The BTA's Gaslighting Doesn't Change The Issue. Instead It Puts Fuel On The Fire!

by ray stasieczko August 16, 2026

OK, enough with the distractions and gaslighting! It’s amazing how easy folks can get distracted, especially when paying attention causes discomfort and questions things once thought unquestionable.

In any quest towards continuous relevance, nothing should be deemed unquestionable! Nothing!

It’s been about a month since I became aware that the Business Technology Association (BTA) was sitting on over $11 million in assets across three separate non-profit entities. An awareness based on 990 tax filings.

Yes, that’s a big deal and most definitely should be discussed. Unfortunately, the opposite is happening; the BTA has decided to engage with industry media to assist them in distracting from the raised issues with nonsense, hoping the industry’s actors, more importantly, the association's members, remain in a comfortable delusion.

So, what’s my motivation in bringing the industry this story of what I see as asset hoarding and non-profit mismanagement?

My friends, when a non-profit association that generates less than $2.5 million in annual revenues is sitting on over $11 million in assets, most of which are investments in stock market securities, there should be questions.

If the BTA were dedicated to its members, it would deploy these assets for their betterment. Non-profits sitting on assets that total more than five times their annual revenues actually define leadership insecurity and create atmospheres of stalled progress.

I urge the association's remaining members to ask former members who left for other venues why they did so. In reality, I believe the vast majority of current members realize the staleness and lingering nostalgia that the BTA struggles to escape are the reasons.

I want to address some of the nonsense I am hearing from some BTA members in response to my content on this subject. The first thing I want to YELL, to those being told nonsense by either current or past board members, is: READ THE 990 TAX FILINGS ON ALL THREE ENTITIES.

Sadly, I believe there are some current and past board members who never even looked at the 990s. Especially those responsible for the BTA Southeast. Whose 990 FY 24 tax filing shows a donation of $1,000 to the Helena Hurricane disaster?

I can’t imagine being on the board of a non-profit association dedicated to its dealer members approving such a ridiculous sum. Especially as the BTA Southeast showed over one million dollars in assets, most of which was invested in securities.

Let’s discuss the School Building! I hear that some are telling dealers who question the amount of assets being held between the three entities that most of the assets are the building the BTA owns! Guess what, according to the FY 24 990 Tax filing, the Business Technology Association DOES NOT OWN ANY REAL ESTATE! It is clearly visible to anyone willing to look at the filing.

The School Building is an asset as a receivable; in other words, the BTA sold the building, and the buyer is paying the BTA through an interest-only loan of $1,250,000.00. This is defined on the 990 filing. If the BTA actually owned land or any property, that would be defined in section 6, Land, Building, and Equipment. Neither land nor a building is defined in this section.

So, just in case a past or present BTA board member or its director tells you the building represents SIX million dollars of the assets,

Everything I have discussed regarding these three non-profit entities was based on actual 990 tax filings. The latest published Tax filings are for the fiscal year 2024. All the BTA non-profit entities start their fiscal year on July 1st, Ending The FY on June 30th of the following year.

Now let me address the absolute nonsense of the BTA spending the last month since my story broke, sharing pictures of scholarship winners and going to a more-than-willing industry media to help them distract from addressing the asset. hording. These attempts at distraction highlight an absolute weakness in the leadership and governing bodies in addressing the issues.

Posting smiling faces holding checks, hoping this attempt at throwing the association's heart out in front for all to see would continue to mask any uncomfortable conversations, is insane.

Some of the industry’s actors are great at using their hearts to shield themselves from any accountability. It’s the old: Look at the good I am doing, and ignore the lack of accountability for what is not being done, or what at least should be questioned.

It’s important to highlight the rhetoric coming from the BTA leadership and some industry folks they have engaged to distract you from the real issue I am raising. They want to turn your attention to the scholarships. After all, how could anyone be objective about helping veterans and others with educational tuition?

What’s really disturbing is that it seems all those attempting to distract members from the BTA’s asset issues have never read any of the BTA's 990 tax filings.

Because had they read them, surely, they would have the same questions as I have, unless these folks don’t care that the BTA invests millions in the stock market instead of in the association needed improvements or its members.

Recently, the BTA leadership shared a post on social media showing all the scholarships paid out. Unfortunately, the leader didn’t explain why the FY24 Form 990 tax filing for the BTA Scholarship fund only showed $4,000.00 paid out.

That $4,000.00, by the way, was way off the average payout of $35-40 thousand, as shown by the history of 990s. Here’s the reality no one is suggesting, certainly not me, that the BTA is doing something shady.

However, when the BTA leadership doesn't address the questions and spends the last month attempting to distract everyone from the questions I raised, it raises another question: WHY?

The BTA, which is a nonprofit, should welcome the conversation about its tax filings. They should hold an annual town hall and ensure their members are fully aligned with the association's financial goals.

I am absolutely amazed at how many members didn’t even know the BTA was three separate nonprofits, or that it was sitting on over $11 million in assets, with the majority held in the stock market.

The other thing many didn’t realize was the veterans scholarship program only pays out 40% of what’s collected annually. The rest is invested, so if anything happens to the annual fundraiser, they have money to continue giving away scholarships for years. That argument is absolutely ridiculous.

This management practice defines insecurity. The purpose of the veterans fund is to help veterans when they need it. If the veteran fund raises $112,000, for example, it should distribute it. What better way to keep any fundraiser going than seeing a real difference made in the lives of the veterans awarded?

After reading the BTA director’s recent social media post regarding the scholarships. I went away with more questions. I am only sharing his post as reference there's no reason to read it as will address it in this article. Here’s that post, highlighted in bold and copied from LinkedIn; its author was Brent Hoskins, BTA Director.

“Congratulations to the 50 students who won a total of $103,500 in Business Technology Association scholarships for the 2026-27 school year, by way of the BTA Scholarship Foundation! The scholarships were awarded to the sons and daughters of the children of full-time employees of BTA member dealerships; the winners were selected by an independent evaluator, a dean at a private university in Kansas City, Missouri. Four of the BTA scholarship winners were also awarded Patriot Pack scholarships, including one for $10,000, one for $7,500 and two for $3,500. Patriot Pack scholarships are awarded to the full-time U.S. military veteran employees of current BTA member dealerships or to their children or grandchildren. The 50 BTA scholarships ranged from $1,500 to $3,000. The heritage of the Foundation dates back to the 1960s; since the 1984-85 school year, BTA has awarded 1,681 scholarships totaling $1.9975 million. The association maintains a balance in the BTA Scholarship Foundation so that earnings will, over time, allow the association to award an amount in scholarships that surpasses the amount of contributions. BTA has recently increased the number of scholarships it awards for each school year: 26 scholarships for the 2024-25 school year totaling $31,500; 40 scholarships for 2025-26 totaling $84,500; and 54 scholarships for 2026-27 totaling $103,500. Below are some of the images we've received at BTA from scholarship check presentations for the 2026-27 school year.”

Ok, let’s look at the numbers. Since the 1984-85 school year, the BTA has awarded 1,681 scholarships totaling $1.9975 million. So today the scholarship program is in its 41st school year. $1.9975 million; let’s round it up to $2 million; $2 million divided by 41 years equals $48,780,00 per year. If you divide the 1,681 awarded scholarships by the 2 million, you get only, $1,181,00 per scholarship.

I find it interesting that my presentation regarding the BTA’s 990 scholarship fund highlights their FY 24. In my analysis of that year and previous years, the BTA averaged between $35k and $40k a year in scholarship payouts. However, FY24 showed only $4,000.00. This obviously raises questions regarding the BTA Director's post saying the school year 24-25 payout was $31,500.00

The BTA describes the scholarship payouts in terms of school years. ie; 2024-25 as an example. The 990 tax filings indicate that all three entities' fiscal years start on July 1st and end on June 30th. The question is: if the BTA defines the school year as 24-25, would it coincide with the 990 tax filing for FY24? If so, there's a discrepancy.

What’s ironic is the BTA director’s post showing that for the school year 25-26 the scholarship payout is $84,500; that's nearly double their average. And he also says that for the 26-27 school year, the payout is $103,500.00

Should I say, Your Welcome scholarship recipients for school years 25-26 and 26-27?

Could my coverage of the BTA 990s have caused this massive increase in scholarship payoffs? After all, the program is 41 years old and has been pretty stagnant in payouts. Until Now!

My critics may now understand why I do what I do.

I look forward to matching up the numbers when the new 990s are public.

The BTA's argument for the association's assets is to protect the scholarship fund’s longevity. The program is over 40 years old! I think that qualifies as self-preserving. It would be great to know how many years over the last 4 decades the association had to go into its stock market fund to support the scholarships because no new money was raised?

So here's a question, If the BTA told you they had $500k in assets protecting the scholarship fund for 10 years without collecting a cent in new donations, would that be a good thing? If you believe so, would you then question why, between all the BTA nonprofit entities, there are over $11 million in assets?

BTW, the BTA Scholarship Fund itself was showing slightly over one million dollars in assets. So, the math is that they are sitting on 20 years of 50k-per-year scholarship payouts or 10 years of 100K scoraship payouts. Again, on the FY 24 990 filing, it shows the BTA Scholarship Fund had $1,045,000.00 in securities. Yes, over one million!!! Yes, in the stock market.

Think about these assets inside the stock market. The BTA director said in his post that, in the last 41 years, the association awarded just shy of $2 million. The BTA Scholarship Fund has half of the dollar amount paid over the last 40 years years' sitting in the stock market! Insanity!!

Again, I want to make it clear this isn’t about malfeasance; it’s about the realities around the Association having three entities and hoarding an absurd amount of assets, all based on a belief that the Association needs to hoard assets to maintain a scholarship program.

When viewed objectively, it seems the scholarship program is more about investing in the stock market than about changing the game for students or veterans needing help with tuition.

Again, I look forward to the 990 Tax filings for FY2025, July 1, 2025 - June 30th, 2026, which I expect to be public in February 2027. The FY 26 990 should be published around February 2028. Maybe they can speed up the filings each year.

Even better would be if the associations director shared publicly at one of the BTA Events the actual financials in detail allowing the members to see the reality of the assets. I am thinking many of the members were under an impression that the BTA was running on a shoestring. I can imagine the associations members would demand more from the association knowing it's not shoestring instead in shoestore!

The scholarship program is great, and I believe the industry as a whole will continue to support it. Unfortunately, I believe the BTA has lost its way and is becoming too complacent and overly conservative.

Keep in mind, as I said in the couple End of the Day with Ray episodes on the subject. The BTA is a self-funded loop; its annual meetings are sponsored and member-funded. If you look at their 990 tax filings, it clearly highlights costs and revenues. Keep in mind It’s a non-profit! Could you imagine how many more members it could have if the association actually invested in reinventing itself rather than in the stock market?

Think about the last decade of recycling the same educational topics delivered by mostly the same folks. Think about the format and compare that to what is happening in the IT services space. Think about the choreographed panel discussion mostly consisting of the panels and moderated by the same people.

So as you think about your times attending a BTA event keep in your mind that the three BTA Entities were sitting on over $11 million in assets, according to the FY 24 990 tax filings; that is completely absurd, and over the last month the association has been repeatedly gaslighting the issue, as some of our industry’s media loves to assist in gaslighting.

Those who think I am too tough on some of our media folks, ask yourself a question. Why is it that when something controversial is discussed on my venue, The End of the Day with Ray. Within a week, the subjects of the controversy are sitting with Frank Cannata or others, discussing topics that completely gaslight the issue.

The BTA association has been on Fridays with Frank the last two weeks in a row. Both episodes are over 15 minutes each. Keep in mind that since the birth of Fridays with Frank, his shows run 6-7 minutes. If longer, he splits them up into part one and two. But not this time? I would ask was there a quid pro quo? Or was Frank promoting the BTA Pro bono?

Go to his channel and search for BTA; look at the episodes he has aired in the last year that were obvious attempts to help the BTA gaslight the issues I raised.

Remember when he brought on the retired BTA Lawyer who blessed the Konica Minolta dealer agreement.

In that episode Frank and the retired BTA lawyer discussed how great the new Konica Minolta Dealer contract was. After all the retired BTA Lawyer gave it his blessing. A blessing I was pretty vocal in calling out!

Unfortunately for these distractors, time has consistently proven that it’s not the distracted message that proved valuable to the industry; instead, it was within the merits of the controversial subject I started where the real value emerges. Today I imagine there are many Konica Dealers here in the U.S. wishing I had screamed louder about that blessed dealer contract.

Speaking of the BTA legal program. I have been vocal regarding the retired BTA Lawyer's son taking his place. I don't think the BTA should be a family business. In his interview with Frank Cannata the new BTA Lawyer mentioned his dad couldn't find anyone with more passion for the association than his son. That statement seems to describe a scenario where the retired BTA Lawyer was totally in charge of his replacement decision not the board.

Ok, sorry for the digression regarding the last few paragraphs, but I believe it was necessary to highlight the core dysfunction at the foundation of many industry analysts and consultants.

Those in the industry who are frustrated with my delivery style. I suggest you put that frustration with folks who are knowingly helping the industry avoid needed conflict.

It’s so easy to be everyone’s friend; unfortunately, chasing friends isn't a platform for helping an industry through uncomfortable change.

I believe: when you're a senior leader in any industry, and your entire platform is built on a foundation of gratuitous pandering, one day all those standing on that foundation will fall through its cracks.

The BTA is celebrating its 100th year, and I wish them the best. I would ask all those associated with the organization to evaluate its true value based on outcomes rather than unchallenged perceptions. I have always enjoyed my time at meetings, talking with friends, just as many reading this have. But the association needs to be more than a country club where folks meet drink and eat. The associations needs to be reinventing itself and know everyone knows it can afford the reinvention.

Good news for those who fear facing challenges. I will not be participating in the BTA association's 100th event in Kansas City, as there are board members and obviously the management upset with my coverage thereby my presence would be too distracting.

However, the good news is, as with so many of my other controversial subjects, sooner or later these upset folks will realize the merits of what I am discussing.

When declining industries become stuck in nostalgia, the outcome is death!

In the meantime, remember that many of our industry’s actors continue to prove that being comfortable with perceptions is more important than getting uncomfortable with addressing reality.

I will remain hopeful that as the younger generation takes control of the BTA, they will transform the association from a conservative investment club into an extremely valuable asset for its members.

I want to wrap up by sharing thoughts with the BTA Membership and the industry as a whole.

‘It’s unconscious incompetence that keeps one stuck in perception, never traveling towards reality.”

The industry must look into why things are as they are, regardless of the temporary comfort that comes with ignoring conflict.

Ray Stasieczko, Host of The End Of The Day With Ray!

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