McLEAN, Va. — The National Automobile Dealers Association on Wednesday revealed its initial list of industry experts and trainers set to be a part of its new initiative, NADA University.

The free online education and training resource for dealers known as the Learning Hub will include five respected, well-known individuals who cover a wide range of topics.

The initial roll out will take place at the NADA Convention next month and is slated to have the following NADA University Preferred Partners:

—Alan Ram, president and founder of Proactive Training Solutions, who will focus on sales, telephone, management, the Internet and business development center training.

—Grant Cardone, chief executive officer of Grant Cardone, who will discuss sales training.

—Ron Reahard, president of Reahard & Associates, who will share F&I training.

—Don Reed, chief executive officer of Dealer Pro Training, who will focus on fixed operations training.

—Jeff Cowan, president of Jeff Cowan's Pro Talk, who will discuss service adviser training.

NADA reiterated that the Learning Hub will provide training programs for dealership staffs in key business areas. The association plans to offer a wide variety of online and instructor-led courses, Webinars and workshops focused on business management, legal compliance, customer relations, human resources and fixed and variable operations.

"NADA University and its Learning Hub platform bring dealers the best in the industry for high-quality content and state-of-the-art training, all in one place," explained NADA dealer operations committee chairman Bill Underriner.

"It gives you all you need — and a lot more — to improve business performance across the board," Underriner continued.

"Access to the industry's top trainers and high-quality information would be invaluable in any market conditions, but it can be an absolute ‘game-changer' in today's extraordinarily tight environment," he added. 

NADA mentioned that more Preferred Partners will be added as the Learning Hub expands its offerings to dealers.

The Learning Hub is one of four segments of NADA University that the association is launching in cooperation with the American Truck Dealers. The project's other three parts are:

—NADA/ATD Academy: This is designed to foster leadership skills and improve critical decision-making via executive education. This will use such resources as the NADA and ATD Dealer successor, general management and large dealer group academies, and the Babson College Executive Education program. 

—20 Group: This can help improve business performance and profitability through access to 20 Group expert consultants, Lifeline to Profits in-dealership consulting and workshops, in addition to the best-in-class online make-specific financial composites with programs tailored for executives, managers, and sales and service staffs.

—Resource Toolbox: Officials said this is online and on-demand. It is the only place to access valuable member resources such as Driven dealer management guides on the latest developments, regulations, trends and other essential information in the auto industry impacting key business decisions and Market Insight monthly Webinars with the latest data, analysis and industry-expert panel discussions.

Even more details about the program launch will be shared during the NADA Convention and Expo next month in Orlando, Fla. In the meantime, dealers can visit www.NADAuniversity.com.