FRANKLIN, Tenn. -

Auction Academy, a continuing education program for auto auction professionals developed by TPC Management Company, had a busy third quarter.

The Academy’s Class Group 4 completed the seventh of eight quarterly sessions with a trip to Dallas, where members were hosted by America’s Auto Auction and its chief executive officer, Ben Lange, who led the group on a tour of America’s flagship auction there.

The group also visited the headquarters of Santander/Chrysler Capital, where Brent Huisman and his team gave a review of the remarketing program for the two companies’ portfolios.

Classroom sessions during the Dallas trip also included presentations by Michael Daseke of Liquid Motors; John Poteet, Ph.D, managing partner of Louisiana’s First Choice Auto Auction who discussed his Ph.D Dissertation, Who Owns Your Customer; and Steve Jordan, chief executive officer of NIADA, who discussed the role of trade associations and the impact that independent dealers have on the industry.

The session wrapped up with a tour of Union Pacific’s automotive facility near Dallas by ShipCarsNow.

 “I cannot express enough gratitude to the many industry executives who take their time to share their experience and expertise with our Academy groups all over the country,” said Pierre Pons, the chief executive officer of Auction Academy. “For instance, Ben Lange of America’s Auto Auction not only believes in the program enough to have two students in this Class Group, but also shares his own insights with the group and welcomes the class to his Dallas auction on sale day!”

The Class Group 4’s next and final meeting will be Nov. 15-18 during the NAAA/NRC conference as part of Used Car Week at the Red Rock Resort, Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. The event will mark the group’s graduation from Auction Academy.

Registration is now open for Class Group 5 of the two-year program, which will kick off its eight-session program in the spring.

New this year is Auction Academy’s One Day Seminar Series. In late September, Auction Academy held its Fleet/Lease Session in Franklin, Tenn., where 35 attendees from as many Independent Auctions around the country heard presentations and participated in discussions on various aspects of the commercial account business. 

Presenting and leading the discussions were Steve Leslie of Cherokee Media Group, Mike Antich of Bobit Business Media, Jeff Roberts of OVE, Brent Ramel of Smart Auction, Joe Miller of AutoIMS, Kevin Wilson of United Auto Recovery and Memphis Auto Auction, Dan Diedrich of Auction Edge and Terry Mollica of Metrogistics. 

The session began with a discussion of two case studies on compliance, led by Bob Sullivan of XLerate Auction Group and Joe Lemonds of Carolina Auto Auction.

The final Seminar Series of the year will take place Dec. 5-6 in Nashville and will feature a full-scale compliance session.

“In planning both our two-year program and the shorter focused Seminar Series, we continue to cover topics that are critical to the overall development of leaders in our industry and success of their auctions,” said Randall McCathren, chief operating officer of Auction Academy.

“The enthusiastic participation from all corners of the industry confirms that Auction Academy plays a critical role in the remarketing industry and has raised the bar for career education.”