izmocars recently announced that former CDK Global sales director Dan Crowley has joined the company as a senior field sales consultant. He will oversee all sales and the business development partnerships for FrogData, the company’s data analytics platform.
In his new role, Crowley will specifically focus on growing and launching new offerings for FrogData, according to izmocars. The analytics platform delivers advanced reporting, business insights and predictive analytics to dealers.
“Dan has a wealth of knowledge in the automotive space and has seen firsthand how data can significantly impact the success of a dealership through his decades of work with CDK,” izmocars chief executive officer Tej Soni said in a news release. “Analytics are becoming essential as we enter the world of individualized marketing and Dan will be instrumental in the rapid adoption of our data solution.”
Prior to joining izmocars, Crowley spent 15 years as director of sales Northeast at CDK.
“It’s exciting to be on board with FrogData at this point in auto history because there is a wealth of information out there to keep managers ahead of the curve on everything from sales profits to customer retention, but there has been no easy way to access it. Until now,” Crowley said.
Crowley began his automotive career at Sonic Automotive’s flagship store Town and Country Ford in Charlotte, N.C. where he earned Ford’s 500 Master Sales Club Award within his first two years at the dealership.
Cars.com recently announced that it has appointed Jennifer Newman to serve as the site's new editor-in-chief.
Newman, who has been with the site for nine years serving in various roles on the editorial team, transitions from her role as Cars.com managing editor, according to the site.
"As an automotive industry veteran and long-time journalist, Jennifer is the perfect fit for this role," Cars.com's chief marketing officer Brooke Skinner Ricketts said in a news release. "As we put more resources than ever behind one of Cars.com's greatest assets, I can't think of a better leader to be heading up the next chapter in Cars.com's editorial history."
In her new role, Newman will lead efforts to expand and grow Cars.com content. The company said the editorial team under her leadership will be responsible for innovating how it will package and deliver content for consumers.
"I'm thrilled to be leading our talented and passionate team of over 20 writers, editors, reviewers and multimedia producers," Newman said. "The editorial content on Cars.com is one of the key reasons consumers visit our site, and our esteemed team of unbiased and trusted automotive experts write every review and piece of content with the goal of helping shoppers feel more confident and informed in their car purchase. I am eager to continue to deliver high-quality meaningful content to consumers in new and exciting ways."
Before joining Cars.com, Newman worked at the Chicago Sun-Times, Boston Herald and The Times of Northwest Indiana. She received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
As American Recovery Service (ARS) and Digital Recognition Network (DRN) highlighted the fruits of its ongoing partnership, DigitalDog Auto Recovery recently announced Jason Stephens has rejoined the California repossession, locksmithing and transportation firm to further develop their growing footprint in the California repossession market, as well as exploring growth into other states.
Stephens comes with a wealth of experience, having spent more than 20 years in daily management of repossession services companies.
Stephens began his career in 1996 as a field agent. Four years later, while working for DigitalDog Auto Recovery, he doubled the company’s service area to four branch offices.
In 2004, Stephens founded Extreme Auto Recovery. Over the next six years, he built Extreme Auto Recovery to service the entire state of California, as well as offices in Washington, Oregon and Arizona. In 2010, with a growing family, and a changing industry landscape, Stephens successfully sold Extreme Auto Recovery, being one of the largest purchases of a privately held repossession firm of the time period.
Stephens rejoins DigitalDog Auto Recovery as vice president of business development, continuing the expansion of DigitalDog’s success in providing repossession, locksmithing and transportation services to many of the nation’s top automotive finance companies.
“I am excited to rejoin DigitalDog Auto Recovery starting a new challenge and look forward to working with the team to further develop their already existing culture of excellence in a challenging and changing market,” Stephens said.
DigitalDog executive vice president James McNeil noted, “This is the perfect time for Jason Stephens to join DigitalDog as vice president of business development. We’ve selected a very strong leader at a time when DigitalDog is in a very strong position.
“Today’s pace of change is exponential. Every agency, lender and forwarder is becoming digital, navigating a disrupted marketplace with rapidly changing fee structures and clients seeking safe harbor from both oversight and litigation risks. We have been preparing for this moment for well over five years. DigitalDog’s role in this industry wide transformation has never been more important,” McNeil continued.
“Our executive team recognizes the needs to lean in and thrive in a highly dynamic environment with the goal of accelerating what is working very well for DigitalDog, and disrupting what needs to change,” McNeil went on to say. Jason is unique in his ability to translate vision and strategy into world-class execution. DigitalDog plans to enter our next chapter, which I am confident will be even more impactful and exciting than our last with the help of Jason’s leadership.”
DigitalDog Auto Recovery president Michael Eusebio also offered his perspective on what Stephens rejoining the company means.
“Jason’s experience and industry knowledge makes him a key addition to the DigitalDog family. We view his appointment as a sign of our commitment to being a leader in this industry,” Eusebio said.
“In this new compliance era, coupled with the increasing demand from our clients to keep repossession services cost efficient, led us to look for an addition to our team who will complement our ethos of innovation and exceptional service,” he continued. “We are very fortunate to bring Jason back to fulfill this new role.
“I am confident Jason will play key roles in developing new business opportunities for our company, while maintaining our mission statement of providing the highest quality of service to our clients,” Eusebio added.
DRN and ARS deliver record-breaking results
In other industry news, American Recovery Service (ARS) and Digital Recognition Network (DRN) highlighted the partnership between the companies has resulted in nearly 250,000 in recoveries, returning billions in asset value for auto finance customers over the last eight years.
Officials calculated these recoveries — many of which would not have been found through traditional means — contributed to a 7 percent to 10 percent lift over traditional recovery methods when combined with ARS’ 24/7 dispatch center and investigative resources.
The partnership began in 2009 when DRN and ARS joined forces on the recovery solution for a dispatch center pilot program.
“It quickly became apparent that together, we would deliver tremendous value to our auto finance customers, as well as the affiliate agents recovering the vehicles. We attribute much of our LPR growth from a small dispatch operation to a major state-of-the-art center that impacts tens of millions of dollars in asset value, to our synergies with DRN and the value of the vehicle location data they provide,” said Dave Copeland, chief operating officer at ARS.
“Operating 24/7/365 and performing at the highest standards to produce quality results, ARS leads the industry in innovation and commitment to excellence,” continued Copeland, who added that this program has resulted in considerable efficiency gains for auto lenders utilizing the technology with a highly compliance-oriented mindset.
Offering DRN’s perspective on the success was Jeremiah Wheeler, the company’s vice president of financial services.
“ARS has grown to control a substantial amount of the live pick-up market share fueled by our data, the same data that revolutionized the recovery industry and has returned over $5 billion in asset value back to lenders,” Wheeler said. “Working together with the award-winning team at ARS, we look forward to many more years of partnership, innovation and value creation for our customers.”
Manheim recently announced it has promoted Dave Rathjens of Manheim Lakeland, Greg Milam of Manheim Seattle and Martin Sandoval of Manheim Central California to general manager roles.
“Manheim has a strong track record of developing our team members into leaders, and we’re fortunate to have these pros as new general managers,” Julie Picard, regional vice president of National West at Manheim, said in a news release. “Dave, Greg and Martin have shown a deep commitment to serving our clients, and we are confident that they will enhance the ways their locations help our clients become more profitable.”
Dave Rathjens of Manheim Lakeland most recently served as assistant general manager at Manheim Tampa.
In 1999, Rathjens began his career at Manheim as an inspections manager, and in addition to Manheim Tampa, he has since held a variety roles at Manheim Ohio and Manheim Kansas City. His past roles include vehicle entry manager, body shop manager, repo/lease manager, recon manager and operations manager.
Before joining Manheim, Rathjens served 10 years in the U.S. Army. For most of his tenure, he worked as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Rathjens attended Drake and Ashford Universities where he graduated with a bachelor of arts in organizational management.
Greg Milam of Manheim Seattle has held several Cox Automotive leadership positions over the past 18 years.
Milam most recently served as the director of Mobile Auction Sales and Operations. At Cox Automotive, Milam started working in finance and has since held several roles within the organization. He has served as district manager for Dent Wizard, project manager for Manheim China, director for Manheim Exporttrader.com and assistant general manager for Manheim Atlanta.
Milam attended Auburn University, where earned both his bachelor of science degree in business administration and MBA.
Martin Sandoval of Manheim Central California joined Cox Automotive in 2013. He most recently served as a regional account executive for NextGear Capital.
Before NextGear Capital, Sandoval was vice president of operations and director of auto finance at Zinc Financial.
Sandoval earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He is currently pursuing a doctorate of business administration from California Southern University.
“Their significant automotive experience, leadership skills and knowledge will be of great value to our clients and team members,” added Tim Janego, regional vice president of Local East at Manheim. “We’re looking forward to the results they will drive at their locations.”
With the intention of broadening its client roster beyond the 16 already in its portfolio, Auction Management Solutions (AMS) announced on Monday that Jamye Carpenter has joined its team as vice president of business development.
AMS highlighted that Carpenter has more than 18 years of experience in the auto auction industry, with positions ranging from customer service to senior vice president.
Carpenter started her career in 1999 with AutoCheck as a customer service representative and eventually became the director of business development. She was responsible for growth in both the insurance and auction industry business that included creative ideas and building an ever-widening network of industry connections. Carpenter also managed the Red Mountain Technologies Client Services team, serving many of the largest property and casualty insurers in the country, while continuing to sell and develop new products for the auction and insurance clients she served.
“We are very excited to have Jamye join our team. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to AMS and those qualities will benefit our partners tremendously,” AMS president Tom Stewart said.
“Jamye will be working closely with our auction partners on the business development projects that we currently have in place, as well as help to expand our existing client base,” Stewart continued.
Carpenter also serves on the National Auto Auction Association Convention Planning Committee, the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance Standards Committee, and has been active with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
AMS was started by Stewart and Richard Curtis to provide consulting and recruiting services to the automotive industry that includes independent auto auctions, service providers and vendors.
The focus of AMS is to provide strategic business development services, with an emphasis on business processes and profitability that aid in the growth and success of client/partner businesses.
Currently the AMS auction network has grown to 16 independent auctions across the United States and includes:
—Oklahoma Auto Exchange
—Columbus Fair Auto Auction
—Greater Quad City Auto Auction
—Rochester Syracuse Auto Auction
—Greater Erie Auto Auction
—DAA Chattanooga
—DAA Murfreesboro
—DAA Memphis
—DAA Huntsville
—DAA Mobile
—Southeastern Auto Auction
—Dealers Auto Auction of Idaho
—166 Auto Auction
—All Valley Dealers Auction
—Central Auto Auction
For more information, visit www.auctionmgt.com.
Manheim recently announced that it has named Peter Grupposo vice president of dealer sales and selected Holly Capps to fill Grupposo’s former role as vice president of inventory solutions commercial and wholesale sales.
Both Grupposo and Capps will report to Manheim senior vice president of sales Tim McKinley and assume their new roles on June 1.
Grupposo most recently served as Manheim’s vice president of inventory solutions commercial and wholesale sales and has held other leadership roles within Manheim’s sales organization since 2014.
In 2013, before joining Manheim, Grupposo was vice president of operations and business development for NextGear Capital, where he designed and implemented the sales structure for both field sales and inside sales functions.
“Pete’s thought leadership and deep industry experience, coupled with his keen ability to assess industry trends and market dynamics, make him the ideal choice to lead our Dealer Sales team,” McKinley said in a news release. “I know he will bring a fresh approach and tremendous passion to continue driving sales while ensuring growth and continued success for our dealer clients.”
In his new position, Grupposo will lead a team of client executives responsible for developing and managing inventory solutions for dealer clients.
Coming from Cox Media, Capps most recently served as group vice president for the advertising division of Cox Communications, where she was responsible for leadership and development of sales strategies.
“Holly’s a proven leader with in-depth knowledge of the industry’s changing market conditions as well as the demands facing dealers and manufacturers today,” McKinley said. “I’m confident that she will continue to evolve our sales strategies to further help our commercial clients thrive in today’s marketplace.”
Throughout her 20-year career spent developing media solutions, Manheim said Capps has worked closely with Cox Media’s automotive dealer and manufacturer clients.
In her new role as Manheim's vice president of inventory solutions commercial and wholesale sales, Capps has been tasked with overseeing a team tasked with maintaining and exploring new revenue and market share growth opportunities for the company's commercial clients.
On Monday, LotLinx announced that it named a senior vice president of channel strategy to lead major initiatives aimed at expanding the company’s presence in the car dealer market.
Chosen for the newly created position is Mark Conner, who most recently managed a team of 60 marketers for Lithia Motors.
“Under Mark's long and skillful leadership as assistant vice president of marketing, Lithia grew to be the highest performing publicly traded dealership group in the U.S.,” LotLinx founder Len Short said in a news release.
“I am confident Mark will be a tremendous asset toward the growth of our award-winning product suite of technologies. He is an auto marketing maven, bringing a deep knowledge and passion for the retail car business that will add significantly to our ‘dealer-first’ operating mission.”
At Lithia Motors, Conner’s leadership significantly influenced the group’s marketing approach, and he played an integral role in doubling its store footprint over the past seven years, LotLinx said.
In his new role, Conner has been tasked with leading all of LotLinx’s efforts to serve larger dealer groups.
LotLinx said Conner brings expertise in understanding how to scale best practices across a multi-rooftop dealer group, as well as an in-depth understanding of how car dealers drive ROI.
Hourglass Management Corporation (HMC) recently announced that its chief executive officer, Ron Shoemaker, will transition to board chairman.
His son, Chad Shoemaker, who joined the company in 2009 and has served as president since 2011, will assume the role of chief executive officer.
“It is a great pleasure that we announce the promotion of Chad to CEO of our companies. For the past 8 years Chad has embraced our business models and added tremendous value to our company’s visions. His attention to detail is second to none and we are all very excited to continue our journey with Chad as CEO,” Ron Shoemaker said in a news release.
As chairman, Shoemaker will still be active in all of the businesses. HMC said he will mostly be working on a new non-profit venture, the Hourglass Foundation, which he co-founded with his son.
According to HMC, the Hourglass Foundation aims to serve at the local and individual levels by working with grassroots organizations to help them reach their goals and fill immediate needs.
“The foundation supports those who have experienced life-altering or traumatic events in their lives,” Shoemaker said.
“Our passion is to mentor and strengthen individuals by providing opportunities and a support network for life advancement. To achieve our mission of ‘Lifting others, one person at a time,' we support nonprofit organizations that provide educational, financial and spiritual renewal to those in need at the individual level.”
The work the foundation has already done includes donating a Dodge mini-van to a center for at-risk middle school and high school girls in Pensacola, Fla.
HMC said “the van provides safe transportation to events for these young women and allows them to participate in activities that were not accessible previously.”
Funding for the foundation is in part supported by vehicle donations from companies and individuals.
Additionally, HMC announced that Janet Smail will serve as the foundation’s executive director. She brings over 17 years of experience, having held a variety of management roles at Flexco.
“Janet is well-positioned to advance the Foundation’s agenda and professionally handle any of the challenges that lie ahead,” HMC added.
For more details about The Hourglass Foundation visit, thehourglassfoundation.org.
Millennium Capital and Recovery Corp. recently named Robert Burleson as the company’s California operations manager.
Burleson will head up Millennium’s California operations, including service to existing clients and other consumer lenders, as well as agent relations, and expertise in Millennium’s powersports and specialty recovery segment of its business.
Burleson was operator of Chino, Calif.-based U.S. Recovery Service since 1984. Working alongside his father, Walter Burleson, who owned U.S. Recovery Service, his 30 years of direct experience in the industry in the California market uniquely positions him well to serve as Millennium’s new West Coast operations manager and business liaison.
Burleson is a repossession agency qualified manager (QM) issued by the State of California’s Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, and was a longtime member of the California Association of Licensed Repossessors (CALR) where he served as treasurer and director on the board at various time, and is a recipient of The President’s Award from that organization.
Millennium Capital and Recovery president Jayne Bronchetti said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Robert Burleson to the Millennium team. His direct experience in the California recovery industry is immense and we are thrilled he will be managing our operation there.”
Bronchetti continued, “Taking the step to establish a California operation is exactly the type of proactive and strategic thinking our client partners and those with whom we are in the process of onboarding with are looking for from their preferred providers. Auto captives and other Top 20 lenders’ expectations are high and our commitment is to meet and exceed those expectations.”
Millennium explained its strategic decision to establish an operation in California is the direct result of the company’s proactive assessment of future client expectations for providers covering the California market, and its best in class service and compliance leadership.
With California representing a disproportionately high number of auto loan originations and auto debt balances, executives believe the company’s California move positions it at the forefront of industry developments.
Millennium Capital and Recovery Corporation serves all 50 states, Canada and Mexico and its California repossession agency license is available upon request.
For more information, contact Jeffrey Marsh by phone at (216) 930-4453 or email at [email protected].
On Monday, Element Fleet Management Corp. announced several recent changes to its North American senior leadership team.
They include the retirement of Tom Keilty, who served the company for over 20 years, along with new and expanded leadership roles in operations, fleet partnership solutions and strategic consulting.
“These are skilled leaders who are focused on our customers and advancing the customer experience. This is an important time in Element’s journey and I am extremely pleased with each of these appointments,” Element North America president and chief executive officer Kristi Webb said in a news release.
“First, I want to thank Tom Keilty for his many contributions to our business. Tom has played an invaluable role in bringing together our operations teams, and providing his expertise, guidance and customer focus to the Element leadership team.”
Filling Keilty’s former senior vice president of operations role is Ken Johnson, who most recently led Element’s fleet partnership solution.
Johnson brings in-depth knowledge and understanding in the areas of Six Sigma, sales and the customer experience to the operations team, according to Element.
Chosen to take on Johnson’s former role as leader of fleet partnership solutions is Joe Cuccia.
Element said Cuccia has been vital to its operations and will bring his extensive operations knowledge and finance background to the company’s fleet management team.
Meanwhile, the fleet-management company named Mary Sticha senior vice president of operational excellence. She most recently served as senior vice president of integration.
As the company shifts from integration to innovation, Element said in her new role; Sticha will continue to assist customers and the company’s team by sharing her comprehensive understanding of fleet management.
Additionally, Tom Peterson, managing director of the Midwest region, will now lead Element’s strategic consulting team in conjunction with the responsibilities of his current role.
Element said Peterson’s sales and account leadership will strengthen the company's strategic consulting team.
