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Mergers and Acquisitions Why membership is declining at regional tire dealer associations

ITDG, like other tire dealer program groups, continues to grow. Organized as a for-profit buying group with actual investing shareholders, it has an annual cost of $2,400 per member, offset against volume rebates. ITDG has grown steadily to encompass more than 1,100 locations nationwide. Not only does ITDG add value as a buying group, but it has an annual three-day meeting and after members arrive, the cost of the rooms, activities and food is all paid for by ITDG suppliers. At the meeting, members can choose from up to 20 educational sessions to attend and there are more opportunities to learn from each other, including in the “everything goes” shareholder’s meeting. ITDG also offers a captive insurance company for workers compensation insurance.

COVID-19 has clearly hit the regional associations hard, but their decline has been happening for quite some time now. The regional associations are dependent on their sponsors, who fund a great deal of the association’s budget, but one pet peeve of mine is they have allowed the sponsors to hijack the speaking slots. The same old faces who “pay to play” get up and talk about their company program and there’s not much real education there.

There are ways regional tire dealer associations can still add value. I recommend they provide meaningful educational sessions and exciting networking events and that they fund a lobbying program to fight for things that matter. ■

Michael McGregor is a partner at Focus Investment Banking LLC (focusbankers.com/ automotive/tire-and-service). He advises and assists multi-location tire dealers on mergers and acquisitions. For more information, contact him at michael.mcgregor@focusbankers.com.

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