Pub. 58 2017-2018 Issue 1

6 Texas Dealers Rebound After Harvey T he recent attack by Hurricane Harvey proved that Hous- ton, Golden Triangle and Gulf Coast dealers are as resilient as any in the nation. ACategory 4 hurricane with 50 inches of rainfall pounded an area of southeast Texas that affected over 300 dealerships and close to 30,000 employees. Within a week or so, many of the Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi area dealers were back open for business, while Beaumont, Port Arthur andOrange were under siege. Many dealerships experienced flooding and wind damage, power outages and destruction of vehicle inventory. In the beginning of the storm, countless employees had to be evacuated from their homes with few possessions, if any… just the clothes on their back with the safety of their families being the paramount goal. Today, thousands of franchised dealership employees are working their way through insurance forms, medical bills, home repairs, just anything to try to achieve some semblance of normality in this far reaching and unprecedented disaster. Knowing that times like these require a helping hand to deserving dealership employees, the National Automobile Dealers Association has a mechanism to get immediate funds to employees to help them get back on their feet. The NADA Foundation Emergency Relief Fund is the only resource available that gives 100 percent of the funds collected to dealership employees in need. JonathanCollegio , Senior Vice President for Public Affairs for NADA, contacted TADA the day after Harvey achieved landfall saying, “Please keep us updated on dealership needs from the NADA Foundation after the storm. We are standing by.” Jonathan and his staff, as well as NADA President Peter Welch, kept in constant contact with TADA and HADA staff throughout the storm and are still working with us today to help employees affected by Harvey. Texas’ own Annette Sykora is the volunteer chairman of the NADAFoundation and she has been ever vigilant in the effort to help dealers. A dealer in Levelland and Slaton, Annette is a Past Chairman of NADA and has gone throughout the country aiding dealers through a variety of disasters, beginning with Hurricane Katrina. NADAhad a camera teamon the ground inHouston just days after Harvey hit to get video evidence to use in fundraising across the country. EricHunsaker and his cameraman, Jeff Baker risked life and limb to report first hand the devastation and destruction in dealerships throughout the counties attacked by the hurricane. The photographic evidence told dealers across the nation the power of the storm and the need of thousands of employees in 26 Texas counties. The first NADA checks were delivered inHouston beginning September 5th when the leadership team of NADA Chairman Mark Scarpelli from Illinois, NADA President PeterWelch ,NADAFoundationChairman AnnetteSykora