CEO’S MESSAGE
Was it That Long Ago? By Danny Langfield NMEDA CEO
T
here is a peculiar challenge to writing for a periodical print publication such as this, one
experienced every issue, namely: Is the content I turn in at the copy deadline going to remain relevant by the time the issue reaches the reader? For example, I am writing this on April 2 (only a week past deadline!) with the expectation that you will be reading it sometime in the first week of May. As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the world, it may be instructive to look back 30 days…on March 2, we were still 24 hours from the opening general session of the NMEDA conference. Three hundred people sitting shoulder to shoulder in a conference center ballroom; seems unthinkable now, doesn’t it?
Back then we were just starting to
to briefly talk about something to
realize that shaking hands with folks
which I’ve given a lot of thought over
was probably not a great idea—but
the last several weeks: the role of an
most of us did it anyway. We drank
association in a time like this.
together at the bars, sat together in classrooms, chatted (in groups larger than 10) in the expo…it was a different time. Heck, Tom Brady was still a New
“
England Patriot back then.
In speaking with my peers, one theme remains constant—no one knows what our roles are. The term “unprecedented” is being worn out, but it’s still accurate—this is literally
I hope you will reach out to me if you have any suggestions as to how the association can be of more assistance to our members and the industry. There is certainly no playbook for this, and all ideas are welcome.”
In light of all that, it feels faintly
unprecedented, at least in our
ridiculous to talk about anything
lifetimes.
contemporary at all. Instead I’d like
We have done what we can thus far (keep in mind, that’s as of April 2). Two weeks ago we offered our first webinar, a general update on the government’s COVID-19 response. We followed that up the next week with a town hall webinar on how dealers were coping with the crisis. Yesterday we published an online resource that we will be updating constantly, found at nmeda.com/covid19. Tomorrow we will host another webinar with one of our attorneys detailing the specifics of the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the federal CARES Act intended to provide forgivable loans to small businesses such as yours.
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NMEDA Circuit Breaker
