Critical Shifts:
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New Executive Leadership: Darla Booher (owner of Deal Depot in South Carolina) has been officially installed as the new NIADA President at the 2026 convention in Denver, succeeding fellow Carolinian Michael Darrow.
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25-Year Industry Veteran: Booher brings a quarter-century of independent dealership ownership experience to the role, having scaled her career from a franchise dealership employee to a BHPH operator and the 2015 National Quality Dealer of the Year.
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Dual-Focus Mandate: Her presidency will actively center on celebrating the contributions of women in the automotive sector and broadening highly accessible, time-conscious educational programs for independent dealers of all operational sizes.
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South Carolina dealer Darla Booher was officially installed as president of the NIADA during the group’s annual convention and expo in Denver this week.
Booher, owner of Deal Depot in Greer, South Carolina, was installed as NIADA president during the Annual Membership Meeting. Booher, who is celebrating her 25th year owning her dealership, began her automotive career working at a franchise dealership, which sent her to several classes to pick up knowledge about the industry. Booher eventually moved into the independent space, working with two other buy-here pay-here dealers before opening her own dealership as a leap of faith.
Booher was named the NIADA National Quality Dealer of the Year in 2015. Stepping into leadership, Booher was driven by a desire to make a meaningful difference.
“I’ve had a lot of mentoring over my years in the industry and wanted to make sure that I could take a leadership role and help mentor other dealers,” Booher explained. As president at NIADA, Booher hopes to continue mentoring and lifting others, especially other women in the industry.
“I want to focus on celebrating women in the industry. This is a great opportunity to acknowledge them and the contributions they make,” Booher said.
She also wants to build on the association’s education offerings.
“Our focus is on dealer education and member value, making it affordable and understanding of the dealers’ limited amount of time that they can be away from their businesses,” Booher said. “Make it as accessible as possible and as broad as possible for independent retail dealers and independent BHPH dealers of all sizes.”
As she moves into the president’s role, her fellow Carolinian Michael Darrow finishes his term as the NIADA Chairman of the Board. The NIADA Board of Directors approved by membership included: President: Darla Booher, President-elect: Dan Johnson and Senior Vice President Bentley Nolan.
