Overland Park, Kan.: NCM Associates, a leading provider of automotive 20 Group, Retail Consulting, Education, and operationsBenchmark® analysis services to franchised and independent auto dealers, and Northwood University, a premier educational institution focusing on management and entrepreneurship, today announced an educational alliance designed to expose Northwood University students seeking degrees in Automotive Retail Management to NCM’s industry-leading Automotive 20 Group program. NCM pioneered the 20 group peer collaboration process, which provides a formal platform for automotive dealers from non-competing markets to compare and benchmark their operating performance and exchange best practices, experiences, ideas, and strategies. NCM will bring its Benchmark® for Success 20 Group program to Northwood University’s Midland, Michigan campus on April 13-14, 2012.
Many students in Northwood University’s Automotive Marketing degree program at the Midland, Michigan campus are training for careers in the retail automotive industry. As the originator of the Automotive 20 Group peer collaboration process, NCM® Associates has been empowering retail automobile dealers to learn from each other since 1947, helping thousands of new and pre-owned auto dealers enhance their profitability. Using proprietary dealership operations analysis tools combined with professionally moderated peer collaboration meetings, NCM has perfected a process that thousands of automobile dealers across the U.S. tout as one of their most powerful professional development tools. Recognizing the rich history and profit-building power of the NCM Automotive 20 Group program, Northwood University has asked NCM to host the first of a series of mock 20 Groups for selected students at the Midland campus in April.
Dr. Timothy G. Nash, Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Alliances and the Fry Endowed Chair in Free Market Economics has worked closely with NCM executives to outline a program tailored to future automotive industry leaders because, he said, “As an educator, I want our students to understand the full complement of resources available for their ongoing professional development. We will pilot the program this spring on our Michigan Campus in Professor Joe Lescota’s class and roll it out to our Florida and Texas Campuses next academic year.” Northwood University President, Dr. Keith A. Pretty, added, “The NCM 20 Group program has proven to be an experience that can take the best dealers and make them even better operators. By introducing them to operations benchmarking in the context of the 20 group format now, they’ll see the value of a comparative financial composite turn into an even more powerful tool when combined with peer review and accountability.”
Kevin Cunningham, NCM Director of 20 Group Operations, is a graduate of Northwood University’s Automotive Marketing and Management program and knows the caliber of Northwood students. “They are up for the challenge of the 20 group environment,” Cunningham said. “The upper class and graduate-level students have been hand-picked by the Northwood faculty; they have had extensive training in dealership financial operations management, so they are well-prepared to analyze and discuss the implications of the NCM group composite we will be preparing for this exercise.” Cunningham explained that the university has a network of automobile dealers that support this kind of program and who will provide the financial statement data needed to prepare a realistic composite tool for the mock 20 groups.
The mock 20 group session is the first of a series of initiatives the organizations are planning for 2012. “We’re excited about the opportunity to showcase our stand-out NCM 20 Group program and proprietary Benchmark® reports to the Northwood students and faculty,” said NCM president and CEO, Paul A. Faletti, Jr. “We’re also investigating mutual opportunities to expose our clients to the exceptional information, education and career development resources offered by Northwood University. One would be hard-pressed to find a better fit for two organizations so keenly focused on the success of the automotive industry—and the next generation of automotive retail leadership.”
About NCM® Associates, Inc.
NCM Associates, Inc. is the originator of the automotive industry 20 Group peer collaboration process and has been providing dealership Benchmark analytical data, Education and Consulting services to the industry since 1947. Located in Overland Park, Kan., NCM provides a robust suite of services designed to drive dealership profitability using its proven, operations-focused Benchmark® for Success program with new and pre-owned U.S. automotive dealerships, as well as with businesses in more than 20 other industries. NCM is proud to be 100% employee-owned.
About Northwood University
Northwood University is committed to the most personal attention to prepare students for success in their careers and in their communities; it promotes critical thinking skills, personal effectiveness, and the importance of ethics, individual freedom and responsibility.
Private, nonprofit, and accredited, Northwood University specializes in managerial and entrepreneurial education at three full-service, residential campuses located in southern Florida, mid-Michigan and northern Texas. Adult Degree Programs are available in eight states with many course delivery options including an online option. The DeVos Graduate School offers day and evening programming in Michigan, Texas, Florida and Switzerland. The Alden B. Dow Center for Creativity and Enterprise in Midland, Michigan, specializes in creative thinking and innovation development. International education is offered through study abroad and in Program Centers in Switzerland, China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
