Spending the past 16 years representing independent car dealers in Texas, Jeff Martin has developed an immense respect and admiration for the men and women in the industry.
He’s watched dealers put thousands of dollars on the line at auction and listened to them work tirelessly through a deal to help customers in need.
“Most of our members work six days a week, and the money they put out there is mind-boggling. They’re unbelievably resilient. I kind of live vicariously through them. I wish I had the guts to do some of the things that they do.”
Jeff Martin, NIADA CEO
“Most of our members work six days a week, and the money they put out there is mind-boggling,” Martin said. “They’re unbelievably resilient. I kind of live vicariously through them. I wish I had the guts to do some of the things that they do.
“They have so many challenges and they find a way to make it work. If they don’t, they’re shutting the business down…It’s that entrepreneurial spirit. It certainly makes me want to do a better job representing those individuals.”
Starting Monday, Martin is using that same respect and admiration to represent independent dealers across the nation as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. Martin was named to the position in February after serving as the TIADA executive director since 2006.
“I’ve always been intrigued with the national association,” Martin said. “I think there’s some unique opportunities there. I feel like I’m well-equipped to be able to come in and move NIADA in a positive direction, build on the positive things NIADA is doing.”
When naming Martin the CEO, NIADA Board President Scott Allen pointed out Martin’s integrity and experience in the building associations over his career.
“Jeff is absolutely the right person to carry us forward,” Allen said. “In our search for a CEO, we explored our options, and there was one particular person who checked all the boxes. Jeff has a servant’s heart, is full of integrity and has empathy for our community and industry.”
A native Texan, with a taste for good barbecue and chicken fried steak, Martin grew up in the Brazos Valley in the rural town of Franklin.
After attending college at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, he was drawn to the Texas capitol, Austin.
“My wife and I both grew up in small towns and wanted to see what the big city was like,” Martin said. “We looked at a number of big cities in Texas, and a couple outside of Texas, and fell in love with Austin. We decided that’s where we wanted to live.”
After his wife landed a job with the state auditor’s office, Martin took a position with the Association of Texas Professional Educators as a field representative.
“It was an awesome opportunity for me,” Martin said. “They were working to try to expand their membership. Part of the strategy was to get local chapters set up in the school districts. I went to school districts and found volunteer presidents, vice presidents and treasurers within school districts. We put together membership campaigns in each school district.”
Martin rose to Director of Member Services with ATPE and helped the association grow from 65,000 to 107,000 members. The experience helped solidify a passion for working on behalf of others on complex issues.
“I enjoy taking on others’ issues and being their voice,” Martin said.
While at the ATPE, Martin began working with TIADA on enhancing its membership. The TIADA director was considering retiring and approached Martin about filling the position. Martin met with the board of directors and was offered the job.
Though his background was not in the automotive industry, he knew how to build strong associations by constructing strong teams to facilitate the conversation on issues.
“There was plenty I didn’t know anything about. I never looked at that as a disadvantage for me,” Martin said. “I always looked at it as an advantage to say it forces me to ask more questions. It forces me to give you, as a member, more of a voice within the association, not less of a voice.”
He’s helped TIADA grow its annual budget from $630,000 to more than $2 million and increased membership from 850 to nearly 1,300. But aside from the membership, he’s worked to help the association grow its influence to help those members.
“There’s a number of things that the association accomplished that I’m certainly very proud of,” Martin said. “Whether it has to do with legislation, financially where we’re at, or growing the membership, those things don’t happen unless you have a good team. That team is what I’m most proud of.”
Moving from a state association to NIADA, Martin hopes to build on the lines of communications with other state associations and work together to find solutions for dealers. He knows different states will have different needs, which he wants to work to understand.
“I don’t come in with any expectation that we’re just going to make everything look like Texas, because that’s not the case,” Martin explained. “Everybody has different needs. They have different resources and infrastructure to accomplish what they need. How can NIADA fill that role? That’s going to be different for every state.”
NIADA will continue to focus on compliance and helping dealers follow requirements and regulations, while also advocating on the industry’s behalf at the federal and state levels. Martin points out compliance helps with advocacy.
“We have to be the voice in what compliance means. We’re going out to work with legislators and federal agencies to know what the rules are and communicate that to our members. I have found our dealers want to be compliant.”
Jeff Martin, NIADA CEO
“We have to be the voice in what compliance means. We’re going out to work with legislators and federal agencies to know what the rules are and communicate that to our members,” Martin said. “I have found our dealers want to be compliant.
“We should have a stake and voice in what compliance looks like. If we’re an educated industry, and we’re actively taking care of the members within our industry, it makes it easier to sit down at the table with regulators and have conversations about proposed rules affecting our industry.”
In starting his new role, Martin plans to get out and meet members and partners. He will be making himself available to hear from them to provide the best representation possible.
“The idea is to build platforms to give those members an opportunity to have a voice,” Martin said.
He will never forget he’s representing business owners, who, along with selling cars, are building stronger communities through backpack drives, sponsoring youth sports teams or providing meals for customers.
“They really like being part of the community and helping their customers be successful,” Martin said. “They genuinely care about their customers.”
