MADA members and guests were treated to a day of beautiful weather at our recent Annual Golf Outing and Crab Feast at Queenstown Harbor.   Although the temperatures were a bit warmer than what we had last year, it was a gorgeous day.

With a scorching score of 56, the winning foursome were Scott Zlotak, Donny Bliven, Jeremy Darden, and Jackson Griffin from AutoTrader.   Once again, Randy Miranda of Wells Fargo Dealer Services took home the prize for longest drive men and Susan Imber from Comcast Spotlight won longest drive for the women.  

Tom Thompson, Tom O'Donnel, and Al Shockley gather in the morning.

After a day of golf, the crab feast and barbeque were a welcome treat. Beaux's catering, a new local company, provided the BBQ this year to rave reviews! The crabs were provided by JR Thomas Seafood and they were delicious! We gave away great door prizes and everyone left happy and with good memories.

We would like to thank all of the sponsors who helped make this a wonderful event:

Adstratgies, Inc.

AutoTrader.com

Bel Air Auto Auction

BG Products & Services

Charapp & Weiss, LLP

Councilor, Buchanan & Mitchell, CPA's

Crumback & Associates, LLC

CVR-Computerized Vehicle Registration

DealerTrack

Federated Insurance

G&K Services

Helion Technologies

IWIF

Kelly & Associates Insurance Group

Landmark Ins.& Financial Group/Steve Salamon

Motor Trend Auto Shows, Inc.

Washington Gas Energy Services

Zurich

MADA is very proud to announce that Dewalt Willard, of Frederick's Ideal Auto Group, as our TIME Magazine Quality Dealer of the Year nominee!   

Chosen for his business success and dedication to community, De will represent the state of Maryland at the 2012 NADA/ATD Convention and Expo.  Congratulations to De and best of luck in February at the Convention, we know you will do us and your peers quite proud.

MADA announces the next live webinars coming to you from DealersEdge...

#1 - Redefining Parts Obsolescence & a Process for Better Control 

Date / Time: September 22, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.

Cost: $149.00

Presenter:  Rick Heronime, Senior V.P. and COO of Dealership CSI, a fixed operations advisory firm

If the industry standard definition of Parts Obsolescence is not helping to reduce this profit drain and prime example of frozen capital - then maybe it's time to work with a new definition.

This webinar will focus on the causes of Obsolescence and on the processes to control each one. Can you finally whip this monster back in line?  Rick thinks so and wants to share this with you via this webinar. If parts obsolescence continues to challenge your dealership, then you do not want to miss this Live Webinar presentation.

#2 - Strategies and Tools to Shrink Work-in-Process and Unapplied Labor

Date / Time: Thursday, Sept 29th at 1pm Eastern           

Cost: $149.00

Presenter: Rob Campbell of Mironov Sloan and Parziale, LLC

These two troublesome accounts can hide a mountain of problems and profit losses. Here are some tools you can use to make your accounting more efficient and to stop profit draining errors. Shrink the pile!

This webinar will focus on:

• How adjusted costs impact your profitability and gross retention
• All about the five primary causes of a growing WIP account
• How to identify and understand the interaction of all the accounts involved and how they should be functioning to keep these accounts low
• How to get to the bottom of WIP in your dealership and trace the source of errors

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY! 

The Environmental Protection Agency has extended until Sept. 30 the deadline for dealers to complete a new survey on dealership energy use that could earn them national and local recognition. 

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) is urging its members to complete the short survey, whose results will be used to produce a 1-to-100 ENERGY STAR performance scale, allowing dealerships to compare their energy use to other dealerships nationwide.

Dealerships with energy performance scores of 75 or higher will be eligible for an ENERGY STAR designation, receive national and local recognition through NADA's Energy Stewardship Initiative with the EPA and learn additional ways to reduce energy use.

Since the NADA-EPA Energy Stewardship Initiative was launched in 2007, more than 800 dealerships have improved the efficiency of their facilities by reducing energy use 10 percent or more annually. 

"By joining this initiative and investing in energy efficiency, dealers across the country have shown their commitment to going green," said NADA Chairman Stephen W. Wade. "Improving the environment and reducing energy costs is a win-win."

Dealership energy-reducing measures include investing in cutting-edge heating and cooling systems, using more efficient lighting and working smarter.

NADA members can access the survey by clicking

here. It takes 30 minutes or less to fill out and must be completed and returned by Sept. 30, 2011. Responses will be kept strictly confidential. Please submit your completed survey via email toenergystar@nada.org or via fax to (703) 883-9494.

MADA extends our thanks and gratitude to those dealers who answered the call to help from Ron and Marc Bortnick of Ron Bortnick Ford. Many of you have seen the news coverage, but the dealership was badly damaged and lost 95% of its inventory in the monsoon-like rains that followed Hurricane Irene.

Ron Bortnick Ford reopened its doors on Monday September 12, 2011, through the determined efforts of the store's employees and the generosity and support of fellow Ford and area dealers and the company itself. "I can't say enough how much I truly appreciate all the help we have received from Ford, my fellow Ford dealers and dealers throughout the metro region in helping me restock my inventory and getting us back on our feet," Ron Bortnick said. Much of the damaged inventory is being replaced by Ford dealers who are transferring their inventory to the Bortnick lot for sale. "The dealer community is a close knit one and it's times like this when they show it," Bortnick said.

Ron says that any help he can get with transferring vehicles is especially appreciated and asks dealers wishing to do so to please call him at the dealership (301) 627-5600.

In late 2010, Congress passed the "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010," which reinstated the estate tax retroactively to the beginning of 2010. For people who died in 2010, it included a provision that permits their executors to opt out of estate tax and apply the carryover basis rules that applied before the estate tax returned. The IRS recently issued guidance on this procedure, in Revenue Procedure 2011-41, which provides guidelines on allocating basis increases among assets under the carryover basis rules.

At the end of June, 2011 the Federal Reserve Board finalized new rules to regulate interchange processing cost on Visa & MasterCard check/debit card transactions in accordance with the Durbin Amendment passed by Congress. Beginning October 1, 2011, the cost of signature and pin based debit card transactions will be lowered to $.22 and $.05% per transaction. This reduction in fees represents a potential revenue increase for dealerships. Veteran Payment Systems will be passing on to our merchants 100% of the significant cost reduction on their check/debit card transaction completely. For further information, please review the attached flyer or contact David Lehman, Director of Associations, at 855.275.5959 or email david.lehman@veteranpay.com.