Automotive News F&I Week

Carl Bennett, Director of North American Consulting Operations, leads the highly-respected Reynolds Consulting Services team averaging over 30 years combined retail and consulting experience. Carl oversees consulting operations, working with dealerships across the U.S. and Canada, providing expertise and coaching on F&I, Sales, CRM, outsourced Call Center services, and BDC process improvements. In addition to more than 12 years with Reynolds, Carl worked in dealerships for 15 years as a General Manager, Finance Director, and Sales Manager where he practiced what he now teaches, running 85% finance penetration and 70% extended service contract penetration as an F&I Director.

Steven Bethke is the marketing manager at Parkway Volvo Subaru Hyundai in Wilmington, N.C.
He worked his way up at Parkway, beginning his freshman year at University of North Carolina - Wilmington by taking out the trash in the detail department. Before long, he was assigned to maintain the dealership's web presence and oversee all marketing and advertising activities.
Now, just seven years later, Steven has led the restructuring of the internet sales department and implemented Parkway's very first semblance of a sales Business Development Center.

Steven's presentation will focus on how Parkway recognized the need to change its ways, and how by stepping out of the box they stepped into three consecutive record-breaking years.

George Angus has been referred to as the "Father of F&I Menus" in various trade publications for his ground breaking work in introducing F&I Menu processes nationwide in the early 1990's.

As well as being one of the industry's most productive trainers, George's direct, hard hitting, and sometimes hilarious presentation of research, testing, program development and reality has become the favorite of automobile industry.

George's background includes 17 years in retail automotive management positions. He left retail in 1994 and was part of the development team that created and popularized F&I Menus in the early '90's. Since then, George has trained thousands of F&I managers and his popular "Saturday Morning Messages to F&I Masters™" has over 10,000 subscribers.

You may have seen his articles in F&I Management and Technology magazine or seen him quoted in Automotive News and other trade publications. He is a recognized authority on F&I process development. He is a consultant to the leading F&I product corporations as well as automobile manufacturers. He was educated at Davenport College, University of Michigan and numerous industry trade schools. He now heads the Team One Group.

Strati Papageorge is a senior director in DealerTrack's Sales/F&I solution group, with responsibility for customer acquisition and retention, market share growth, and product strategy. Prior to joining DealerTrack in 2003, he held various management positions at Bridge Information Systems and Brown Brothers Harriman. Papageorge holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Gabe Garroni, Area Sales Manager with Ally Auto, has a wealth of experience in the automotive industry as a finance manager, insurance executive, sales trainer and sales manager. Garroni joined Ally Insurance in August 2011. He is responsible for leading Ally's F&I and Property and Casualty sales efforts in the North Texas/Oklahoma/New Mexico Region and delivering superior income development services to the new car dealer market. Prior to joining Ally, Garroni was the Regional F&I Manager in California with Zurich North America (Universal Underwriters) where he oversaw marketing, dealership income development, and reinsurance for retail auto dealers.

With more than 12 years of F&I experience, Garroni began his automotive career in 1999 as a salesperson at Autowest Honda in Roseville California where he quickly became a finance manager. Garroni studied government at California State University Sacramento where he was president of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Julie Becker-Myers is the Director of Automotive Systems Technology at Northwood University. Julie started her career in the automotive industry after graduating from Northwood University with a BBA in Marketing and Management. She joined The Reynolds and Reynolds Company as a Customer Training Consultant of the Charlotte, NC region, specializing in the front end of dealerships. Traveling and training on the ERA system Julie was able to expand her knowledge of the automotive industry while furthering others education on the system. Her responsibilities included delivering a variety of dealership software application programs to dealerships of various sizes, troubleshoot various situations throughout the entire dealership, facilitate weekly meetings to review training process and progress, and initiate follow-up visits to dealerships to ensure customer satisfaction.

Julie then left The Reynolds and Reynolds Company for the Fuccillo Automotive Group of Adams, NY. She served as the System Administrator for the entire automotive group from New York to Nevada. During her time with the group Julie was responsible for providing daily support and training to all 500+ employees, troubleshoot all aspects of the computer system, maintain computer security, organize and coordinate the creation of all new stores and applications and inventory and maintenance control on all computer equipment.

In 2001, Julie had the opportunity to return to her alma mature, Northwood University, in her current role where she is responsible for the development and implementation of all automotive technology classes for all three campuses. She serves as the university's Reynolds and Reynolds liaison, is responsible for all technical support for the system, creates all automotive technology course materials, and performs training for course instructors as it relates to automotive technology. In addition, Julie serves as an Adjunct Faculty member for the Mathematics Department and Automotive Marketing Departments. Her teaching responsibilities include classes such as, Dealership Finance & Insurance, Dealership Accounting and Introductory Algebra.

Julie is also very active with several organizations throughout the industry. She is an expert woman on Askpatty.com, a website for automotive advice for women. She is member and the scholarship committee chairperson for the Women's Car Care Council, a member of the scholarship committee for the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) and a member of the SEMA Businesswomen's Network. In addition, Julie has completed her Association of Finance & Insurance Professional (AFIP) certification.

While working full-time at Northwood she also received a Master's of Science Administration from Central Michigan University with a concentration in Leadership. She resides in Midland, MI, with her husband Rob and sons Bailey & Landon.

Since 2009, Mike Hanks has been the General Manager of Bob Hall Dealsership Group in Yakima, Washington. With over 25 years of experience in multiple aspects of dealership management, Hanks will explain how the industry collapse of 2009 prompted his group's Honda, Chevrolet and Mazda stores to rethink the way they did business. As part of that, the stores overhauled the handoff between sales and F&I. As a result of that and other changes, the group cut costs, created happier customers and won a significant factory award.

Ted Mixon became “hooked” on the auto business in 1982, when he sold 18 cars in his first month as a Chrysler salesman. Over the past 25 years, he has been a sales manager, leasing manager and finance manager. He joined Ourisman Ford & Lincoln a decade ago.

Mixon is an Augusta, Ga., native who moved to the Washington, D.C., area at the age of 10. He holds a degree from the University of Georgia. Among the professional trainers who have influenced him: Zig Ziglar, Jackie Cooper, Brian Tracy and Grant Cardone.

Kelly O'Neill has been in the retail automotive industry the past 22 years. She started off selling cars, and since that time has done every position from team leader to General Sales Manager, including Finance Manager and Finance Director. She has received finance training from Easy Care, JM&A, various workshops, and is certified thru the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals. She remains a student of the game in the automotive industry in sales and finance. She currently manages the Finance Department at Infiniti of Honolulu.

Michael A. Benoit is a partner in the Washington DC office of Hudson Cook, LLP. He advises banks, sales finance companies, auto leasing companies, mortgage lenders, auto dealers, and other creditors and technology providers on a wide range of consumer financial services law, including the Truth In Lending Act and Regulation Z, the Consumer Leasing Act and Regulation M, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the USA Patriot Act.

Carole Reynolds is Senior Attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, Division of Financial Practices. She has led the agency's auto initiatives including, among other things, the auto roundtables in 2011. She is active in enforcement and policy areas of vehicle finance and leasing, retail credit, payment systems and electronic banking, and other financial services fields. She conducts compliance workshops and addresses domestic and international organizations. She is the recipient of the FTC's Paul Rand Dixon Award for Consumer Protection, and Meritorious Service Awards. She is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia Bars and holds J.D., M.A. and B.A. degrees.

Vincent Santivasi is the Vice President and General Manager for the Mid Atlantic Division of Zurich's Direct Markets business unit. Prior to assuming this role in February 2010, he served as Regional Finance and Insurance Manager in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Santivasi began his career with Zurich in 2003, and has held a variety of positions in Finance & Insurance Sales. He held numerous positions during a long career in the retail automotive business before joining Zurich.

Bill has been the President of Reedman-Toll Auto World since the dealership was purchased in June of 2004. Originally a lawyer, Bill was a Criminal Prosecutor for the District Attorney's office in New York City for five years and was a Special Inspector General for the New York State court system before coming to Reedman-Toll. Bill’s wife, Michelle, is an attorney at Deutsche Bank and they have two young daughters who keep them busy.

Bill has managed the day to day operations at Reedman Toll since 2004 and has turned the dealership into a profitable and progressive operation. For the past 8 years, Reedman Toll has sold the most Chevrolet & Chrysler Dodge Jeep vehicles in Pennsylvania. Under Bill’s tutelage the dealership has added 3 franchises, has had a complete facelift of its 123 acres and has undergone a complete culture change of its over 300 employees, and a complete revitalization of Sales, Service and the Customer Experience. Bill’s driving force and vision will keep Reedman Toll reaching for and attaining higher levels of excellence for many years to come.

Recently Bill and his wife opened their own Chevrolet dealership, Spencer Chevrolet, in Springfield, PA, named after their youngest daughter Spencer. Bill is utilizing his experience with Reedman Toll and laying the foundation for success at Spencer.

Bill has served as President of the Chevrolet Philadelphia LMA for the last 3 years, and is also an active member of the Young Presidents Organization of NYC. Bill has also served on the board of St Mary’s Medical Center, which is the largest hospital in the county, for the last 4 years. Bill has sponsored and presented awards for police officers and fire fighters acts of courage at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia for the past 6 years.

Bill graduated from Villanova Law School and the University of Pennsylvania, and was admitted into the New York, Connecticut and Maryland bars. Bill taught the Kaplan preparation course for the GMAT, has authored several short stories, and completed the New York Marathon in 3:24:00.

At home, Bill enjoys his family, coaching both daughter’s basketball teams and family breakfasts of chocolate chip pancakes. Bill has traveled extensively in the United States and Europe and also enjoys reading, golfing, basketball, tennis and lacrosse.

Bill’s goal is to own 10 Dealerships within the next 10 years.

Jim Maxim Jr. is co-founder and President of MaximTrak Technologies and is responsible for overall company operations. Mr. Maxim remains deeply involved in product design & development and is the primary executive leading the future growth of MaximTrak into new territories globally.

Prior to starting-up MaximTrak, Mr. Maxim served at General Electric in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at GE Aircraft Engines, a $12 Billion Division. Jim focused most of his efforts towards leading acquisitions and divestitures geared toward building GE's position in Avionics and Aeronautical Electronics.

Prior to joining GE, Mr. Maxim spent several years with Lucent Technologies in the Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions group and was responsible for managing acquisitions, spin-offs and divestitures at the peak of the dot com era geared at redefining the global communications equipment manufacturer. Prior to joining the Lucent M&A Team, Mr. Maxim held many positions at Lucent and started off his career in the Company's premier Financial Leadership Development Program where he was stationed in assignments around the world.

Mr. Maxim earned his MBA from Babson College, Olin School of Business and holds a B.S. in Finance from Ithaca College. Jim Maxim lives in Wayne, PA with his wife and two children.

Gil Van Over is the President and Founder of gvo3 & Associates, specializing in developing and implementing compliance strategies within the F&I and Sales departments of automobile dealerships.

Prior to forming gvo3 & Associates, Gil was the Chief Operating Officer for Premier Auto Finance, a management company that managed auto finance portfolios for auto dealerships. He has over twenty-five years experience working with automobile dealerships in the consumer and auto financing industry.

Gil is a founding member of DealerTrack's Compliance Advisory Council which lends its expertise in areas such as new laws and regulations, current dealership practices, activity by state and national associations, relevant new case law, and compliance-related products and services.

Gil was honored as a member of F&I Management and Technology Magazine's "2004 Who's Who in F&I". His industry certifications include the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals and the Institute For Ethical Behavior.

Gil holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management from the University of Redlands. In addition to his consulting and expert witness duties, Gil speaks and writes about issues surrounding today's F&I department.

Edward Lapham was named executive editor of Automotive News on Sept. 1, 2003.

Lapham previously served as editor and managing editor of Automotive News and ran the publication's news operations for 10 years. He joined Automotive News in January 1977 as the publication's first financial editor. Since then he has held several positions with the newspaper.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wayne State University in 1971 and was a Herbert J. Davenport fellow in business and economics reporting at the University of Missouri in 1976. He has taught investigative reporting as a part-time Journalism instructor at Wayne State.

Lapham is a founding board member of the Automotive Press Association, an original juror for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards and a member of the Advisory Board for the MBA and Master of Management programs at Walsh College.

Dave Versical is editor of Automotive News Online. In that role, he oversees autonews.com's 24/7 news coverage, two daily Automotive News TV newscasts, online seminars and newsletters including the weekly Finance & Insurance Report. He returned to Automotive News in 2008 after leading Bloomberg News' coverage of the U.S. auto and airline industries for four years. He originally joined Automotive News as a reporter in 1986 and has also been the paper's national editor and managing editor. He wrote the annual article on the automotive industry for the Collier's Encyclopedia Year Book from 1991 through 1998.

David N. Robertson is the executive director of the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals, an organization he co-founded in 1989 to support the in-dealership F&I process. AFIP's primary member benefit is the NADA- and NIADA-recommended AFIP Certification Program (a continuing education program addressing federal regulations and ethical practices).

As an advocate for F&I-related issues, Mr. Robertson works as an expert witness and industry consultant. He is widely published and frequently quoted in the trade and popular press. He has appeared on 20/20 and MSNBC, and has been a guest on a number of radio programs.

As the Director of Sales for the CRIF Select Division of CRIF Lending Solutions, Trina Larson is an expert on indirect lending and how lenders and auto dealers can best work together to maximize their indirect lending success. With her 20 plus years in sales and account management, Trina focuses on ensuring that she and her team are offering high quality products and services that meet the evolving needs of lenders and dealers. Her background also includes experience as a trainer, and she has been a speaker at the Alpha One National Meeting, the Teres User Conference and the CRIF Lending Solutions Forum.

As the Director of Account Management for the CRIF Select Division of CRIF Lending Solutions, Jeremy Engbrecht helps bring auto dealers and lenders together in successful indirect lending partnerships. His main focus is consulting with credit unions on how to be competitive in today's marketplace, and educating dealers on the value that credit unions can bring to the table. With over 16 years of auto industry experience - including fleet management, rental, auto auctions, retail and indirect lending - Jeremy is an expert in understanding the needs and concerns of dealers, and the anatomy of the industry as a whole.

David started SMART Payment Plan in 2003 after practicing law and founding a financial services company that helped attorneys and their clients. David's focus is on making people's lives easier and happier.

Through SMART Payment Plan, David is helping hundreds of thousands of consumers match smaller, easier-to-budget payments to their paydays to pay off their loans faster.

SMART Payment Plan helps thousands of automotive dealers - including many leading dealer groups - sell more cars and protection products while creating happier customers.

David brings a strong background in the law and consumer finance and 8 fun years of helping automotive dealers. If he's not already helping you, David looks forward to serving you and your dealers.