Matthew Marks
IARA Executive Director
September 16, 2009
Greetings to all IARA members and supporters. Your participation and contributions continue to strengthen the Alliance. Thanks to the hard work and diligent effort of many volunteers, the IARA 2009 Summer Roundtable was a huge success. We had record attendance at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago with almost 150 attendees. We also thank all of our sponsors who set a record for participation. A short summary of the meeting events is as follows.
NEW DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
Layne Weber, Citi Financial, is the new Chairman of the Board; Bob Graham, ARI, is the new President; Dave Sutton, VW Credit, is the new Vice President; Virgil Matzcak, ABC, continues as Treasurer, and Mike Antich, Bobit Media, continues as Secretary. Directors reappointed to terms ending in 2012 are: Bob Graham; Mike Antich; Chuck Novince; Don Roccia; and Dave Sutton.
AWARDS
Ricky Beggs, Black Book, was presented with his IARA Certified Automotive Remarketer (CAR) designation. To earn this designation, Ricky passed the examinations for the twenty IARA Remarketing Certified courses by successfully completing over 400 total questions. Congratulations and Well Done!
Scott France, Triad Financial, was awarded the 2009 IARA Special Recognition Award, for his outstanding work with several charity and assistance organizations. His first involvement was with the Boy Scouts as a Scout Master in the inner city. When he moved to Texas he became involved with the inner city Big Brothers program. In his church, Scott is in the Deacon Program working with children who do not have parents financially able to support them. Scott is also active in the Fort Worth Hospice, and in addition serves as the church coordinator for school building missions in Honduras. Scott and his group have built three Honduras schools, grades 7-11and two vocational schools. There is no question that Scott deserves a huge “thankyou” and a sincere “well done” for his outstanding service to others.
SESSIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
The presentations at the Roundtable are available in the members area on the website. This includes the IARA Remarketing Industry Survey presented by Dave Sutton; the Update on NAAA Standards Initiatives by David Munnikhuysen, Manhem; and Dr. Ira Silver’s Economic Forecast.
The results and findings of the two Roundtable Sessions are being compiled and will be distributed soon. Jim DesRochers’ session on the Universal Sales Platform drew a lot of attention and spirited discussion. Our thanks and appreciation to those who were selected to lead this discussion topic. The other Roundtable session was lead by Les Lynott, Emkay, and Jeff Hoyt, ADESA, on the topic of live rep versus virtual rep at auctions sales. Les and Jeff did a great job and the results of that session will also be available shortly.
Our thanks and appreciation also go out to our Keynote Speakers, Bob McConkey, DAA Northwest, who opened our meeting and to Raj Sundarum, Dealer Track, who was our Award Luncheon Speaker with an insight as to what significant data events are taking place in the automotive market. Dealer inventory optimization with the integration of used vehicle sourcing techniques continues to be the next evolution in right sizing retail demand with available wholesale inventories.
Thanks also to Bob Graham, who led the Consignors panel; Charlie Vogelheim, who led the “Market Forces” panel; and Scott Kolb, who led the Dealer panel. All deserve a special thanks for their efforts in bringing these panels to fruition.
IARA CERTIFICATION UPDATE
The following people took IARA Certification exams in Chicago. Stephanie Gringras, DAA Southwest. Dave Blake, New England Auto Auction. Les Lynott, Emkay. David Thompson, Emkay. Mona Spoon, Emkay. John Elizaga, Emkay. Gus Xamplas, Donlen, who passed 14 tests in two sittings. Well done and congratulations to all!!
NEW MEMBERS JULY 2008- JULY 2009
- Assurant Specialty Property Insurance
- Auto Auction of Connecticut
- Auto Auction of New England
- Auto Check Auctions
- COPART Asset Remarketing
- Hyundai Motor Finance Company
- Independent Auctions Association
- MidState Auto Auction (SC)
- Midwest Recreational Clearing House
- Ocean State Auto Auction
- The Premier Auction Group
- Smart Auction
Welcome and thanks to all our new members.
CONCLUSION
The IARA continues to be a great organization to work on industry issues and share experiences on an ongoing basis. Please contact me if you are interested in joining one of our committees. Copies of the 2009 IARA Industry Survey are now available upon request. IARA Consignors and participants have already received their copies.
CORRECTION—The Roundtable Program Guide has the wrong date for our IARA /CAR2010 Spring meeting in Las Vegas. The correct date is March 3rd at Caesars Palace.
Wishing everyone the best for a strong Fall and Winter sales results and continued safety in your operations. Looking forward to seeing everyone at CAR2010 in Las Vegas.
Best regards,
Matthew Marks
Executive Director
International Automotive Remarketers Alliance