When you walk the halls and auction space at Manheim North Carolina, it doesn’t take long before Ellie Johnson shares a kind “hello” or “good morning” with her customers, employees or colleagues.

And then another and another.

The general manager of this Kenly, N.C., auction has grown up here — both in the geographic and metaphorical sense — and community seems to run deep, whether we’re talking about the auction industry itself or this town an hour east of Raleigh where she was born and raised.

Her late father, Kenneth Aycock, started auctioneering in 1958, and her family owned an auction company that sold mostly real estate and farm equipment.

Aycock also worked an auto auction circuit, with the family eventually starting an auction of its own in the early 1980s: Aycock Auto Auction, which was sold in 1988 and eventually became Manheim North Carolina. 

After finishing her education at Barton College in Wilson, N.C., and completing her apprenticeship with an accounting firm, Johnson came to work for her family’s auction in 1986 and has been there ever since.

Not that she hasn’t been on the move. Johnson’s involvement in the used-car business stretches from NAAA’s Southern Chapter to the association’s membership committee to the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association and beyond.

And 700 miles to the north of her hometown, the National Auto Auction Association’s community of auctions and industry partners comes together this week for its annual convention in Boston — and that’s where Johnson will assume the 2014-2015 presidency of NAAA.

When Johnson takes the helm, she will bring her vast experience in leadership, both in her own town and the national auction community at large.

Restoration with Character

Johnson’s home in Kenly is a house originally built in 1898, and it is part of a labor of love she enjoys with her family: renovating old houses.

Including her own house, Johnson and her family have restored several homes in Kenly — among them, the oldest house in town, she said. They renovate these buildings while maintaining the original characteristics of the house.

That may be one of the more concrete examples of the impact Johnson has had on Kenly, but the positive differences she has made don’t end there.

Within Kenly — a town of around 1,300 people, according to 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data, where “you’re very familiar with your neighbors,” Johnson said — she has served on several different boards, including time as president of the Kenly Chamber of Commerce of Commerce and president of the Kenly Kiwanis Club.

She also helped spearhead efforts to bring the National Night Out program to Kenly, which took part in the national crime-prevention program for three years.

“You’re able to be a part of those types of groups and organizations,” she said of living in a small town. “And being able to make a difference in your community and in your town I think is a huge benefit of living in a small town.”

Johnson added: “And that goes back to redoing the homes in Kenly … just being able to take something in your community and make it better.”

But her difference-making goes far beyond North Carolina.

National Leadership

In beginning her role as NAAA president, one of her goals in this national leadership position is to maintain what’s been somewhat of a localized effort: that is, to continue visiting auctions across the country with NAAA, particularly those who haven’t been paid a visit by the association.

It is something Johnson has been doing for nearly two years with her NAAA leadership colleagues, first as vice president in 2012-2013 and then as president-elect this past year.

In fact, Johnson and 2013-2014 president Jack Neshe, along with NAAA chief executive officer Frank Hackett, visited Dealers Auto Auction of Alaska this spring.  She said it was the first time that NAAA leadership had stopped by the Anchorage auction.

“Steve and Kim (Sautner), the owners of that auction, were extremely proud to show their auction off, and they were very pleased that we would take the time to go and visit them,” Johnson said.  “And that has been the case at any location that I’ve been to over the last year-and-a-half … going to a location and letting that auction owner or manager of that facility introduce us to their employees or show us their facility, they certainly take pride in everything they work for each day.”

During this time traveling the country visiting auctions, Johnson has also noticed that some are in a “growth pattern,” she said. And this presents both challenges and opportunities.

“Companies are starting to use our recon facilities again, where back in ’08 and ’09, a lot of the recon facilities at any location — whether it be a chain or independent — that business certainly went down when companies were cutting back and trying to save money,” Johnson said.

“But were seeing now that they’re utilizing our facilities, and we’re trying to bring those back up to speed,” she said. “Even if you’re at a facility that doesn’t have those shops and avenues, we see some growth issues there, where they’re trying to make arrangements to be able to offer those services to the customers.”

However, she did emphasize that auctions have been seeing economic improvements over the last year. 

Looking into the coming year, Johnson would like to hone in on increasing safety awareness, which is something she has talked about recently with her colleagues in NAAA leadership.

Safety, she said, is at the forefront of importance at any location — whether that’s safety on sale day or even just during the week when the auction is moving cars.  Johnson said she aims to help NAAA member auctions emphasize that message to employees. 

In the coming years, NAAA will also be working with Cherokee Media Group, publishers of Auto Remarketing, as NAAA is combining its annual convention with Cherokee Media Group’s National Remarketing Conference beginning in the fall of 2016.

The combined meeting will be known as the National Remarketing Conference and National Auto Auction Association Convention and will be held each year during Cherokee Media Group’s Used Car Week.

Beginning in 2016, the event will be billed as the National Remarketing Conference/NAAA Convention. Used Car Week that year will be held at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

“We want continue to keep that line of communication open and make sure that event comes off very well. And we want to push to get good attendance at that event,” Johnson said. 

Editor's Note: This story appears in the print and digital editions of the Sept. 15 Auto Remarketing, our Special NAAA Convention Issue.