Oct. 1, 2021—ASA-Northwest isn’t the only affiliation that could be splitting off from ASA-National following the organization’s membership change, FenderBender has learned.
In an interview with FenderBender, ASA-Ohio Executive Director Matt Dougher said he plans to formalize a new organization separate from ASA that will support independent repairer efforts in Ohio.
Dougher plans to bring a proposal to ASA-Ohio’s board of directors for approval, which would see it become an entirely separate entity from ASA. The action was directly spurred by ASA-National’s announcement that all affiliate agreements would be dissolved, with a 50-state regional structure put in place as it is overseen by the national organization.
Dougher learned of ASA-National’s plan for the first time last Friday. He said he was not consulted or warned about the scenario. He also felt that by ASA-National announcing the plan on Monday, 72 hours after informing the affiliates, it left him scrambling for information to share with his members.
“My big thing was why did they keep it secret, didn’t include us as partners and then announce it one working day later? Why do you do that? I just can’t help but think they wanted to put us behind the eight-ball,” he said.
“We will move forward, and you know what, we’re going to be better because of it,” Dougher added.
