Manheim will soon close out its 75^th anniversary year, and it is also celebrating the careers of what it says are several valued and long-standing company leaders.

“As we celebrate and reflect on our 75th anniversary, we will greatly miss these valued colleagues who contributed so much during their careers at Manheim,” Manheim president Grace Huang said in a news release.

Those five leaders, who Manheim describes as making leadership contributions that were pivotal to Manheim’s success, are Pete Sauber, Tony Markese, Butch Herdegen, Ellie Johnson and Tom Saldutte.

Sauber is vice president and general manager of Manheim New Jersey, and he will retire on Jan. 31 after an automotive industry career of more than 30 years.

Joining the company right out of college in 1985 as a management trainee, Sauber would go on to serve in roles of increasing responsibility before he became general manager of Manheim New Jersey in 1991. During his tenure there, the business showed a strong record of financial performance for the company’s third-largest location. Development and construction of the auction’s state-of-the-art 22-lane facility also took place during that time. 

Markese retired in September as vice president of reconditioning after 22 years with Manheim. He started with the company as controller at Manheim Orlando. Markese served as vice president, operational excellence in the early 2000s, helping to lead various large-scale change projects. One of those was a $400 million initiative to modernize Manheim’s front office, finance, lot operations and vehicle check-in. Manheim has promoted assistant vice president of reconditioning Paul Halsch to fill Markese’s role.

Herdegen, who was vice president and general manager of Manheim Orlando, retired this month following a career with the company of more than 30 years.

During that time, Manheim says Herdegen was an award-winning professional and strong performer in remarketing, operations and sales. The company said he was results-oriented as general manager of Manheim Orlando, growing the site to become Manheim’s second-largest location. He also oversaw a $4.8 million investment in an 80,000-square-foot body shop. The shop offers services to dealers, commercial consignors and vehicle mobility providers. Upon Herdegen’s retirement, Manheim promoted JD Daniels to vice president-general manager of the Manheim Orlando-Central Florida Market Center.

Johnson retired this month as general manager of Manheim Statesville, and she is a former NAAA president. Johnson has been part of the Manheim family since the age of 5, and she went on to work with her father at a Manheim location in Virginia. She then formally began her career in the front office of her father’s auction, which later became Manheim North Carolina, in 1986. She served as 2014-2015 NAAA president, and Manheim said she played a strong role in launching an industry-wide safety awareness and accident prevention initiative. Mandy Savage became general manager for Manheim Statesville in March.

After a 33-year career that included various general manager and assistant general manager positions, Saldutte retired this month as general manager of Manheim Minneapolis. Manheim described Saldutte as having a reputation as one of Manheim’s most effective mentors. He always focused on the development and growth of the company’s next generation of leaders, Manheim said. Butch Herdegen Jr. replaced Saldutte as general manager of the Minnesota Market Center.

Huang said of the retiring leaders, “Their ability to navigate and adapt to a changing industry, help clients achieve their goals and keep their teams motivated was invaluable to Manheim’s success over the years. We wish them all the best in their retirements.”