Once every three years, members of the ARA leadership gather to refocus goals and implement new initiatives. This year, lively discussion and debate ultimately shaped the 2026-2029 ARA Strategic Plan. Here is a peek behind the scenes.
By: Caryn Smith
The group identified a list of ARA’s strengths and opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. They agreed that the Automotive Recyclers Training Institute (ARTI), a 501c(3), was unique to ARA.
Steeped in history, America’s oldest city, Saint Augustine, Florida, was founded by the Spanish explorer Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565 and served as the backdrop of the Automotive Recyclers Association’s triannual Strategic Planning Meeting. While acknowledging its historical roots, the ARA diligently seeks to move beyond what has worked in the past to remain relevant, timely, and in sync with its membership's needs.
To accomplish this, ARA and its leadership—the staff, executive committee, directors, committee chairpersons, and other invited representatives—gather every three years to map the association's priorities. This effort has proved effective in keeping leadership focused on agreed-upon priorities and ARA staff focused on implementing specific goals.
As each executive committee member moves through their five-year leadership journey, having a documented goal-setting process ensures continuity and progress for the members’ greater good within ARA.
“I'm excited by the enthusiastic participation of our leaders who took time away from their business to come here this week. There’s been a lot of great discussion, a lot of ideas, a lot of foresight, and thinking about what our membership needs now and in the future,” says Vince Edivan, Executive Director.
Tom Andrade, ARA’s Second Vice President/Treasurer and owner of Everett’s Auto Parts, notes, “I am excited to be part of the ARA Strategic Planning Event. Many intelligent, dedicated recyclers are donating their time to set ARA's goals for the next three years. These pillars provide the roadmap for the ARA staff and committee chairs to advance the ARA agenda for our membership.”
What Members Say Matters
“This is my first strategic planning meeting,” says Amber Kendrick, owner of Pete’s Auto Parts and chair of the ARA Awareness Committee. “This is my second year on the ARA Board of Directors. When I was invited to the Strategic Planning Meeting, I thought it would be a great opportunity to help shape the association's direction. It’s always great to meet up with other recyclers, talk shop, and forge those connections. I’m here to learn and to participate, because I think it’s really important that we’re engaged in the association.”
The event agenda started with a review of recent Member Survey responses. “It was important that we solicit feedback from the general membership prior to this meeting,” said Edivan. “We want to know what our members think the Association should be working on, and for them to have the opportunity to contribute their thoughts to the discussion of ARA’s future.”
On what ARA did well in the past year, some responses included:
• “ARA was really good at getting messages out to the industry. I saw more of an online presence with postings of information, all the way to videos showcasing our industry.”
• “The moves the association has made to strengthen ARTI and its ability to create relevant and best-practice resources for the automotive recycling community have been huge.”
• Advocacy—fought against bad legislation in multiple states, promoted our industry to key players.”
• “The quality standards program that teams ARA with URG will benefit our industry long-term. In the short term, the EV battery handling guidelines will help recyclers and save lives.”
• Providing information for recyclers with ARA University and the Certification program.”
On industry trends or issues, respondents believe that some of these issues will affect ARA members in the next 2-3 years:
• Insurance
• Salvage Acquisition
• Training
• Technological Change
• E-Commerce
• Electrification of the Vehicle
• EV Battery Handling
• Workforce shortages
• Political Uncertainty, especially Around Right to Repair
Overall, members felt that ARA should continue to focus on increasing communication and inclusivity across diverse business models—especially independent operators —improving public perceptions of the industry, and strengthening mentorship, conferences, and overall member engagement.
Discussions on 2023-2025
Key Strategic Pillars
A review of prior strategic pillars was conducted to measure progress and to determine what should be carried over to the new plan. The 2023-25 pillars were Strategic Partnerships and Branding, Data, Advocacy, and Education/Certification/Compliance. Of the objectives under each pillar, there were many completed, such as the new ARA website, establishing video engagement for storytelling, excellent headway on advocacy and expanded partnerships, especially around the electric vehicle, the implementation of ARA’s new customer relations management (CRM) system, the WPI/ARA Carbon Savings Study, increasing interchange data to expand sales, growth of the Certified Automotive Recycler program, and the establishment of a new Quality Compliance Program in collaboration with URG (rolling out in 2026), among other wins.
The consensus was that what was accomplished was sufficient to meet the needs of the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan. Discussions shifted to brainstorming to expand on those achievements.
“This year’s strategic session has solidified some of the work that’s already in process,” says ARA President Shannon Nordstrom, owner of Nordstrom’s Automotive Inc. “Since I’ve been involved in the executive committee, we have undergone various changes in the last few years, and from what I’ve witnessed being on the inside, it gives me huge amounts of optimism for what ARA can do for our members. I’m really excited about the future.”
Brainstorming High Points
What stood out as a theme that tied into every objective discussed was ARA’s brand identity as “the voice of the automotive recycling industry.” Everyone agreed that it was paramount that ARA and its members be viewed across all supply chains as the thought-leadership for advancing and promoting the use of recycled auto parts for their wide array of benefits. This influence is opening doors and getting ARA to the table to lead discussions on what matters most to the industry as a whole.
At his fourth Strategic Planning Event, ARA Past President Scott Robertson Jr., of Robertson’s Auto Salvage, says, “The whole industry is a lot better. It’s improving. There is a lot more collaboration. That ARA and URG are now working together is progress. And as for our Advocacy and Government Affairs, ARA is being invited to the table. You know, not so long ago, we weren’t even invited, we weren’t even recognized, and now we are. That’s probably the biggest change I can point to.”
“It’s always important, every three years, to reset everything,” he continues. “We can review what failed and what did well, and then plan for going forward. Sometimes you must change your business model, your plan. You think it’s going to go one way, and you get roadblocks. It is important to also adapt and re-maneuver.”
The group identified a list of ARA’s strengths and opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. They agreed that the Automotive Recyclers Training Institute (ARTI), which is a 501c(3), was unique to ARA and had the capacity to fund a plethora of much-needed resources for the industry, especially in the area of grant awards for environmentally driven efforts. They also agreed that many people do not know the purpose of ARTI, which requires some work. Other strengths and opportunities included the new working relationship with other industry groups, like URG and Team PRP.
Industry vendors were identified as a valuable alliance for the association, with a focus on providing them with greater appreciation and opportunities to support and add value to ARA efforts. ARA Affiliate Chapters were also an area of opportunity for ARA to improve communications and support.
Overall, there was the opinion that ARA does many great things, but often falls short of sharing the value and ways to engage with the membership.
This led to an idea that excited the group into a lengthy discussion—the need for a mapped-out “member journey.” Jessica Andrews, ARA Senior Director, Operations, noted, “Depending on your level of membership and how long you’ve been a member, the journey is going to look different. We need a new-member journey, an existing-member journey, and an associate-member journey; those would be the basics. Existing membership is going to look different and is going to need different touch points throughout the year.” Jason Howell, board member and General Manager of All Import Auto Parts, added that there is also an important affiliate chapter member journey to consider.
This led to another idea: a “membership toolbox” to be sent to new members and housed in the members-only portal of the website. It would cover all the ways ARA can help members, from connecting with committees to providing plug-and-play marketing materials for recycled auto parts. This has endless applications and will be fleshed out in the three-year plan for timelines and content.
Once the past plan was reviewed, five “placeholder” pillars were identified for the 2026-28 plan, and the larger group was divided into smaller groups, each of which added ideas to accomplish the themes. This is where attendees put their ideas on paper that could help advance ARA in the next three years. Common themes discussed on day two emerged.
Nordstrom commented at the end of the event on what excited him most: “I think the ‘member toolbox’ and really defining what the journey of a member looks like are most exciting. I want to be very deliberate about them. Why is that important? Member retention and the member experience are extremely important, so they see the value in their dues payment. If you’re asking someone to give you a check, you don’t want them just to do it out of obligation. We want them to do it because they feel good about it. There are things that are helping me. It has always been this way: people want to know, ‘What’s my return on investment?’ You always have an intrinsic value, but I want to be able to see those things in a more organized format.”
Defining the Next Three Years
“I look forward to taking time with staff and our leaders in the coming weeks to really flesh out the great ideas that came out of this meeting,” says Edivan.
“We will add implementable details and timelines to the plan that will best serve ARA membership for the next three years.”
Ultimately, the one and a half days of brainstorming and idea creation yielded many ideas that will be funneled under these tentative headings, given timelines, and will focus the efforts of all tasked to implement them. Next steps are for the ARA staff and the Executive Committee to formalize these ideas that were agreed upon by the strategy working group into a plan to present them Board of Directors to consider, discuss and approve to release to the ARA membership.
“It’s been really fun to brainstorm with people and see all the different ideas coming from all different directions,” said Kendrick. “Honestly, going to dinner with industry leaders and talking about what they’re doing with their reinsurance program or what they’re doing with car buying right now is so valuable to me in my own business. You know, that’s totally separate from the strategic planning, but it’s a huge benefit to being involved in ARA.”
ARA is a volunteer organization, and members attended this meeting to support ARA on their own time. But not all ARA volunteer work is that time-driven. “Not only is it good for the association to be involved,” Kendrick continues, “it’s been good for me, too. It doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s a once-a-month Teams meeting, and I get a lot more out of it than I put in. You know, we come up with the ideas, and then the ARA staff executes them.”
“As a first-time attendee of the strategic planning meeting,” says Greg Condon, owner of Condon’s Auto Parts, “I was impressed by the depth of information discussed and all the behind-the-scenes work that members may not realize happens on their behalf. I’m grateful to have participated and hope to contribute value to the strategic plan for the next three years. I am glad I took the time from my schedule to do so. The effort that the EC and staff at ARA put into our industry is phenomenal, and the opportunity to help guide the direction for the next three years was valuable to me. I’m proud to be a member of ARA!”
