F&I and Showroom, NADA 2021

14 F I and Showroom NADA 2021 COVER STORY A BY KATE SPATAFORA and was unable to complete his three year term At that point I had served as Chairman of the metro and state dealer associations the Greater Metropolitan Automobile Dealers Association of Minnesota and the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association and thought it would be a good opportunity that would simultaneously allow my brother who is 13 years my junior the chance to serve as CEO of our company something he was more than ready to handle Was there a defining moment when you realized you wanted to take the step from your own Automotive Group to working with dealers nationally No not really I wasnt aspiring to be an NADA director but it was a progression of events that led me down that path In October Minnesota dealer Paul Walser was elected 2021 chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association after serving as vice chairman in 2020 Walser 65 is the CEO of Walser Automotive Group in Bloomington Minnesota and has represented the states dealers on NADAs board for the past seven years He will succeed Rhett Ricart president of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus Ohio as chairman F I and Showroom had the opportunity to speak with Walser leading up to the first ever virtual NADA Show to learn about the road that led him to NADA the importance of family and community values and whats on the horizon for his term as chairman Can you tell us about Walser Automotive Group and the path that led you to NADA Walser Automotive Group is a partnership between myself and my brother Andrew In 1996 we began the purchasing process from our father who started the dealership roughly 60 years ago At present we have 29 rooftops primarily located in Minnesota with some stores in Kansas Illinois and California My path to NADA was not a traditional one In 2014 Scott Lambert president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association asked if I would be willing to serve as the NADA Director for Minnesota after the existing director became ill As PAUL WALSER steps into the role of chairman of The National Automobile Dealers Association the Minnesota dealer will aid members in ushering in a new era of auto retail and overcoming the challenges presented over the course of 2020 WALSER AUTOMOTIVES PAUL WALSER LEADS NADA AS 2021 CHAIRMAN A NEW ERA I