Pub. 4 2024 Issue 2

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MONTANA AUTO DEALERS ASSOCIATION PUB. 4 • 2024 • ISSUE 2 110th ANNUAL FAMILY CONVENTION RECAP

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©2024 The Montana Auto Dealers Association (MTADA) | The newsLINK Group LLC. All rights reserved. The Montana Auto Dealer is published twice each year by The newsLINK Group LLC for the MTADA and is the official publication for this association. The information contained in this publication is intended to provide general information for review, consideration and dealer education. The contents do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. If you need legal advice or assistance, it is strongly recommended that you contact an attorney as to your specific circumstances. The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the MTADA, its board of directors or the publisher. Likewise, the appearance of advertisements within this publication does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of any product or service advertised. The Montana Auto Dealer is a collective work, and as such, some articles are submitted by authors who are independent of the MTADA. While the Montana Auto Dealer encourages a first-print policy, in cases where this is not possible, every effort has been made to comply with any known reprint guidelines or restrictions. Content may not be reproduced or reprinted without prior written permission. For further information, please contact the publisher at (855) 747-4003. CONTENTS 24 34 6 MTADA EVP’S MESSAGE Working Together to Create Change 7 Legislative Priorities 8 The Next Chapter An Interview With Don Kaltschmidt 12 Getting to Know Craig Tilleman, State NADA Director 14 Thank You, Joshua Soares MTADA Past NextGen Board Member 16 Thank You, Shane Morinville MTADA Past Group Dealership Director 18 Meet Your New MTADA Group Dealership Director, Ryan Tuttle 20 Meet Your New MTADA NextGen Board Member, Chad Notbohm 22 Smith Law Firm, P.C.: A Tradition of Serving the MTADA and Dealers Across Montana 24 110th Annual Family Convention Recap 28 Thank You to Our MTADA Convention Sponsors 30 The Road to Conventions An Interview with Jillian March, MTADA Communications and Events Manager 32 SAVE THE DATE! MTADA’s 111th Annual Family Convention Aug. 14-17, 2025 33 Congratulations, Gary Schoepp MTADA Eagle Award Winner 34 Annual Washington Conference and Congressional Fly-In 36 NADA ACADEMY GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT Cody Kohlwes 38 SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRY Lynn Rogers 41 Zero Cost, Zero Reimbursement — Not So Fast 44 Preparing for the FTC’s CARS Rule (aka, Vehicle Shopping Rule) Key Steps Dealers Can Take Now 48 2024 MTADA Associate Members 50 2024 MTADA Licensed Vendors 54 NADA Dealership Workforce Study We’ve rebranded! Check out our new look! www.mtada.com 4 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

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MTADA EVP’S MESSAGE Bruce Knudsen Executive Vice President, MTADA WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE CHANGE Dear members, I am excited to present you with the latest issue of the Montana Auto Dealer. Inside, we highlight some of MTADA’s successes and milestones from the past few months. Also, we look ahead at upcoming events and important legislative issues. And last but not least, we are highlighting a number of our amazing members and getting to know them better. The 110th Annual Family Convention was held in August, and I am happy to say it was a huge success! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us in Helena, and special thanks to Jillian for putting together another amazing convention. From the Opening Reception at the Lewis & Clark Brewing Company to the red, white and blue President’s Dinner, I enjoyed having fun and visiting with you. The Gates of the Mountains tour did not disappoint — I never cease to be amazed at the beauty and marvels of nature that are right in our backyard. The 111th Annual Family Convention will be held Aug. 14-17, 2025. As we speak, Jillian is busy planning fun activities and adventures for the whole family. So get ready to make memories at the Kwataqnuk Resort & Casino in Polson, Montana! Located on the shores of Flathead Lake, just south of Glacier National Park, it is the perfect setting to get away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy the great outdoors. Rumor has it that Jillian might just serenade us, karaoke-style, while on the Far West Boat Tour. You won’t want to miss it! Congratulations to Don Kaltschmidt of Don “K” Whitefish on his retirement. Don has tirelessly served both MTADA and NADA for years and leaves behind a legacy of strength and commitment to bettering the industry. Don came from humble beginnings and, through hard work and determination, was able to attain the American dream. He loves this country and all it has provided him. He served as the chairman of the Montana Republican Party, helping to get good people elected and promoting values that encourage entrepreneurship so that others might have the chance to grab the brass ring for themselves. Thank you for everything, Don. You will be missed! The Montana Legislature will be convening on Jan. 6, 2025. Although we aren’t running a franchise bill this session, we still will be watching as bills come to the floor to ensure that we give input on any that might affect our industry. In addition, NADA has put out a list of Legislative Priorities. I have included them on the next page. Please be on the lookout for grassroots call-to-actions regarding the above‑mentioned legislative issues. MTADA will be sending out emails and making calls asking for your help. And who knows, I might even stop by and pay you a visit. When we lock arms and work together, we can create change, push back on dangerous legislation and ultimately, protect our industry. I hope you enjoy reading this issue. Thank you for all that you do to help keep MTADA strong. As always, please reach out to me at (406) 461-7680 if you have any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Bruce Knudsen Executive Vice President, MTADA 6 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES NEW FTC RULE HARMS CAR BUYERS: COSPONSOR THE “FTC REDO ACT” (H.R. 7101/S. 3014) The FTC’s Vehicle Shopping Rule (VSR) would overwhelm car buyers and small business dealers with needless additional costs, paperwork and a lengthened sales process. The FTC finalized this rule despite significant process flaws and a lack of credible data-driven analysis. NADA supports FY25 appropriations language that would temporarily stop the FTC from spending funds to enforce the VSR (H.R. 8773) and legislation to stop the VSR and require the FTC to follow essential steps to ensure the Rule is the result of an informed process if it chooses to “REDO” the Rule (H.R. 7101/S. 3014). A new study by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) found that the Rule would cost more than $24 billion (over 10 years), add an additional 60 to 80 minutes to the car‑buying process and cost consumers at least $1.3 billion per year in lost time. Members of Congress should cosponsor the “FTC REDO Act” to stop the flawed VSR and ensure if the FTC opts to redo its Rule, the agency must follow essential regulatory safeguards to avoid needlessly imposing significant burdens and costs on consumers and small business dealers. To view the study, scan the QR code. https://www.cargroup.org/wp-content/ uploads/2024/05/CAR-Report_CFR-Part-463_ Addendum-May-2024.pdf SUPPORT LEGISLATION TO STOP EPA’S DE FACTO EV MANDATE WHICH GOES TOO FAR, TOO FAST (H.R. 8998 AND H.J. RES. 136/S.J. RES. 75) NADA supports legislation that would slow down or stop the EPA’s de facto electric vehicle (EV) mandate which goes too far, too fast and ignores real-world consumer demand for EVs. NADA supports FY25 appropriations language that would temporarily stop the EPA from spending funds to enforce the EPA’s overly aggressive EV Rule (H.R. 8998) and legislation to disapprove the EPA’s de facto EV mandate (H.J. Res. 136/S.J. Res. 75). The Administration’s regulation could effectively require 56% of car sales to be electric by 2032. However, the charging infrastructure is not ready, the current incentives are not sufficient, and high EV prices will price out millions of consumers, particularly low-income Americans, from the new-car market. Congress should stop EPA’s de facto EV mandate, which will result in a new vehicle market that is unaffordable and does not meet the transportation needs of average Americans. OPPOSE SO-CALLED “RIGHT TO REPAIR” LEGISLATION (H.R. 906) NADA opposes so-called “right to repair” legislation (H.R. 906) which has little to do with repairing a vehicle and raises serious vehicle privacy, security and safety issues for consumers. Advocates for “right to repair” legislation claim that independent automotive repair shops do not have access to the parts or data necessary to repair vehicles. However, this concern was rectified by a 2014 Memorandum of Understanding, signed by “right to repair” proponents and auto manufacturers. Today, the information independent shops need to repair vehicles is readily available from every auto manufacturer. This legislation would also give any third-party remote, bidirectional access to consumer data from vehicles, which raises significant privacy, cybersecurity and automotive safety concerns. H.R. 906 is built on a faulty premise that independent repair shops are at risk, even though these businesses perform more than 70% of all non‑warranty repairs. Members of Congress are urged not to cosponsor or vote for H.R. 906. FIGHT CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFT: COSPONSOR THE PART ACT (H.R. 621/S. 154) NADA supports catalytic converter anti-theft legislation, the “Preventing Auto Recycling Theft Act” (PART Act) (H.R. 621/S. 154), which would help law enforcement combat this crime by providing a national framework that would mark catalytic converters, establish federal criminal penalties and create a more transparent market that deters its theft. Catalytic converters are being stolen at increasingly higher rates due to their valuable metals, such as rhodium, platinum and palladium. The number of catalytic converter thefts increased by nearly 900% between 2019 and 2023. Stolen catalytic converters can garner $20 to $350 on the black market, with the replacement cost to vehicle owners averaging over $2,500. These thefts are costing businesses and vehicle owners millions of dollars. The urgency of addressing this issue has risen as these thefts have increasingly turned violent, with some victims sustaining injuries and even losing their lives when confronting thieves. NADA and 120 other organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders urging passage of the PART Act in August. Members of Congress are urged to cosponsor the PART Act to address the growing national problem of catalytic converter theft. 7 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

THE NEXT CHAPTER An Interview With Don Kaltschmidt 8 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

Don has been a constant and steady voice in MTADA, NADA and throughout the state of Montana for decades. As he closes the door on this chapter of his life and heads into retirement, we wish him all the best and thank him for his years of service. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Don and talk about his career, his thoughts on the industry and his advice to the next generation of dealers as they take the reins of leadership. The following are excerpts from our conversation. How long have you been a dealer? How did you get started in the industry? I’ve been a dealer for 34 years, which is half my life, and it’s been a good ride. I started in the automobile business shortly after I got out of the Marine Corps in 1980. From 1980-1985, I worked at a dealership in southern California. I started as a salesman and worked my way into management. In 1986, I made the decision to come back to Montana and found a job managing the Chevrolet dealership in Whitefish. I was working for Jim Dowen and his partner Tommy Thomas. Unfortunately, they had a parting of the ways, so I asked Tommy if I could be his partner. He was planning on selling the dealership but agreed to give me a trial run. So, for about a year, I was his partner. Small-town living has a definite upside. My sister worked right up the road at a bank in Kalispell, so our family name was familiar to the locals. I approached an officer at the bank she was at and asked for a loan to buy out my partner. The bank gave me a loan, and I ended up buying the Chevrolet dealership in Whitefish. About a year later, a gentleman walked into my office and said, “Hey, I’ve got a car dealership for you.” I wasn’t looking to buy another dealership and I let him know that. He insisted that I consider the deal, as the price was right, and he slid a piece of paper over to me. I looked down at the number that was written on it and was shocked. The price to buy this dealership in Libby was only $60,000! I paid close to $1,000,000 for my little dealership in Whitefish. I’m a glutton for punishment, so I bought the Libby store. A friend helped me run it. At the time, there were about 250 jobs at the mill and the mine. The business started out pretty good, but things changed — the mill shut down, and the mine laid off almost everyone. I ended up selling the dealership and when I left Libby, there were about 15 jobs left at the mine. I learned a lot from that experience. I ended up building a new dealership in 2001 right off of U.S. 93 in Whitefish. Then, in 2010, I bought the Subaru dealership and in 2011, the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership. We currently have about 120 employees and three rooftops. The Lord has blessed me in my efforts. I give a lot of kudos to my wife and my family for putting up with me being away so much. I didn’t graduate from high school; I had to learn everything by trial and error and to be able to achieve the success I have goes to show you what a great country America is. I’m so grateful to my family for supporting me as we went through this. How has the industry changed over the years? The industry has changed a lot, some for the better, some for the worse. When I started in the industry, there were people lined up to go to work. You had to prove yourself to keep the job and could get fired easily if you didn’t produce. Car dealers today are more focused on their customers and their employees than they’ve ever been. There are fewer people lining up to work in the industry and developing employees from within is important. Dealers are more diversified. When I started, I was an anomaly because I had a body shop at my dealership. Most dealers just had a new and used car department and a service department. As margins have decreased, dealers have to work more on volume. In the 1980s, 1990s and even into the 2000s, customers didn’t have immediate access to purchasing cars like they do now. With all of the online information out there, the business is more competitive than ever. Our industry is entrepreneurial. This is one of the last industries that is this way, where someone like me, having come from nothing, can work hard and attain the American dream. Stories like mine are not as prevalent today, and that is sad. Finally, a downfall of the industry is the factory control of car dealerships. It’s a lot different than it used to be back in the day. Manufacturers typically stayed out of our way. Today, they have put so many controls in place. Of course, we fight back with franchise laws, with which we’ve been very successful here in Montana and across the country. With all of the changes, one interesting thing to note is that naysayers have been talking about our demise ever since I’ve been a dealer. But they underestimate the flexibility of the automobile dealer. We are like cockroaches. We always find a way to survive. We know how to adapt. Do you have a favorite memory from your time as a dealer? I don’t have a specific favorite memory, but I am thankful for the opportunity that I was given to serve in our community, in MTADA and in NADA. I’ve met so many wonderful people and have created great relationships with many industry leaders and elected officials. I have so much respect for all of the people I looked up to as a young dealer who would eventually retire, yet took the time to help me if I needed it. 9 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

I remember all the bigger-than-life dealers who were characters in their own right — that’s the other thing that’s changed, we don’t have as many characters in the business as the industry has become more corporate. I appreciate my employees, some who have been with me for almost 30 years. Watching them mature and grow has been a blessing. When I started out, I had 30 or so employees, and I knew every one of them personally. I knew about their life, their spouse and their children. I would talk to them all the time. Now we’ve gotten bigger, and as I head into retirement, my son has that job as he is taking over the dealership. How long have you been involved with MTADA and NADA? I’ve been a member of MTADA since I started as a dealer. I’ve stayed very active in the association because of the advice I received from a mentor. He was very active in MTADA, and he told me how important that was. I will never forget that. We’re better as a unit. One person doesn’t have a big voice, but when all the dealers in the state of Montana come together, we have a strong voice. I’ve been the state NADA director for nine years. I’ve been able to serve on the finance, regulatory and legislative committees. There is a lot of travel involved, going back and forth from here to D.C., but it’s worth it. What advice do you have for the next NADA director? Craig Tilleman will be taking over from me. He’s a solid second-generation dealer. Craig is very, very smart, smarter than I am, and he’s going to represent Montana very well. He’s politically involved, not to the level I am, but he will be. I advise him to get more politically involved because that is what it takes to represent automobile dealers. I would also say get to know everybody and work on your relationships, get on some boards that you’d like to serve on and have some fun! Any last thoughts to share with your fellow dealers? Well, I think the biggest thing is that you are very lucky if you’re a car dealer. We are in one of the last entrepreneurial businesses out there. You get to be a big part of your community. In a state like Montana with many small towns, the communities count on you, and you have an opportunity to give back. The Lord has blessed you, so give those blessings back. You have the opportunity to develop people within your organization. And if you develop them, it will make your job very easy. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. I learned that the hard way when I used to think I could do it all myself. As I got bigger, I couldn’t do it myself anymore, and I had to learn to rely on people. As long as I treated them well and paid them a living wage, they did not disappoint me. At the end of the day when they put you in the ground, the only thing you’re going to have is the way you treated people — your customers, your team members, your business and all the people in your community. You have an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, don’t waste it. Congratulations, Don! Thank you for your years of service and leadership. Your hard work, dedication and achievements may never be matched. Thank you for setting the standard for all of us. We wish you the happiest of retirements! 10 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

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GETTING TO KNOW CRAIG TILLEMAN, STATE NADA DIRECTOR In January 2025, Craig Tilleman will join the NADA board of directors. Among the many new responsibilities of this position, being the voice for Montana dealers in D.C. is one that Craig is ready to take on. As a secondgeneration dealer and owner of Tilleman Motor Co., he understands all too well the issues facing dealers today and is prepared to take on this challenge. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Craig and learn more about membership in the association, issues facing dealers, what he can do to help from D.C., and his career. The following are excerpts from our conversation. How long have you been an MTADA member, what positions have you held and why is membership important? Tilleman Motor Co. has been a member of MTADA for decades — before I moved here and joined my dad at the dealership in 1998. I started getting active in the association around 2002. I have served as a regional director, president and past president for MTADA. When I was president, I was also on the board of the Health Trust and have been on the board ever since. I am a lifetime member. There are many benefits of membership. One of the most important is it provides access to the Health Trust. The trust offers smaller dealers a competitive place and market to get health insurance. It is easier for big dealers to get insurance on their own. But for a little dealer with a small number of employees, it’s harder to get a competitive rate. A good portion of dealers belong to the trust. We pool our money, have reserves and run it as a self-insured health trust. There are many components involved in managing the trust. It’s complicated, but I enjoy it! What are the top issues facing Montana dealers right now? There are a lot of government regulations that are stifling business. Regulations that are supposed to be in the best interests of the customers, but they’re not. It becomes very difficult 12 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

If you need a fresh frontline or want to turn aged inventory into cash, our Montana Team is ready to help. Give us a call! Montana Dealers – We’re Here for You magauctions.com Check out MAG Now’s live digital auctions every Wednesday at 2 PM (MT) on EBlock Brandon Boulay Market Manager, Montana 406.531.1210 Jack Burns Listing Representative, Montana 406.481.4189 for small businesses to manage all the different regulations and rules that come out of D.C. As you start your term as the state NADA director, do you have any goals? I’m going into this with my eyes wide open, prepared to get to work, join committees and help wherever I can. I’m direct and vocal. I will let people know when I have an issue. These qualities are a benefit, especially in a setting like this. How can the MTADA membership help support you in this role? Please let me know if there is an issue or something that needs to be discussed at the national level. I will bring up any member concerns at the board meetings. In short, take the time to communicate. We’re all busy in our lives, and running a car dealership is very time-consuming, but you can’t complain too much if you’re not involved. Did you always plan on going into the industry? I was a chemical engineer and had no plans of changing careers until my father needed help with his growing dealership and asked me to move home and help. At 28, I moved back to Havre, Montana, and joined my father in business. I am happy I came back because I enjoy living here. I’m glad my kids grew up here. I’m thankful that I live close to my parents. I have always had a good relationship with them, but I have a much different, more meaningful relationship after 26 years of working with my dad and spending so much time with my mom. I am so grateful for that. What do you love most about the industry? The relationships with my customers. The other day, I sold a car to a repeat customer who used to buy from my dad, and now he comes to me. The customer thanked me for selling him a car and hugged me. That’s what this business is all about, earning lifetime customers that become part of the family. My employees are like family as well. The first person my dad hired to work here retired at the same time my dad did. That employee’s son came to work for us and just retired. The second person my dad hired kept working for me when I took over, and he retired shortly after my dad passed away. I’m very proud that we have lots of long‑term employees. I am so grateful for my employees. I’m thankful to be part of this great community. They have supported us for so many years. I am proud of what Tillman Motor Co. has done to give back. We just finished our 24th Annual Celebrity Pheasant Hunt, where we raised money for MSU-Northern scholarships for the football, wrestling, basketball and cross country teams. My dad started this event, and I’m moving forward with it. 13 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

THANK YOU, JOSHUA SOARES MTADA Past NextGen Board Member Please tell us about your time serving on the board. The board and the association do a great job representing all dealers of all sizes — from the biggest groups to the dealer who has one store. And I know how much MTADA means to dealers from my time serving on the board. I was surprised to see the number of small-town dealers who found the time to serve — there is a sense of obligation among members to give back and ensure the association is strong and keeps moving ahead. There are a lot of years of combined experience on the board. You have everything from first-generation to fifth-generation dealers. There are smart businessmen and good car guys who understand how to get things done. The board’s ability to push back at the state level and on factories is impressive. The message they send is consistent: “We want to be good partners, but this is how we’re going to be good partners,” and “The dealer network is the best thing for consumers at the end of the day.” They ride that line exceptionally well, and I learned a lot from this experience. The other thing I gained from serving on the board was making some great contacts — people to reach out to whenever I need help. As competitive as we are with each other to grab market share, you can still call and ask for help when you need advice on a particular area. At the end of the day, there’s enough market share to go around. What is your biggest career accomplishment? My biggest career accomplishment so far has been in our service departments. For a long, long time, our service departments were not profitable. It was just kind of a side gig that we ran. When you sell a car, you get a service customer, a finance customer, a lending customer and a parts customer. And the business that’s in service is so much more lucrative than a lot of the old dealers from the prior generation Joshua Soares is the executive manager at Billings Auto Group. He recently finished a one-year term as the NextGen board member as well. We had a chance to sit down with Joshua to talk about his experience on the board and learn more about him. We would like to thank him for his time. The following are excerpts from our conversation. 14 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

appreciate. So working on our service department has been tremendous. We’ve also been able to get 100% retail sales compliant with both our factories, Kia and General Motors. It’s just been a fun ride to get the machine moving, moving some metal and having happy customers. Because at the end of the day, a happy customer is a profitable customer. What advice do you have for those considering serving on the board? If you have the opportunity to serve on the board, you won’t regret it. The knowledge and experience you’ll gain is invaluable, and it’s important that everyone gives back to the association because the association does so much for us. What advice would you give to fellow dealers and those considering working in the industry? This is a hard business to be in, but it is not complicated. Those two things, hard and complex, often get equated to one another. Finding success is incredibly simple, it’s all about blocking and tackling. If you show up to work every day, to work, then you’re going to be able to have a good performance at the end of the day. Something of equal importance is not to procrastinate. Instead, get a sense of urgency and solve the problem today rather than tomorrow. You’ll thank yourself for it because procrastinating just hurts. My mantra in business, and something I often ask myself is: Are you being patient or are you procrastinating? The difference is oftentimes going to be profit. For example, spending too much on an advertising campaign or maybe holding on to a new hire in a position that is taking longer than expected to come up to speed — are you procrastinating because you just don’t want to fire that guy or give up on that ad campaign? Or, are you being patient enough for them to get their feet under them, for the money to come in? It’s hard to discern between the two, but when you get it right, you can make a profit for your business. I suggest that you keep asking yourself the question. It creates a sense of self-awareness. ABOUT JOSHUA The Soares family moved to Billings, Montana, in 1993. Mr. Soares started working for the local Pontiac, Cadillac and GMC dealership. Eventually, he was able to put a little bit of money down and started a buyout. Then, in 1998, the buyout was finalized and he was the proud owner of his first store. Joshua worked for his father at the dealership, detailing cars, as a summer job during high school. When it came time for college, both he and his brother were encouraged to pursue a career they loved. “Dad really worked hard to try and convince me and my brother to not get into the business,” Joshua recalled. “When my brother, Jacob, and I were in college, we asked each other, ‘Do you have passions you want to pursue?’ And neither of us did. So, our No. 1 rule after graduating college was just ‘don’t be bored.’ Boredom will just kill you instantaneously,” Joshua said. Joshua graduated from Montana State University — Bozeman with degrees in mechanical engineering and finance and went to work in banking, specifically, in corporate finance. “I chose banking because there were partners in the family business at the time and there wasn’t really a clear path to ownership,” Joshua stated. His brother ended up moving to Southern California, where he purchased a Chevrolet store. Eventually, the Soares family made the decision to leave the partners but keep a couple of the family stores, including the original store. It was now 100% a family‑owned business, and after almost five years in banking, Joshua decided to join his father at the dealership. “It was less about the cars and more about family, the family business and being a business owner in Billings, Montana,” Joshua said. In 2020, Joshua attended the NADA Academy to help prepare for the day his father retires and he takes over the family business. “My dad has two years left out of a five-year buyout, and then he gets to retire and spend more time with my mom,” Joshua said. Joshua and his wife Aubrey just celebrated their six‑year wedding anniversary. They have three children: James is 4, Madeline is 3 and Daniel is 7 months old. They also have an American yellow lab named Brie. When Joshua isn’t working, he enjoys taking the family out to Cooney Reservoir and spending time on their surf boat and playing a round of golf when time allows. 15 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

THANK YOU, SHANE MORINVILLE MTADA Past Group Dealership Director Shane Morinville just celebrated 20 years of success at Lithia Motors, spending the last nine years at the Missoula location. He also just finished his term as MTADA group dealership director and served on the legislative committee. We recently had the opportunity to talk with Shane about his time serving on the board, his advice for incoming board members and his experiences in the industry. We enjoyed getting to know more about Shane and want to thank him for his time. The following are excerpts from our conversation. How long have you been a member of MTADA, and why did you get involved? I’ve been in Montana for nine years. The Lithia Auto Group has been a member during that time and well before that. Before I joined the MTADA board, my colleague, Austin Saylor, served on the board. He spoke highly of his interactions with the other board members. Additionally, the purpose and mission of MTADA align well with our company, and Austin thought I would be a good fit on the board. So, he encouraged me to pursue it. Around the same time, Bruce reached out to me. Because I’m part of Lithia, he thought having somebody from a larger company represented on the board would be nice. There are benefits of being a big company like Lithia — we can sometimes see changes or issues in other markets so we can proactively make adjustments. There are independent dealers serving on the board who bring a lot to the table, but they’re also juggling the realities of running a business. We bring a different yet equally as important view to the table. Having different voices and viewpoints is what makes MTADA so powerful. What did you gain from your time as a board member? The camaraderie and getting to know people in the industry was great. The opportunity to interact with folks you normally wouldn’t have was probably the biggest thing that stood out. It’s a huge benefit I am taking away from this experience. Now, when I have questions, I know who to call. It happens all the time, and I’m extremely thankful for that. And vice versa, people will call me and ask for advice. I wouldn’t have expected that until this experience. 16 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

What advice do you have for incoming board members? Know the things not to do. Not making the appropriate time for the board commitment can be a problem. There were times I would get busy and procrastinate some of the conversations I needed to have. I advise that, even if it feels like it could slightly affect your day-to-day, think of the bigger picture as much as you possibly can. Down the line, those conversations can help accomplish a lot. If you can squeeze in the time to commit to a more significant interaction, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much it will pay dividends in the future. I have received a lot of good feedback and ideas from other board members. ABOUT SHANE Shane grew up in Minnesota on his family’s farm. Growing up as a farm boy was a good upbringing, and Shane learned the value of a hard day’s work from his father. But Shane did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps. He knew he wanted a different career. Attending college in Moorhead, Minnesota, Shane graduated with a degree in sales and marketing. Shortly after that, he moved to Denver and started selling cars at John Elway Pontiac Buick GMC Subaru. “The plan was to sell cars until I could find what I wanted to do in sales and marketing,” Shane recalled. “But when it came down to it, I fell in love with the car business.” When Shane started in the industry, he had a business card in his wallet that said, “Watch and learn. Then do it better than anybody else.” It was a daily reminder to him to always do his best. Over the years, he has worked in many positions in the dealership. “I love the fact that the car dealership is basically its own ecosystem,” he said. “It has a little bit of everything — business, finance and marketing to service, parts and inventory — and I wholeheartedly enjoy that.” During Shane’s time in Denver, his boss, Jim Sterk, became a mentor and invested his time to help Shane further his career in the industry. When Jim was offered a job with Lithia, he asked if Shane would be interested in joining him. “I was the only one that he took with him to Boise, Idaho. I held that pretty dear. He invested in me, and I invested back right,” Shane said. While in Boise, Shane worked in finance and was the used car manager, new car manager and general sales manager. He learned what it takes to manage people and teams. “As a leader, I have certain things that I say often,” he said. “Not one person’s bigger than the team, and that includes me.” He continued, “You won’t get a ‘No’ to a ‘Yes’ without a ‘Maybe’ in between. There are going to be objections, and in order to make it beneficial for the consumer, we have to figure out how to bridge that gap. Consumers look to us for a reason and we need to figure out how to bridge that gap.” Always striving to grow the individual and strengthen his overall team paid off. The Lithia leadership team approached him more than once and asked him to consider running his own store. “I was pretty comfortable where I was,” Shane said. “The locations they offered weren’t places I really wanted to go.” Then, one day, the regional vice president of Lithia called Shane and told him, “We really want to invest in you. Where is it that you want to go?” Shane remembered driving through Missoula many times while on family vacations and heading to visit his wife’s family, who lived in the Washington Tri-Cities area. And Missoula was a place where he could see his family putting roots down. Lithia got the ball rolling and purchased a dealership in Missoula that was for sale. Shane moved his family to Big Sky Country, and the rest is history. After nine years of being general manager of Lithia Ford of Missoula, Shane has no regrets. His years of experience, in-depth industry knowledge and drive to always do better have served him well. “My employees know that I’ll jump in and help out regardless of the position,” Shane said. “I’ve been there, done that. I wouldn’t ask anybody to do something I wouldn’t do myself.” “Overall, It’s been a really good experience. We’ve had some hiccups, but we’ve also had a lot of success,” Shane said. “I have many good memories and met a lot of great people. The community is fantastic, and living in Montana has been a wonderful experience for me and my family. It’s been a blessing.” 17 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

Meet Your New MTADA Group Dealership Director, RYAN TUTTLE Ryan Tuttle was born in Texas and at the age of 2, his family moved to Missoula, Montana. He enjoyed growing up in Missoula and spent a lot of time at his family’s property on the shores of the nearby Clark Fork River. From the time he was old enough to help, he has gone to work with his mother at Diamond Auto Glass. Ryan has always been fascinated with cars, so helping out gave him an opportunity to be around them. “I never became a full-on installer. Instead, one of the things offered with a windshield exchange was car detailing, and I would help with that,” Ryan recalled. “I met a lot of the people in the car business because we would do windshields for some of the local dealerships. Getting to run around and climb in and out of the cars was fun.” After earning a business degree from the University of Montana Western, Ryan decided that he wanted to start working in the auto industry. He was hired as a sales representative for Litha Motors in January 2006. Since then, he has worked his way up in the company and has been general manager (GM) for 12 years. For the past 18 months, Ryan has been the GM for the Chevrolet GMC of Helena store. Ryan and his wife, Casey, have been married for 17 years and recently welcomed their fourth child, Neo. The rest of the Tuttle crew consists of Tytus, age 14; Ramsey, age 10 and sweet little Nya, who is 4. When the family has free time, they enjoy spending time on the water at Clark Fork River just like Ryan did when he was growing up. We recently had a chance to sit down with Ryan and talk to him about the industry, his career and his new appointment to the MTADA board as group dealership director. The following are excerpts from our conversation. What is the biggest issue facing the dealership industry? After the recession in 2008 and 2009, we had a long streak of what I’d consider normal market conditions. The pandemic in 2020 really shook things up — there was a lot of fear at the start of it, inventories and staffing became a problem and then a lot of windfall from high prices. The market has slowly settled and dealerships, in turn, have had to find their new normal. Take my store for example: All of our sales team was hired after the start of COVID. Because of that, some team members had a false sense of how you sell vehicles — thinking you could just show up and take orders. But where the industry is now, you have to have some salesmanship if you want to be competitive and succeed. Another big challenge is inventory on the used car side. It’s not like when you used to be at an auction and you could purchase a used car for cheap. Oftentimes, auctions have higher prices than what you can buy a car from a customer for. It’s backwards, which puts a lot of pressure on the margins. Adapting is essential for survival. Then, the government’s input influences how we operate. The constant requirements and mandates make it difficult to actually transact and slow the processes down for customers. It seems that as soon as you get them down, the government changes them. That is one of the things that keeps me busy every day. How do you think the industry will change in the next 3-5 years? No matter who’s elected, there will be a push for the transition to EVs. Thankfully, I think the government is starting to realize that it’s not feasible to fulfill some of the percentages and targets they set for dealers to hit. Not because manufacturers can’t build them — they are the all in — the demand from consumers is simply not there yet. What is your biggest career accomplishment? Four out of five years, from 2016-2020, my store earned the Lithia Partner Group Award. Considering that Lithia Motors is one of the largest automotive retailers, it is an honor for our little store to be a leading store. One of the reasons that I went to work for Lithia Motors is the great culture of growing people up from within to provide leaders for the company. I wanted to accelerate my career, and ultimately, I wanted to be a GM before I was 30. On my 30th birthday, my regional manager called and invited me to the regional GM meeting that 18 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

Lithia used to have. I had achieved my goal, and that was a good day. Who have your mentors been? What did you learn from them? Adam Britzius was one of the people who initially hired me. I worked for him for four years at the store in Billings. He was a former Marine, and I learned a lot about discipline from him — specifically, doing the hard things, even when you don’t want to. The challenge for me was that I’m naturally a leader by example. I played football in college and was captain of the team. I didn’t have to think about being a leader. I just showed up and did what I had to do and I naturally became a leader. But, when I became a sales manager at 26, with a whole new team that didn’t know me, I had to push myself. He really helped me see that leading a team meant setting processes and working with people. Keith Deschane is another leader in Lithia who helped me in my career. He taught me the business aspect of this job, which I was really interested in. A lot of this industry is filled with people who run stores or maybe even own stores, and it started with them being really good at selling. But the business is so much more than that — we’re not just good at selling, we’re good at business. When you mentor others, what are three pieces of advice you would share? 1. Focus on having a plan. Addressing problems as they arise without a plan is very reactive and leads to tumultuously changing directions. When you’re leading a team, you should take account of everything, have goals and make a plan. 2. Inspect what you expect. I’m a natural believer in people but the danger is that I might expect that they’ll do the job exactly how I would have done it, or they would be as accountable or as responsible as I would be. When you find out that’s not the case, it brings frustration. I’ve had to learn to inspect my expectations. Part of that is ensuring others have the tools to get the job done and having open lines of communication with regular check-ins. Having a plan is part of this process. 3. This business is very people-centric and a lot of industries have kind of gone away from people being the foundation. Customers and employees alike want human assurance, people assurance. As managers, it’s easy to get frustrated with people. But if people didn’t do things that were frustrating, we wouldn’t need managers. So, we have to remember that if you’re raising your hand to be a manager, you have to be able to deal with the challenges of people. How long have you been an MTADA member? What are the benefits of membership? I have been a member of the association for the past eight years. Before I joined MTADA, I didn’t know what their purpose was. I assumed it was a state organization because Montana was in the name. That was my naivete. Once I started to realize that the point was protecting the well-being of the dealers of the dealerships, I was all in. It’s easy for non-members to think “We’ll just do it ourselves. I don’t need to be part of a group.” But at the same time, we must realize that we’re dealing with big entities like the government and manufacturers. Even though Lithia is big, my store is not — it’s a pretty humble size. So when dealers lock arms and work together, we are strong and can make a difference. Any last thoughts? One of my favorite quotes that has helped me came from my mentor Adam Britzius who I previously mentioned. He drew upon his military training and taught me to “Embrace the suck.” It is inevitable that hard things happen in life. It helps us not be a victim of circumstance and take ownership of the things we can control. It’s our job to overcome challenges and to keep in mind that results are often harsh but always fair. 19 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

Meet Your New MTADA NextGen Board Member, CHAD NOTBOHM Chad Notbohm grew up in Mohall, North Dakota, a small town near the Canadian border. His father, Chuck, was a band and choir teacher in the local school. After some years of teaching, Chuck realized he couldn’t make much money in the profession. So, in 1984, Chuck approached a couple of friends from church and purchased their Chevrolet store. Chad was 10 at the time and often went to work with his father. Chad would clean the shop and the showroom and work on little things that needed to be done. There were eight employees at the dealership who took the time to teach Chad about parts, service, selling and much more. That is where Chad’s interest in the industry started. After high school, he attended North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, North Dakota. Chad worked at Gateway Chevrolet during that time in the parts department and was eventually promoted to service manager. He graduated with a degree in business and continued to work at Gateway Chevrolet for three more years. Then, in 1995, Chuck had the option to close the dealership or find another location, as manufacturers weren’t renewing franchise agreements in small towns. Chuck found an opportunity in Miles City, Montana, moved and opened the doors of Notbohm Motors. In the summer of 1999, Chuck asked Chad to come home because the business was growing, and he needed help. Chad worked as a service manager until about 10 years ago. At that point, he became general manager as his father wanted to start slowing down and move toward retirement. “Dad is semi-retired. He still comes in quite often, but he’ll also take off for a couple of months. For now, my official role is general manager. But, we have a succession plan in place, and I will be taking over as a second-generation dealer,” Chad said. Chad’s wife, Janelle, works with him at the dealership as a marketing director. They have three children: Jace, who is currently attending Miles Community College and playing baseball on the college team; Natalie, who is a sophomore in pre-med at Rocky Mountain College; and Brynn, who is a freshman studying pre‑law at Carroll University and plays for the Carroll Saints softball team. When Chad isn’t working, he enjoys traveling to watch his children’s sporting events, hunting and fishing. He also has a hobby farm just south of town that keeps him busy. We recently had the opportunity to talk with Chad and get to know more about his thoughts on the industry and his new appointment to the MTADA board. The following are excerpts from our conversation. What is the biggest issue facing the dealership industry? The first would be personnel issues. It’s very difficult to hire good people to meet the customer demands. The second is the rapid shift towards EVs and the mandates that have been placed on dealerships. To take a whole new technology on so quickly makes it difficult to ensure that everything works effectively. I don’t think rural Montana and some flyover states are ready for EVs. The commute is so far between towns and cities in this area, and the infrastructure is not there. It’s a real problem. Third, the relationship between the manufacturer and the dealer has changed a lot. They used to be there to help you. And right now, you really have to question some of the decisions that they want you to make or that they’re making for you. As dealers, we have to be careful and analyze whether this is a good decision or not. I am looking forward to serving on the board and being a part of the bigger discussion in regard to manufacturers — listening to where they’re at, what their thoughts are and whether some of these things work for them or not — and pushing for compromise and for what works for dealers. 20 MONTANA AUTO DEALER

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