Pub. 4 Issue 4

6 President’s and Executive Director’s MESSAGE Fritz Hitchcock, President and Bob Smith, Executive Director GREATER LOS ANGELES NEW CAR DEALERS ASSOCIATION T he GLANCDA annual dealer member luncheon on June 21 was attended by over 300 dealer members, industry partners, elected officials and others. The event took place at the Universal City Sheraton, and featured Elizabeth Smart as the keynote speaker. Her remarks on overcoming adversity tied in with a theme to the day that recognized the outstanding women in retail automotive from the Greater Los Angeles area. Board member Darryl Holter was recognized with the GLANCDA outstanding lifetime service award for his years of dedicated work on behalf of all new car dealers. His work as the leader of the Shammas Group New Car Dealer- ships and his service at the city, state and national level makes him an outstanding candidate to be the Time Dealer of the Year Nominee for 2019 from the Los Angeles area. Congratulations to Darryl and the Shammas Family! As the association has been preparing for its office move to Glendale in early August, numerous meetings with elected state officials in support of AB2107 have been taking place. These important meetings with state assembly and senate members put dealer principals in the same room explaining the importance of the franchise system, and some areas of overreach on the part of the automakers that require a legislative fix and solution. This is the most important work of the association! The bill has cleared the Assembly and will be discussed in the Senate after the summer break. Please contact your elected officials in support of this bill, or call us to help set up a meeting together. We are excited to roll out the workforce development initiative that focuses on the career opportunities that exist for students who are studying automotive technology and repair in our local community colleges. In late 2018, and early 2019, we will be hosting networking events at seven or eight area community colleges that have specific programs that emphasize automotive repair and technology. We will be inviting dealership service managers and recruiters to do brief presentations and even offer students the opportunity to apply for part time jobs or intern- ships. These events will be catered, and hopefully be a way to connect good candidates with strong dealership employers. We would love to talk more about your dealership employees participating in these events. We hope you enjoy the rest of the summer, and keep your eyes on association membership renewal forms, or ap- plications that we mail out. Membership is the only way to be included in a complimentary ticket package to the world renowned Los Angeles Auto Show later this year. The success of our association depends on full dealer member engagement and involvement and we are here to answer any questions you may have!  Regards, Fritz Hitchcock GLANCDA President Bob Smith Executive Director