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
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