Young Dealer Day at the Capitol was a huge success! The young people in our Texas Dealer Academy (TDA) continue to shine and impress with their ability to advocate for the franchised dealer community. Nowhere was that more evident than their recent day at the Texas Capitol, hosted by the TADA Legislative Office. The following TDA members made the trip to Austin in March for this event:
Central and Southeast: Claire McDonald (TADA Legislative Chair), Chris Wall
Houston and East Texas: Robby Knapp, Anthony Gullo Rodriguez, Brett Rodriguez, John Thomas
San Antonio: Claire Cavender McNab
Valley: Jackie Cervantes, Andrea Yoder, Lien Yoder, Ryan Yoder
The program began with a dinner at Perry’s in downtown Austin the night before the group was scheduled to make their visits at the Texas Capitol. During the gathering for dinner, the group was joined by House Transportation Chairman Terry Canales, TADA’s Darren Whitehurst, Karen Phillips, and Kathy Sims and addressed by TADA Chairman Charlie Gilchrist of Weatherford and Rob Braziel and Kate McGrath from the TADA Legislative Office. Also joining the group for dinner were the metro/regional association executives, including Lexi and D’Anne Buquet of the Valley and El Paso, Pam Crail of San Antonio, Brent Franks of Dallas/Fort Worth, and Wyatt Wainwright and RoShelle Salinas of Houston.
At breakfast the next morning, the group attended an informational session at their hotel where they were given a legislative briefing and discussed the dealer issues in front of the Texas Legislature. It was a busy day at the Capitol, but those in the TDA group were still able to have nearly 20 meetings with legislators and their staff, including a special visit and tour with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
This group made up the biggest TADA lobby contingent on any day this session, and they did a great job telling the dealer story, emphasizing the most important issues for franchised dealers and advocating for the legislation TADA is trying to pass this legislative session. Texas Dealer Academy members did what it took to make these meetings meaningful and productive.
TDA has now had three Texas Capitol Days in Austin (2017, 2019 and 2023) and two trips to Washington, D.C., the first in June of 2013 and the most recent visit in May of 2022.TADA is extremely blessed to have these young leaders actively participating in the Texas Dealer Academy.
