February 19, 2021

Lakes Region Community College (LRCC) student uses his $2,327.00 NH Auto Education Foundation (NHAEF) scholarship award to purchase critical automotive tools to begin his career. Ricky Richardson, a student in the General Motors Automotive Service Educational Program (GM ASEP) at LRCC, one of 70 students who collectively earned nearly $100,000 in foundation scholarships in 2020.

Nancy Phillips Associates has been selling auto dealerships throughout New England and New York State for 30 years. Documenting and studying dealership transactions has proven to be a reliable way to anticipate and project future dealership values. Every month we receive numerous calls from dealers asking what the current multiples are for their franchise. The flaw with this method is that a dealership losing money may in fact be worth the same as a profitable one.

Well, 2020 sure was a unique and memorable year! The Covid-19 pandemic threw everything for a loop, including some of the amount of, and types of injuries received by the NHADA Workers Compensation Trust (WCT). When discussing this year-end review, WCT Director Pete Sheffer wondered if anything could be gleaned by comparing such an unusual year? One thing that was obvious is that 2020 was a much better year for the WCT than 2019, which was a worse than average year. There were 216 (27%) fewer claims in 2020 and incurred cost were $261,083 (8%) less.

This year’s legislative session has been one of many firsts. There have been remote zoom hearings with call-in testimony, drive-in style House sessions at a UNH parking lot, and the unfortunate passing of the Speaker of the House-elect due to COVID just days before his election.

As we venture into the new year, I am excited to announce a major change to the Products Division. Beginning this Spring, the NHADA Store will be recognized as LotDrop — an online marketplace for motor vehicle businesses. The NHADA Store’s rebranding was embarked upon to appeal to a larger audience and enhance the customer experience. This initiative will also grow revenue, which will go right back into the Association, making us stronger and giving us the ability to serve you better.

2020 has exited the building, but unfortunately COVID-19 has not. It’s a new year and it’s always better to go forward with positive thoughts and plans for a better 2021. Yes; this is what we need to do, but we also need to be wise and realistic as COVID-19 remains present and has not lost any strength at this point. Unfortunately … 2021 is served with a side of COVID-19.

Coming this Spring: Virtual Benefits Administrator. The Insurance Division is busy learning about their new VBA Gateway Total Enrollment Solution system. This new software system will allow our Insurance Division to serve you and your employees better.

In an effort to assist with timely reporting, NHADA WCT members’ can now securely submit First Reports of Injury electronically at https://www.nhada.com/our-solutions/workers-comp/report-an-injury.

Author’s note: I’ve only been at the helm of the NHADA since 2007, so I’m not going to try to recap NHADA’s 100 years, nor that of the automobile. Rather, this is more of a rambling reflection of what we have seen in the rearview mirror (patented in 1921, FYI) and what might be awaiting us around the next turn. I’d welcome your thoughts on the same during this centennial year.

Congratulations to Michael Boutin, a Salem High School CTC student, this year’s Big Raffle winner of $25,000! Michael plans to attend Nashua Community College this coming fall and will be taking part in the Honda Automotive Technology Program. Our runner-up Abigale Orthman won a $1,000 scholarship. Abigale is a student from Sugar River Valley RTC. Michael, Abigale, and 379 other high school and college auto tech students received raffle tickets because many NHADA members donated those tickets through our “20 for 20” program!