Alumni students of the Automotive Business School of Canada (ABSC) gathered on April 12 in Halifax, N.S., for a special dinner organized by the Nova Scotia Automobile Dealers Association (NSADA).
The annual ABSC Alumni Dinner included students from the program, a handful of dealers and Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) President and CEO John White. The event was organized on the eve of the sixth annual CADEX conference, located at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel. The goal of the dinner was to grow awareness for the ABSC and the NSADA.
“We want to foster a relationship with not only the alumni, which are represented here tonight, but with the school in its totality, to let them know that the Nova Scotia automobile climate is a great climate to be in,” said Peter Simmons, First Vice President and NSADA Alumni Committee Chair, in an interview with Canadian auto dealer. “We would like to have more people coming from the college to our dealerships here in Nova Scotia,” he added.
John Sutherland, Executive Vice President of NSADA, discussed the progress being made in auto retail on the East coast and in terms of career opportunities, while also touching on the importance of the ABSC. He took a moment to thank and acknowledge the hard work of several people in attendance — including Dartmouth dealer and Past CADA Chairman Al MacPhee, who has contributed generously to his community.
Memorial scholarships were also presented by the NSADA and ABSC during the dinner, meant to honour three particular individuals in the industry: Maynard Williams, Paul O’Regan and David MacRitchie — the last of which passed away suddenly in Dartmouth on November 12, 2017. Each scholarship is worth $2,500.
The evening concluded with comments from Simmons as dealers prepared for the CADEX conference on April 13, also located at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel.
