Officer’s Message

By Christian Quandt NMEDA PRESIDENT

So when we were all shaking hands, hugging, kissing goodbye in March at the last conference, I don’t think any of us really knew we were on the precipice of things unimaginable.

Back then it was just being suggested that we do the “elbow thing” or wave, but since we were in a safe, bubblelike environment like Daytona Beach amidst Spring Break and Bike Week, it was hugs as usual.

Just one week later, things got very real, the industry’s customer base was told to stay home and be distant, our ways of doing things had to change fast, almost every aspect of our operations had to be changed, and probably changed again a few more times as things developed.

I know I’m very proud of our company and the sacrifices our entire team has collectively made this year, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way about your respective companies as well. There was no playbook for all this, it was learned on the fly. It was difficult for us all to manage, so I figured it was prudent of me to take a minute to recognize the work NMEDA did on our behalf this year.

I’m proud of and thankful for everyone on the NMEDA staff for accomplishing more than most of us probably realized. Not only did they tackle some huge items, they did it remotely, and during the sudden and shocking loss of team member and friend, Andy Ghillyer. Thank you to Mikala for working so hard this year for our members to try to cover for some of that loss. We welcome the familiar face of Amy Lane and think the association with Amy and Pitt will be really positive for NMEDA going forward.

Danny’s flexible leadership and positive attitude are what helped keep the organization focused on to Katie and Kristen for an incredible dedication of time and diligence to make it come together. All of their work will help to continue to provide us dealers with fantastic tools to help manage our businesses. It is an undertaking that can sometimes go unnoticed because of all the backend work, but we all really appreciate it.

Another highlight of 2020 for NMEDA came as a result of all the hard work Amy Schoppman has done as our Government Relations Director. You would have thought that all her work the goals at hand despite all the operational hurdles this year. Danny and Marilyn have been the only two in the trenches in the office all pandemic, making sure everyone is connected and we all thank you both for your work on keeping the staff connected while they work remotely.

What better year to launch a website, AMS, and LMS than during a pandemic, right? It was an entire team effort, but special thanks go out on getting NMEDA involved with the VA’s Integrated Project Team, or the ongoing work on the VMSA, or the incredibly important work she’s doing with our Average Price Survey would be enough. However, her years of work and advocacy on our behalf came full-circle when she was contacted directly by Senator Tammy Duckworth recently, who was inquiring about possible recommendations for positions in the incoming administration. As they say up near me, that’s “wicked cool.“

Much like Amy’s role, Trevor’s ability to be “in front” of our partners was obviously severely hampered, but luckily he’s also been able to do a great job of keeping up with everyone remotely, even if he’s had to be grounded for the time being.

I’d also like to say thanks to Chuck, who rolled out a brand new, partially remote audit program at what turns out to be the absolute perfect time, and did a fantastic job of keeping the audits close to on schedule despite the pandemic. He is a master of flow charts and well-managed meetings, and I think all of us appreciated how smoothly the audit process went this year.

Lastly, congratulations to all of our members, who have all had to embrace a resolve many of us probably didn’t know we had in us this year. I can’t wait to celebrate being on the other side of this when I see you in person at the first colocated conference with ADED in Columbus, OH in September 2021. Until then, air high five from CT, and cheers to a much better 2021.