Greg Mahugh has played an important role in many auction industry programs, and he has been “a quiet force behind the scenes” in serving the National Auto Auction Association’s legislative and political action committees, said NAAA president Chad Bailey.

“And although he’s retired from the McConkey Auction Group’s day-to-day operations, Greg continues to serve on NAAA committees and can be found auctioneering during DAA Northwest’s monthly promotional event sales,” Bailey said in a news release.

Because of that and other work, NAAA has named Mahugh a Warren Young Fellow. Mahugh is retired senior vice president of operations for the McConkey group.

Bailey presented the honor to Mahugh during the Spokane, Wash., auction’s 24th Annual Rock & Roll Sale in July.

Mahugh is now part of an exclusive group of 113 individuals with the lifetime distinction of being named a Fellow. He received a gold medallion and a framed commemorative certificate.

His name will be engraved on a plaque of esteemed Fellows at NAAA headquarters.

His wholesale auto auction career began in 1978 at the McConkey family’s South Seattle Auto Auction. He held various positions there before becoming general manager in 1986 for the auction's new owner, GE Capital.

Mahugh served in that position under later Manheim ownership until 1992. At that time, he and his friend and former auction colleague Bob McConkey, Jr. founded an auction in Spokane that would become DAA Northwest.

Partnering again with McConkey in 2011, Mahugh was co-owner of El Paso Independent Auto Auction. They sold that auction in 2016. In the spring of 2013, they launched DAA Seattle. Those auctions, along with KCI Kansas City in Missouri, comprise the McConkey Auction Group, and Mahugh served as senior vice president of operations of that group.

He also has a musical presence in the industry. Mahugh is a member of The Cronkites, a rock band in the Pacific Northwest since 1991. The band has opened for such national acts as Chicago, Pat Benatar, The Doobie Brothers, Heart, Huey Lewis & The News, Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd and additional musicians who headline DAA Northwest’s two-day “Rock & Roll Sale” annual event.

NAAA represents about 350 wholesale auto auctions and more than 130 associate members. The association bestowed the award with a $2,500 donation in Mahugh’s name to NAAA’s nonprofit Warren Young, Sr., Scholastic Foundation. A Fellow is a donor at that level, or in whose honor or memory a contribution is made in that amount, to support the scholarship organization.

Manheim New England's truck event

In other auction news, Families from North Dighton, Mass. and surrounding communities saw fire trucks, police cars, and other public safety and construction vehicles at Manheim New England’s third annual “Touch-A-Truck Event” on Saturday.  

With more than 2,000 people in attendance, this year’s event featured vehicles from state and local police and fire departments, and heavy equipment and antique vehicles from G. Lopes Construction. The event was educational in other ways, showing attendees how to escape from a burning building and how electrical power gets to a home. Children put out a "pretend" fire using a small fire hose.

“Touch-A-Truck has snowballed over the past three years. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser in town,” Manheim New England general manager Maxine Mane said in a news release. The company hosted the event at its 250-acre wholesale auto auction in North Dighton and provided employee volunteers and restroom facilities. This year, the company donated $5,000 to the Dighton Firemen’s Association.

This year’s Touch-A-Truck Event raised funds for two children born with congenital heart defects who are related to local firefighters. Taunton firefighter Jon Silva’s 2-year-old son has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. His son has undergone two surgeries to reroute his heart function, with a third surgery planned later this year.

Also, Taunton Firefighter Roberto Gonzalez’s 8-month-old nephew was diagnosed with Critical Aortic Stenosis within minutes of his birth. He has undergone two open heart surgeries and as he grows, he will require future heart valve surgeries.

Both children need a great deal of medical care requiring their families to travel to Boston Children’s Hospital for treatment, according to Manheim.

“My department and I look forward to this community event every year. It’s awesome to see the smiles on the kids’ faces as they get to go in and out of the equipment,” Dighton Fire Chief/EMD Christopher Maguy said. “We appreciate having Manheim New England collaborate with us every year. Without their support, this event would not run as smoothly as it does.” 

The annual “Touch-A-Truck Event” is one example of Manheim New England’s 18-year partnership with North Dighton’s public service agencies. Other examples:

— Hosting new fire department recruits twice a year, familiarizing them with the auction property and facilities.
— Coordinating with the fire department on annual and new building inspections.
— Providing use of the property’s vehicle lot for regional police departments to conduct vehicle safety training and testing for their officers.
— Offering free parking and shuttle service to the annual Dighton Arts Festival each November.

Manheim New England also supports Make-A-Wish Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research, The American Red Cross, Homes for Our Troops and The Jimmy Fund. 

Akron upgrades photo booth facility

In other auction news, Akron Auto Auction added Black Widow Imaging to its photo booth facility. Black Widow is equipped with Auto Scan technology and six high-resolution photo capture points, allowing each AAA vehicle to be completely photographed from start to finish in under 5 seconds. According to Akron Auto Auction, that improves picture quality and efficiency.

“The time-consuming process of gathering photos of over 1,000-plus vehicles a week has been an area we have been looking to improve." says registration and photo manager Kalee Robinson. "With Black Widow, we expect to not only drastically cut down the amount of man hours required for picture-taking out on the lot, but it will also enable us to take more consistent, higher quality photos each time that will greatly benefit both buyers and sellers on sale day."

In addition to exterior imaging, Black Widow will also provide AAA online buyers with a complete 360-degree interior view of every vehicle that will be running through the lanes.

Akron Auto Auction said that with the installation and integration already completed, it plans to begin its new era of vehicle imaging in late September.