ATLANTA — Buy-here, pay-here dealers from the eastern half of the country and beyond converged at the Georgia International Convention center last week for the first annual East Coast BHPH Conference.

Kenneth Shilson, founder and president of the National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers (NABD), said the show’s dual educational track — one each for beginners and experienced operators — was designed to tackle the three main challenges to dealer-controlled financing: compliance, inventory and capital.

“I believe that attendees left with the knowledge to face these challenges successfully in the months ahead,” said Shilson.

Highlights included a presentation by F&I and Showroom contributor Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian Automotive. Her presentation shed new light on BHPH’s role in the U.S. auto credit landscape, and her data was backed by a moving address by Used Car News editor Tim Craig.

Several leading attorneys and industry advocates, including Hudson Cook LLP’s Tom Hudson and “The Car Counselor,” Keith Wann, were on hand to answer questions in a series of interactive sessions and on the show floor. Workshop topics included accounting and tax strategies, capital, portfolio analysis, credit scoring and more. A technology panel convened to discuss newly available desking, credit scoring and payment acceptance solutions.

The event also served as the forum for a number of announcements, including a new certification program launched by the NABD and the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, as well as the release of the results of a national payment assurance-technology user survey.

The 14^th annual BHPH conference will be held May 17–19, 2012, in Las Vegas, immediately following NABD’s two-day Dealer Academy on May 15–16. More information, including recordings and presentations from the East Coast event and registration for the May events, is available at www.bhphinfo.com.