NAFA, AFLA Announce Major Trade Agreement

After months of intense negotiations, I am overjoyed to announce a major deal between NAFA and the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA). In short, Bill Elliott, AFLA’s Executive Director, and I will be swapping jobs effective sometime this summer.

Partnering with AFLA has always been high on NAFA’s wish list. When Bill and I started talking about things we’d like to do together, we realized we both wanted what the other guy had. After long conversations about “what if” we changed jobs, we started talking about “how can” we change jobs, which led to our deal.

Recognizing that someone else has what you want is difficult, and I must admit I felt guilty coveting my neighbor’s house. In the end, though, when I realized my motivations were not driven by selfishness, but rather by the excitement of a new experience, I felt comfortable approaching Bill with the idea.

In essence, what excites me about taking over the AFLA job is the ability to focus on a singular fleet segment: corporate fleet managers. For nearly 15 years now, I’ve been at the helm of NAFA, which proudly and rightly serves every fleet segment (corporate, government, utility, university, public safety, transit, etc., etc.). I relish the idea of being able to serve a single constituency and their supplier partners.

Like me, Bill was keen on doing something different, too. He envied the many and various resources I had at NAFA, including a staff of a dozen professionals and a reserve account of more than $2 million. Taking the helm of NAFA will enable Bill to bring to each industry segment the same enthusiasm, creativity, and success he’s brought to the corporate fleet segment at AFLA for the last 6½ years.

“Focusing on corporate fleets for the last few years has given me great insight into their needs,” Bill said.  “Frankly, this is exactly what NAFA needs right now.”

One of the biggest obstacles for me in this agreement was the fact that I love the staff at NAFA and I didn’t want to leave them. So, in order to accommodate that, I’ll be running AFLA from the NAFA offices in Princeton, but in an office just down the hall from where I sit now.

On the other side, Bill will be working from his Milwaukee-based home office Mondays and Fridays and coming to Princeton Tuesday through Thursday as needed. 

Lastly, it’s important that I ask you to go back and re-read this entire column, then realize the date on which it was sent.  If you still haven’t figured it out, please look at the first (bold) letter of each paragraph for my hidden message.

Sincerely,

 

Phil