Pub. 1 Issue 2

VIRGINIA AUTO DEALER https://vada.com 2 Message from President & CEO, Don Hall M any of you have heard me ask “who pulls if we all ride?” It is something I bring up often, because it is a concept that I believe is fun- damental to every business person—to every human being—and the success of every organization. The 80/20 rule sounds like a statistic, and in some ways it is. Personally, I am not a big fan of math, but I am a big fan of things that work—time-honored truths, if you will. And the good thing about the 80/20 rule, beyond it being a time-hon- ored truth, is that you don’t have to understand statistics to be a believer. Yes, it has foundations in economics and yes, it was the result of statistical analysis by a man named Pareto, but it is not meant to be understood only by economic professors and MBAs. Regardless of the situation, it is one of those truths that just is . Things just seem to work that way. As an organization, VADA is owned and operated for the benefit of the dealer membership—all the members. And all the members benefit, not just the 20%. As you know, and as many of you have also heard me say: pro- tecting the franchise business model is at the forefront of our focus. It is what we do, because it is how our members make a living. It is a daily battle because it is a model that is under attack from many sides and many agendas. Good legislation is one of the best tactics we have to protect our business model. We need good governance, and, to accomplish that, we need advocacy. We need to pay attention and we cannot let up. This past month or so has seen the presentation of significant bills that we needed to win. And we did. We all worked very hard, and for those dealers that took the time out of their lives to support us, I want to say thank you. It mattered that you were there. It was not a waste of time. Rather, it was a visible sign of your commitment to our legislative priorities. Many dealers traveled 4-5 hours to attend a recent important meeting. For this specific meeting, the dealers met us down at the Capitol at 8:15 a.m.! This was a true sacrifice that made a difference. However, this meeting was one of many meetings that have occurred and will occur, where the presence of our members makes a difference. Now, I would like to say that all dealers were at the Capitol. I’d like to say that all dealers donated significantly to our PAC. But that is not the case. It fell back on the 80/20—which these things usually do. If the 80/20 is the standard, I’d like to invite each and every one of you to consider becoming part of the 20%. We need you. I would like to ask it again: If everyone is riding, who is pulling?