GETTING TO KNOW AADA INCOMING CHAIR Michael Dickerson Michael Dickerson is the dealer principal of the Whitson-Morgan Motor Company. For the past 26 years, he has dedicated himself to the business and the industry through various ways of giving back — whether it be in the community, at local schools or through his involvement with AADA. As the incoming AADA chairman, Michael is poised to build upon the strong foundation laid by his predecessors and looks forward to advancing the association’s mission. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Michael and learn more about his career, his thoughts on the state of the industry and what he aims to accomplish as chairman. The following are excerpts from our conversation. How did you get into the business? I graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1998 with degrees in both logistics and economics. During the latter part of my college years, I completed an internship with a logistics company, which led to a full-time position after graduation. Around Thanksgiving of 1999, I came home to visit my family. My cousin, Turner Whitson, who was the dealer at the Ford dealership in Clarksville, asked if I would be interested in working in the car business. He only had one child who was not interested in following in his footsteps, and my cousin was planning for his retirement. When I was growing up, I was always riding go-karts, four-wheelers, ATVs and motorcycles, and as I grew older, I transitioned into driving fast cars, but I never really considered it a career option. My initial response was, “I doubt it.” I had a career path laid out with the company that I was working for. “Let me think about it, and I’ll let you know by Christmas.” I was still living in Fayetteville at the time, and moving back to a small town would be a big change for me. I took a leap of faith and made the change. I started off as a commission-only salesman, even though I had never sold anything. For the first two years, that’s all I did and really enjoyed it. I liked dealing 7 Arkansas Auto Dealer
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