the interests of car dealers in Washington, DC. He has participated as an industry expert in all recent FTC roundtable sessions, as well as meeting with various members of Congress, White House staff, the Department of Defense, Small Business Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Keith for over thirteen years, and I truly appreciate the contributions he has made to NIADA and the industry as a whole," stated Michael Linn, NIADA CEO. "Keith and I have created some ground-breaking innovations, such as the NIADA.TV network. I personally look forward to working with him on industry related projects in the future."

"On behalf of the Board of Directors and our dealer members," continued Linn, "I would like to express my deep appreciation for his dedication and loyalty to NIADA and we wish him continued success in his ongoing ventures."

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