In addition to several awards handed out by the National Auto Auction Association, Wheels, Inc. announced its 2013 NAAA Auction Awards on Wednesday.

The Auction Performance Awards from Wheels are as follows:

The Top Performing Auction Awards

Top Performing Auction
Presented to:
Manheim Harrisonburg
Recognition for the top performer in the Eastern Region for the 2013 year

Top Performing Auction
Presented to:
Manheim Dallas
Recognition for the top performer in the Western Region for the 2013 year

Top Performing Auction
Presented to:
Carolina Auto Auction
Recognition for the top performer in the Southeast Region for the 2013 year

Top Performing Auction
Presented to:
Manheim Milwaukee
Recognition for the top performer in the Central Region for the 2013 year

Highest Quality Auction Awards

Highest Quality Auction
Presented to:
Bel Air Auto Auction
Recognition for the highest quality in the Eastern Region for the 2013 year

Highest Quality Auction
Presented to:
Manheim Portland
Recognition for the highest quality in the Western Region for the 2013 year

Highest Quality Auction
Presented to:
Charleston Auto Auction
Recognition for the highest quality in the Southeast Region for the 2013 year

Highest Quality Auction
Presented to:
ADESA  Kansas City
Recognition for the highest quality in the Central Region for the 2013 year

NextGear Capital Recognizes Inaugural Auction Partner Award Winners

On Wednesday at the NAAA Convention, NextGear Capital presented its inaugural Auction Partners Awards, which recognize independently owned auctions for their dedication to and support of the industry.

NextGear presented an award for both a small and large market auction in each of the following two categories: The Operational Excellence Award and the Remarketing Excellence Award.

The Operational Excellence Award recognizes the auction that demonstrates excellent efficiency, top sales retention, overall operational performance and the most effective response to the needs of NextGear. Meanwhile, the Remarketing Excellence Award recognizes the auction that demonstrates the highest percentage of sales recovered based on percentage of valuation of each vehicle, the best throughput performance (number of days from when a vehicle is at the auction to days sold), and the best sales follow-up (efficient timing on getting proceeds of sales to NextGear Capital).

The winners were:

•    Operational Excellence Award – Small Market Auction: Long Beach Auto Auction, Long Beach, Miss.
•    Operational Excellence Award – Large Market Auction: Greater Milwaukee Auto Auction, Milwaukee
•    Remarketing Excellence Award – Small Market Auction: Dealers Auto Auction of the South, Horn Lake, Miss.
•    Remarketing Excellence Award – Large Market Auction: Akron Auto Auction, Akron, Ohio

“The auctions have always been the foundation of not only NextGear Capital, but our industry as well,” stated Brian Geitner, president of NextGear Capital, who led the awards presentation.

“We sincerely appreciate all they do, and it is their commitment that compelled us to create these awards.”

Bryan Morris, general manager of Long Beach Auto Auction, said: “We would be proud to receive such an award from any of our business partners. But it’s an exceptional honor to receive it from a company as operationally sound as NextGear Capital.”

NextGear said it will continue to present this award each year.

These winners recognized by Wheels and NextGear follow other auctions recognized earlier this year, when several companies in the remarketing business announced annual auction awards this winter.

Among those were Audi Financial Services, Credit Acceptance/VRS, Emkay, Fiserv, LeasePlan USA, LoanMart, OVE.com and Santander Consumer USA.

To see those winners, read our story here.

Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing e-newsletters in the coming days to see more auctions receiving annual honors.

NAAA Awards

At the Opening Luncheon on Wednesday at the NAAA Convention, the association honored the winners of its Bernie Hart Memorial Auctioneer of the Year Award, Marie Hingst Exhibitor of the Year Award and Industry Pioneer Award.

Starting off with the auctioneer honors, taking home this award was Jack Davis, whose career has spanned more than a half-century. After decades in the business, he still drives once a week from Madisonville, Ky., to Indianapolis to serve as an auctioneer.

“Jack Davis commands attention on the block, not only because he’s a tall man wearing a cowboy hat, but because he has a positive, upbeat personality, a great sense of humor and the ability to motivate anybody,” said Danny Hockett, the owner and general manager of Indianapolis Car Exchange.

“With his entertaining stories, two-million-dollar smile and charming southern drawl, Jack is a superstar who can just grab a crowd’s attention and mesmerize them,” added Hockett, who has known Davis since the mid-1960s.

Next up, NAAA recognized GigglePop.com president and owner George Heppe as its Marie Hingst Exhibitor of the Year.

Heppe founded GigglePop in 1996 with a focus on building mobile software for buyers at live auto auctions. Over the years, he “has been committed to getting the word out as an exhibitor that the days of pages of outdated printouts and incomplete vehicle history are a thing of the past,” NAAA noted.

“The technology his company has exhibited over the years at NAAA conventions has changed the face — and pace — of the remarketing industry,” the association added.

Lastly, NAAA announced that its Industry Pioneer Award has been given to Jack and Jacque Kesler, who own Kesler-Schaefer Auto Auction.

With this award, NAAA recognizes someone who has worked in the wholesale industry or for NAAA who has “innovated or enhanced methods of improving services to remarketers through NAAA member auctions; has championed NAAA member auctions as providing services for motor vehicle remarketers unavailable from any other source; and has consistently followed the ethical standards of the NAAA Code of Ethics.”

The auction was opened in 1943 by Ken Schaefer, Jacque’s father. When he passed away in 1950, Jacque and Jack jumped in to help his widow Eleanor run the business.

The Keslers would eventually take over running the auction in 1956, leading the growth of the business that is now celebrating its 70th anniversary. Their son Steve is now president and manages the auction, which sells more than 26,000 units a year.

“Even though we’ve witnessed tremendous changes in our industry over the years, we remain committed to a the basic principles of trust, integrity and exceptional customer service that were established by our founder Ken Schaefer, carried on by my parents and continue to this day,” Steve Kesler said.

Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.