Every year, the independent dealers of the Carolinas set aside a few days to do something the day-to-day rarely allows: step back, compare notes, and work on the business instead of in it. This August, ARC was proud to be right there with them.
We spent August 6 through 9 at the 71st Annual CIADA Conference & Expo, held at the Embassy Suites Oceanfront at Kingston Resorts in Myrtle Beach. This year's theme, "Celebrating Independence... Powering the Road Ahead," landed at the perfect moment, tying the spirit of America's 250th to the grit and independence that defines the dealers who make up this association. Red, white, and blue was everywhere, and so was the energy of a community that genuinely enjoys getting together.
You could find us all weekend at Booth #26.
Showing Up for the Community
Conventions like CIADA are really about people. Over the course of the event we shook a lot of hands, met owners and operators from across North and South Carolina, and reconnected with familiar faces we have gotten to know over the years. The casino night kicked things off on a high note, giving everyone a relaxed setting to talk shop, swap stories, and build the kind of relationships that a phone call never quite replaces.
From the moment the expo floor opened, the conversations kept coming. Some dealers were long-established operators refining a proven playbook. Others were newer to the business and hungry for a roadmap. What struck us was how many of them were asking the same underlying question: how do I get to the next level, and who can show me the way?
That question happens to be the reason ARC 20 Groups exist.
The Conversation Dealers Kept Starting: 20 Groups
We did not have to work hard to bring up 20 Groups. Dealers kept bringing it up to us. Again and again, someone would stop by the booth, look at the group names on our banners, and ask, "So how does that actually work?"
Here is the short version we shared all weekend.
An ARC 20 Group puts you in a room with like-sized, non-competing dealers who are wrestling with the same challenges you are. Nobody in the room is your competitor, so everybody can be honest. You open the books, you share the real numbers, and you hold each other accountable. Iron sharpens iron. Everyone brings strengths, everyone has blind spots, and the group turns both into progress.
Longtime members describe it as a kind of time machine. You get to see what other dealers have already tried, learn from their history instead of repeating it, and fast-forward your own store's future. Groups meet three times a year, which means the learning does not stop when the convention ends. It becomes a rhythm.
For a lot of the dealers we met in Myrtle Beach, that idea clearly clicked. The interest was real, unprompted, and encouraging.
More Than One Way We Help Dealers Grow
While 20 Groups were the headline, they are one piece of a bigger picture. Dealers who stopped by also asked about the rest of what ARC brings to the table: warranty and service contract products, dealer-owned reinsurance that lets operators build long-term wealth, CarChief® for getting ahead of service and retention, and F&I training that lifts product penetration and per-vehicle profit. The through line is simple. Everything we do is built to help independent dealers run stronger, more profitable stores.
A Familiar Face in a New Role: Congratulations, Wendy Pisor
One of the highlights of the weekend was a personal one. Wendy Pisor of Northside Auto Sales was inaugurated as CIADA's new Board President, and getting to be there to celebrate that milestone with her meant a great deal to our team.
Wendy is no stranger to ARC. She and Brian have been part of the family for years, from F&I training and consulting to ARC Warranty and their seats in our retail & fixed ops 20 Groups. Watching a sharp, community-minded operator we know and respect step into the top leadership role at CIADA is exactly the kind of story we love to tell. It says something about where the association is headed, and about the caliber of independent dealers leading the Carolinas forward.
Congratulations, Wendy. It could not have happened to a more deserving operator, and we are proud to keep building alongside you.
Thank You, CIADA
None of this happens without the team that pulls the event together. A sincere thank you to Marty Coates and the entire CIADA staff for the work that goes into hosting a national-caliber experience at the state level. Events like this only work because people care enough to build them, and it shows.
Thank you as well to every dealer who took a few minutes to visit Booth #26. Your time is the scarcest thing you have at a show like this, and we do not take it for granted.
The Learning Does Not End at the Convention
If there is one takeaway we hope every dealer left Myrtle Beach with, it is this: the growth you felt this weekend does not have to be a once-a-year thing. The best operators surround themselves with a room of peers who push them all year long. That is exactly what a 20 Group is built to do.
If you met us on the floor, or if you are just catching up now, we would love to keep the conversation going.
Ready to see how it works? Explore ARC 20 Groups and find the group that fits your store at arcnation.com/20groups.
Prefer to just talk it through? Reach out anytime at arcnation.com/contact. We are always glad to connect with a fellow independent.
Here is to the road ahead.
ARC
