MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

LIZ AHNER, Senior Enterprise Account Executive
AFTER

Liz is Senior Enterprise Sales Executive with After Inc. Liz is a Dealerscope 40 Under 40 Honoree with nearly 10 years of experience managing strategic relationships in the warranty/service contract industry.

STEVE APICELLA, Chief Executive Officer
STRATEGIC DX

Steve is mission focused to help define modern retail beyond the one-time transaction. Steve’s vision is delivering “Digital Lifecycle” beyond “Digital Retailing” to earn today’s lifetime customer, capturing missed service contract sales revenue, create real competitive differentiation, vastly improve the customers’ experience and realize advanced operational efficiencies waiting to be gained that significantly reduce claims management costs, improve data accuracy and intelligently minimize claim frequency/severity.

JOSH BASS, Vice President Innovation
JM&A GROUP

Josh Bass is the Vice President of Product Development for JM&A Group. Josh is responsible for leading new product and services innovation in Automotive F&I.

Prior to this role, he held various leadership positions at JM Family Enterprises, most recently Vice President of Corporate Enterprise Strategy. Prior to JM Family, Josh held leadership roles in product development, emerging technology, and strategy with NextEra Energy, OpenPeak, and Arthur Andersen Business Consulting.

Josh received both his Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Florida. He resides in South Florida with his wife and three boys.

DOUG BELL, Principal Consultant
SERVICE CONTRACT CONSULTING

Doug Bell, has over 35 years of experience in the aftermarket and OEM automobile industry including aftersales, warranty, extended warranty, certified pre-owned, and prepaid maintenance, as well as operations, sales & marketing, product development, pricing, policy administration, risk management, reinsurance, affinity insurance and direct sales programs.

Innovation, leadership and technology drives business transformation. Creating a competitive edge: the value of cross‐industry knowledge is a critical criteria for success as organizations become more global in their reach.

Doug’s vision and tenacity helped to transform Nissan Extended Services into a full-service provider including advanced F&I technology with SaaS, e-Contracting, e-Menu, e-Signature and a Tableau reporting solution.

Doug holds an BS degree in Marketing & Economics and a MBA from Babson College, Wellesley Massachusetts.

BENJAMIN BLASH, Warranty Business Admin Leader
AUDI OF AMERICA

Benjamin Blash is the Audi Warranty Business Admin Lead for Audi of America responsible for warranty administration systems, reimbursement rates, and warranty compliance. He has always been passionate about cars and has been fortunate to translate that into becoming an automotive professional with over 21 years of experience.  Known for innovative, strategic thinking, and an authentic, influential leadership style, he has successfully implemented new, ground-breaking processes and tools to reshape approaches to warranty compliance and cost monitoring.  He learned invaluable teamwork and leadership skills during his time serving in the United States Marine Corp as a combat engineer which he strives to implement in his professional career daily. When he is not engaged in his work he enjoys outdoor activities such as camping with my family and dogs, golfing, and fishing.

Jose Clemente, Warranty Performance & Parts Review Supervisor
GENERAL MOTORS

Jose Clemente is a Warranty Performance Supervisor at General Motors, responsible for Ordinary Warranty Billing process as well as the Parts Review process. He’s main goal and passion is to identify opportunities to reduce net warranty spend. Putting the customer at the center of every discussion, Jose is a firm believer that a win-win result is achievable between General Motors and its Supply Base when it comes to Warranty Cost Sharing and Field Performance Improvement. He is an experienced professional in Automotive Warranty. Before joining General Motors in 2020, Jose was responsible for the Warranty Management Process at a Tier 1 company, overseeing technical and commercial aspects and working closely with Engineering, Design and Manufacturing teams to improve field performance. He also has extensive technical experience across multiple industries (Automotive, Steel, Oil & Gas).

Jose holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Process Administration from the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Monterrey, MX) and is a certified 6-Sigma Greenbelt.

ERICH COIT, Director of Warranty
KENWORTH TRUCK COMPANY

Erich Coit, Director of Warranty is an executive manager focused on developing people and systems to support organizational success. Erich has over 30 years of industry experience in a wide variety of roles included production, operations, engineering, quality, customer service and warranty mostly in the Heavy-Duty Truck Industry. Erich has his master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University “GO ZAGS” and a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. When not working you can find Erich enjoying his hobbies including fishing, camping, motocross, and hiking.

ANDREW CONVILLE, Director of Aftersales, Parts & Services
MAGNI TELESCOPIC HANDLERS

Andrew has held the role of Director of Aftersales Dealer and Customer Support since 2018 and is responsible for Customer Care, Technical Support, Parts & Service Growth and Development, Parts Sales, and Training. His previous responsibilities included Quality, Warranty Adjudication & Claims Support, and Vendor Recovery. Prior to joining Mahindra, Andrew supported Husqvarna Group as Head of Aftersales, Generac as Director of Service.

Andrew graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. It is from Andrew’s diverse employment background starting in the Customer Service Division of Ford that provides his extensive knowledge of the industry.

JAMES DAVIES, Vice President Repair Analytics Division
J.D. POWER

James Davies is the Vice President of Repair Analytics at J.D. Power. J.D. Power acquired James’ company, We Predict earlier this year. We Predict, the UK-based provider of global automotive service and warranty analytics was formed in 2009 and is used by auto manufacturers and suppliers to project future component failures and future warranty claims and costs. It will be leveraged by J.D. Power to enhance its vehicle quality and dependability analytics, expand repair cost forecasting and provide critical valuation data.

WARREN DEBARDELABEN, Industry Consultant, President
WD3 AUTOMOTIVE

Warren worked for Nissan North America, Inc. for over 35 years after a brief stint as a test engineer for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft.  A trained Mechanical Engineer, he is a proven senior level executive who excels at building self-directed teams and thrives in a customer focused environment. Warren is a subject matter expert in the areas of warranty expense management, automotive repair processes, inventory control, and parts and service sales and marketing.  While at Nissan he managed 260+ individuals and North American Warranty operations; North American Parts Operations ($2.5B annual sales); Service Operations and Technical Support teams. He led development of an industry leading anomalous claims detection tool generating 5%+ claims savings. He developed and implemented an automated parts inventory control system for ~1,000 Nissan dealers, and 215 Infiniti dealers improving turn-rate and “first time fill.”  Warren stated his own consulting business in 2021, WD3 Automotive, LLC, and has worked with various industry vendors and OEM’s in the fields of technical support, consumer affairs, warranty cost reduction, and aftersales structures.  Warren lists as a key strengths the ability to understand the more complex side of the automotive business and the demonstrated skill to build winning teams.

DAVE FRONING, Portfolio Manager For Quality & Service Solutions
SAS

David Froning is the Portfolio Manager for Quality & Service Solutions at SAS. Mr. Froning works in partnership with manufacturers, suppliers, and industry organizations to develop analytic solutions for manufacturing industry issues such as fraud detection, early warning, accelerated problem solving, and service contract pricing. Through participation in industry groups and independent research, Mr. Froning works with manufacturing companies to develop best practices for technology applications.

Before coming to SAS, Mr. Froning worked for General Motors. He managed the development, operation, and continual improvement of quality and warranty information systems utilized across GM’s North American operations and supplier community. His experience also includes work with leading automotive market research firms. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University and a Master of Science from the University of Wisconsin.

WAYNE FU, Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN

Wayne Fu is an Assistant Professor of Decision Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, College of Business. Before returning to academia, Dr. Fu worked in the supply chain management field for more than a decade as a solution architect in i2 Technologies (renamed as Blue Yonder) and a director of product management in Servigistics (acquired by PTC).

Dr. Fu received his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds an M. Eng. of Engineering in manufacturing from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and an M.B.A. from Warwick.

Strongly associated with his industrial experience, Dr. Fu’s research interests are strategies that influence firms’ operational sustainability, such as information transparency and dissemination. His research has been published in International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Business Strategy and the Environment, and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.

Paul Garand, Warranty Engineer
MULTIMATIC DYNAMIC SUSPENSIONS

Paul Garand is an engineering professional with more than 30 years’ experience in the automotive industry. His time at General Motors, Magna International, and most recently with Multimatic, covers responsibilities in production, operations management, quality, engineering, and warranty. He has extensive experience in plastic injection molding, painting, stamping, welding, and light assembly processes. With focus on developing processes and utilizing quality prevention techniques such as FMEA, 8D, DOE, and other systematic problem-solving methods to reduce warranty exposure and enhance customer satisfaction. Ultimately providing real world feedback to advanced product development facilitating continuous product improvement.

THOMAS GIANFERMI, Manager of Warranty Administration
STELLANTIS

Tom is currently the Manager of Warranty Administration and has been with Stellantis for over 36 years having graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI with a degree in Computer Science and an MBA with a Finance concentration.

Tom started in Information Technology in 1986 and moved to Dealer Operations. He joined the Mopar Parts division in 2000 and has held positions in Sales and Marketing, Inventory Planning and Package Engineering before joining the Warranty Operations group in February-2017.

Tom enjoys the various interactions that the warranty position offers.  There are many departments that he comes into contact with – Field Operations, Quality, Engineering, Regulatory, and Legal to name a few.  But it has been the impact that we can have on our dealers and customers that is most satisfying about the role.

HENRY GLOVER, Manager of IC Service Engineering and Warranty Failure Analysis
MITSUBISHI LOGISNEXT

Henry Glover is the Manager of IC Service Engineering and Warranty Failure Analysis at Logisnext in Houston, Texas. His Service Engineering team provides product support & his Warranty Failure Analysis team validates warranty claims by reviewing the claim and inspecting the returned parts from our Cat Lift Trucks, Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks & UniCarriers Forklifts for the Logisnext dealer network.

Henry began his 38-year career at MLA in 1995 working in the forklift distribution center and manufacturing operations for 12 years before moving into the product support side of the business.

Henry enjoys working on classic cars, cooking, and spending time with his 3 children & 7 grandchildren

STEPHEN HILL, Service Director
I-10 TOYOTA

Stephen Hill is Service Director of I-10 Toyota in Indio, California. In this role, Stephen manages 87 employees, including six Supervisors and three Managers, throughout several departments and oversees all business aspects for the dealerships Service Advisors, Technicians, Used Vehicle reconditioning, Rental Department, New vehicle Pre-Delivery, Shuttle/ Delivery Services, Facility Repair Department and Customer Relations Management. In this role, Stephen oversees all business aspects for I-10 Toyota’s Fixed Operations Sales, Marketing, Certifications, Training, Health and Safety Regulations, Maintenance, Repairs, Customer Support, Fleet Management, Transportation and Product Reporting.

Upon joining I-10 Toyota in 2009, he instantly began creating processes for Warranty Services Management as well as their Customer Retention Program. Upon implementation I-10 Toyota was able to show aptitude for excelling at warranty management and currently in the top tier of warranty authorizations shared by less than 1% of Toyota dealerships nationwide. Through this duration, retention levels have soared to the top 10% of their Region, Customer Satisfaction rankings went to the top 5% of their Region and have celebrated many accolades, including 3 years of the coveted Triple Crown of Excellence Award for Customer Relations, Parts and Service Excellence at I-10 Toyota.

Prior to his current role, Stephen was a Store Manager for Bridgestone Corporation in Portland, Oregon and before that he spent seven years working with the County of San Bernardino in California as a Social Worker.

Stephen received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from California State University of San Bernardino in 2002 and then his Master of Public Administration (Specialization in Organizational Leadership) from National University in La Jolla, California in 2013. His thesis demonstrated the correlation between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction in the Public Sector but the same can be shown for the private sector. This principle understanding has been applied to each management role that Stephen has held, earning each company award winning results.

JOHN HOLLORAN, President & CEO
NATIONAL CENTER FOR DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

John Holloran, President & CEO of ADS Advisory Group, LLC (ADS) and National Center for Dispute Settlement, LLC (NCDS): John has over 25 years of executive management experience in Fortune 500s, start-ups, public and private companies in manufacturing, distribution, and service industries. He is adept at strategic planning and execution, financial forecasting, operational analysis, data analytics, building strong management teams and organizations, companywide re-engineering projects, and information technology initiatives.

John began his career as an Electronic Systems Engineer for E-Systems in 1985. He holds an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and graduated with distinction from Purdue University, where he earned his B.S. in Electrical Technology. John volunteers his time with select charities and judges SMU’s Executive MBA Business Plan Investor Presentations. He is also a board member for the Freedom Mobility Foundation. John resides with his wife in Colorado and has three children.

SARAH HUFF, Director of Global Warranty Quality Systems and IEEW Program
CUMMINS

Sarah Huff is the Director of Global Warranty Quality Systems and Integrated End to End Warranty (IEEW) Program for Cummins Inc. With over 17 years of experience in a variety of manufacturing, quality and Six Sigma roles she now leads warranty quality transformation as part of strategic initiatives within the quality organization. With a M. Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisville and 11 years of warranty experience she is excited and passionate about creating a transformative systems landscape with organizational support and ownership that will help drive a connected, digital and transparent warranty quality experience for the company.

ANTHONY INCLIMA, Supervisor, GPSC Warranty Performance
GENERAL MOTORS

Anthony Inclima is a Warranty Performance Supervisor at General Motors where he oversees the team responsible for managing Ordinary Warranty for Chassis/Body Structures and Advanced Electrical commodities.   In addition to this role, Anthony also spearheaded the roll-out of Fixed-Technical-Factor OWT and is leading the Warranty organization through the adoption of future technologies in the EV, AV, and non-traditional areas of the business.

Dave Johnson, Global Director Service Engineering Operations
FORD MOTOR COMPANY (Recently Retired)

As the Global Director of Service Engineering Operations within Ford Motor Company’s Customer Service Division, Dave Johnson led a team of over 1,200 individuals responsible for providing the tools, equipment, technical information, training and technical support to service all Ford and Lincoln vehicles around the world.

From his first job at Ford 32 years ago as a Service Representative taking customer phone calls at the Customer Assistance Center, Johnson’s focus has been on customers. Since then, Dave has had many rewarding opportunities in making significant contributions to Ford’s service business. This included working with Ford and Lincoln dealers to improve their fixed operations, developing repairs and overall service strategies for new vehicle designs, leading service operations for Ford’s first electric vehicle brand, managing warranty improvement initiatives, service publications, and recall operations.

More recently, Dave led Ford’s Asia Pacific Technical Service Operations while living in China for almost five years then returned to the US to lead the development of all products for the Motorcraft and Omnicraft brands before moving into his current role.

Johnson grew up maintaining and repairing just about anything with wheels as part of his family’s farm/ranch and trucking operation in Northwest Wyoming. After high school, Dave spent 18 months as a church volunteer in New Zealand and then went on to graduate from Weber State University in Ogden Utah where he earned a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering Technology and met his future wife Cheryl. Later, while at Ford, Dave earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

Dave and Cheryl are the proud parents of four children and currently reside in the metro-Detroit area.

JENNIFER JONES, Global Lifetime Warranty Manager
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Jennifer Jones is the Global Lifetime Warranty Manager at Ford Motor Company. In this role, she leads a team focused on warranty reduction encompassing Quality, Product Development, Service Engineering, and Purchasing. She owns Ford’s Lifetime Warranty Reduction process which includes Supplier Recovery and Warranty Parts Return. Her experience spans Manufacturing, Product Development, Quality and Service Engineering and she has worked for Ford, Visteon, GM, and Chrysler. She is known for building strong teams, driving quality improvement, creating intelligent analytical tools, making strategic process improvements, and delivering results.

Jennifer is passionate about her community and Ford’s mission to put people first. She is a dedicated mentor through Women in Ford and has launched an all-new mentoring and social club program for her organization. She was a founding member and chairperson of Blessings in a Backpack Livonia and has been a Detroit Race for the Cure team captain for the last 20 years. She is also a volunteer and board member at her church.

Jennifer holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and is a certified 6 Sigma blackbelt.

DAVIS JOSE, Field Quality Assurance Manager
SUBARU

Davis Jose is currently working as Field Quality Assurance Manger at Subaru of America. He leads a team accountable for field concerns in import and domestic manufactured vehicles sold in the US by Subaru Of America. In addition to finding resolution to the vhicle level concerns by working with the engineerign team, his role also encompasses infotainment and telamatics related QA activities. His team is also responsible for investigations related to product liability and safety allegations.

Davis began his career in the automtive industry as a Graduate Engineering Trainee in 2006 with Mahindra, India. Since then, he has held roles in field service, service engineering, product development and quality assurance. Davis is passionate about developing integrated service solutions and has contributed significantly in this area during his time at Mahindra and he continues to follow his passion at Subaru.

Davis resides in New Jersey with his family. He enjoys riding his motorcycle, cooking and is active in Boy Scouts of America.

GEORGE JOSEPH, Warranty Parts Logistics and Supplier Recovery Manager
BMW GROUP

George Joseph is the Warranty Parts Logistics and Supplier Recovery Manager for BMW North America, LLC.  He is responsible for leading a team that requests, and collects Warranty and Core parts for many reasons including supplier quality and recovery, Warranty Repair Validation and Core Remanufacturing.  In the last 3 ½ years, George has not only helped increase supplier acceptance rates and recovery, but also created inhouse ad-hoc systems that increased part processing efficiency while making sure every part received from our dealer partners has a value and an end destination.

George worked in his brother’s Automotive shop while attending and graduating from Brookhaven College in Dallas Texas.  He joined the BMW STEP Technician Program in 2006.  After graduation he immediately started working for BMW NA in 2006 as an Engineering Technician where he because a BMW Master Technician.  He then worked as a Mobile Service Engineer for 3 years working on Sequential Manual Gearboxes and Dual Clutch transmissions in the field before joining the BMW NA Warranty Department in 2011.  He had roles in warranty with various levels of responsibility including Warranty Planning and Policy Manager where he created and clarified Warranty Policies, Warranty Training, Goodwill Programs for dealers and Customers alike.  Prior to his current role, George worked for MINI USA as the Aftersales Business Development & Marketing Manager in 2017 where he created many forward thinking Marketing Campaigns for both the Dealer Partners and the Field teams in which some programs are still in operation today.

ASHOK KARTHAM, Chief Product Officer
SYNCRON

Ashok Kartham’s long track record of innovation, industry vision, and ability to partner with customers, positioned him well to take on the leadership role for Syncron’s product innovation, development, and strategy. Mr. Kartham joined Syncron in 2021 through the acquisition of Mize. Mize, whose products and platform are an integral part of the Syncron portfolio, continues to be a category leader of Field Service Management and Warranty Management. Ashok was the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mize since its inception in 2012. He is a successful serial entrepreneur with 15+ years of experience as CEO of software and high-tech companies. Ashok founded 4CS, the leading warranty and service lifecycle management company, acquired in 2011 by Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), a multi-billion-dollar public software company listed on NASDAQ. Ashok holds a degree in Computer Science from JNTU, Hyderabad. Ashok has been involved as both an investor and board member in organizations that help foster entrepreneurship.

RYAN KOOIMAN, Director of Training
STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS

Ryan has been employed by Standard Motor Products since 2010. Prior to that he spent close to 20 years working as a technician at auto repair facilities in Michigan.  He was the founder of West Michigan Auto Repair Society, chairman of the MI chapter of SAE, is involved with numerous ASE test-writing workshops (including the new ADAS test), and presented training at numerous conferences each year. Ryan was promoted to Director of Training in late 2013. He now oversees the Professional Training program, Product Category Specialists, Tech Line Services, Engineering Test Facility in Irving Texas, and is involved with warranty, sales, and marketing at SMP.  Ryan is still ASE Master Certified and enjoys getting his hands dirty when he can! You can find him on many of Standard’s Installation Spotlight videos.  He is a 2020 graduate of Northwood University.  It is with much passion for providing the best experience and information for the automotive technician that he does his job.

Ryan has worked with a team of representatives from various other companies to educate sales people and counter people in an effort to reduce warranties, especially errant ones.  By launching an “Open The Box” campaign, this group is encouraging people accepting a return to open the box, check the part, and validate that it is truly a warranty item.  Ryan will share examples of what they receive daily and how these efforts have been received, as well as the success of the program.

MATTHEW KUNES, TSO Systems Manager
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Matthew Kunes is the Technical Support Operations TSO Systems Manager at Ford Motor Company. Responsibilities include the management and improvement of the applications and metrics that support our dealers and technicians, as well as ownership of the See What I See (SWIS) program. Matthew’s focus is to simplify, innovate, and automate the processes and systems our Ford dealers and Technicians use to service our customers. Matthew is a firm believer that Innovation through Technology is the driver for transformation.

Matthew has been a transformational leader throughout Ford IT delivering programs such as FordPass, IT Connect, and Fords new data centers. Matthew drive for constant innovation has helped him deliver on the new technologies at Ford using Cloud, SAAS and AR/VR.

ATUL MACWAN, Manager Warranty Parts Return & Systems
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA

Atul Macwan is the Manager for the Warranty Parts Return & Systems for Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. He is responsible for managing Warranty Systems and collecting warranty part samples from Volkswagen / Audi dealers from US market to support vehicle quality, supplier recovery and warranty cost oversight. In this role, he has been actively involved in implementing innovative ideas and benchmarking processes related to warranty part return logistics. He was responsible for the design and launch of the comprehensive Warranty Parts Portal for Volkswagen and Audi dealers in the US market. He also pioneered a digital warranty part inspection program in 2018 and integrated it with exisiting Warranty Return Program so that dealers are able to use a single web application for to get all warrnaty part dispostion whether it is digital part request or physiscal part request.

After graduating from college, Atul started his career with TATA Motors in India as a Field Service Engineer. After working in various roles, he was appointed to foreign assignments in Egypt and the United Kingdom as a factory representative. He moved to the United States in 2000 and restarted his career in the automotive industry as a warranty administrator for a Volkswagen dealer in New Hampshire. In 2002, he joined Volkswagen Group Warranty and held positions in the auditing, claim processing and warranty part-processing departments.

Atul holds an MBA in International Business from Baker College and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Gujarat University, India.

TIMONTHY MEENAN, Managing Shareholder
MEENAN P.A.

Timothy J. Meenan is an A.V. rated lawyer in the Martindale Hubbell law directory and has spent over 30 years as an insurance regulator and attorney representing service contract companies, insurers, managing general agents, GAP providers, and other insurance and ancillary product related industries.

In his past role as the General Counsel and Executive Director for the Service Contract Industry Council, Mr. Meenan oversaw the drafting, passage and implementation of fair and balanced regulation for consumer goods, automobile, and home service contract providers throughout the United States, with laws being implemented under his watch in more than 40 states. Mr. Meenan also served as the General Counsel for the Guaranteed Asset Protection Alliance, and in that role assists lenders, administrators, insurers, and other providers of GAP in compliance, regulatory and legislative efforts. When he served as General Counsel for the Motor Vehicle Protection Products Association, Mr. Meenan worked with industry participants to authorize products such as tire and wheel, windshield protection, paint-less dent repair, key fob, appearance care, and other products across the United States. Mr. Meenan has assisted numerous manufacturers, insurers, administrators and retailers develop and implement national compliance initiatives for warranty, service contract, GAP, and retail insurance programs. Nationally, Mr. Meenan has spearheaded laws designed to streamline the provision of insurance products in the retail environment. Meenan P.A. also provides regulatory and governmental relations out-sourcing for numerous insurers in Florida and throughout the Nation.

Mr. Meenan’s legal practice also focuses on regulatory law before numerous state agencies, with an emphasis on insurance company, financial products and agent regulation. He has assisted insurers and other regulated entities to obtain licensure, has represented life and health insurers and health maintenance organizations with various regulatory problems, and has helped numerous property and casualty insurance companies resolve their disputes with the Florida Department of Financial Services, Office of Insurance Regulation. As a legislative lobbyist in Florida, Mr. Meenan has represented many corporations amend statutes governing insurance, service contract, financial products, and other laws.

GREG MITCHELL, Member
FROST BROWN TODD

Greg provides a variety of insurance related legal and professional services including representation of businesses in the review, evaluation and structure of sophisticated insurance and alternative risk/captive and self-insurance programs in the U.S. and abroad. He counsels clients on the development of new insurance and extended warranty/service contracts and hybrid programs; regulation, licensing, and compliance of agents/producers/limited lines/brokers/consultants/administrators/utilization review agents and adjusters, including call center operations and non-insurance distribution channels; formation, regulation, implementation of compliance/risk management, preparation for and defense of state, multi-state and MAWG market conduct actions for national and international insurance carriers and other risk-bearing entities, as well as defense of department investigations and administrative procedures.

Greg also handles holding company system/group issues, enterprise risk management/governance and regulatory filings, formation and licensing matters, together with reinsurance and intercompany/administrative service agreements, process, procedures and controls design and implementation. He holds an insurance receiver – legal designation from IAIR and has decades of experience representing insureds and receivers in insolvency (rehabilitation and liquidation) related proceedings, including life and health, MEWAs, self-insurance funds, group self-insured funds, unauthorized insurers and conversions.

He regularly attends meetings of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, National Conference of Insurance Legislators and other various insurance related organizations. His work has been cited numerous times in Mealey’s and other publications. Greg is a member of the Federation of Regulatory Counsel and also chairs the Insurance Regulatory practice group of Multilaw, an international association of law firms located in 150 commercial centers throughout the world.

WAYNE MITCHELL, Global Director Sales and Marketing
SEDGWICK

Wayne Mitchell is the Global Director of Automotive Solutions for Sedgwick, where he leverages more than 25 years of automotive industry experience by developing the highest quality solutions and services to automotive industry.

Prior to joining Sedgwick, Wayne held a variety of roles for a global automotive diagnostic software and services company, accelerating through the ranks to become head of sales and operations. During this time, he delivered solutions to OEM’s, dealerships, automotive aftermarket companies, and the collision industry.

Wayne is licensed airframe and power plant technician, ASE certified automotive technician, a member of the Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA,) Society of Consumer Affair Professionals (SOCAP) and Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado and Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management in Nashville, Tennessee.

GREG MYERS, Executive Managing Director
BROWN & BROWN RISK SOLUTIONS

Greg Myers is an Executive Managing Director of Beecher Carlson leading the manufacturing sector. This also includes all extended warranty and F&I operations. Beecher Carlson specializes in insurance and reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and captive management for large corporations and groups.

Mr. Myers has worked with Fortune 500 organizations in designing and implementing their insurance programs. Many of these programs have included captive insurance companies, rental captives, large deductible, and self–insured retentions. He has been named as an Automotive Power Broker by Risk & Insurance Magazine five times. Most recently he assisted an Asian and European manufacturing company in developing and placing a combined global property and marine insurance program.

One of Mr. Myers specialties is in the areas of extended warranties and consumer insurance programs, many of which utilize a captive insurance company. He began working on extended warranties in 1985 when Beecher Carlson assisted in the development of an automotive OEM’s program. Mr. Myers has/is working on automotive companies, appliance manufacturers, road builders, and retailers. The work has expanded to other consumer insurance programs including consumer insurance and credit insurance. We currently work with 11 of the largest auto companies.

Mr. Myers has been with Beecher Carlson since 1984. Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, he worked as a consultant with KPMG from 1982 to 1984 working on employee benefit programs and specifically developing software systems for calculating pension benefits. He worked with Tillinghast performing similar consulting work from 1979 to 1981. He spent one year between 1981 and 1982 working with Honeywell as a software engineer developing a new Cobol compiler.

Mr. Myers is a frequent speaker at local and international risk management and insurance conferences. He has authored articles for such publications as the John Liner Review, Risk Management, Captive Insurance Company Review, Leaders, Asia Insurance Review and National Underwriter. Mr. Myers received his undergraduate degree and M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

MARK NAGELVOORT, President & CEO
PCMI

A seasoned executive in the industry, Mark has dedicated 30+ years to developing software administration systems. He specializes in using his expansive knowledge to help customers establish all phases of their extended warranty programs including sales, policy and claim administration, risk management, and offshore reinsurance within our PCRS software.

JAMES O’DELL, Marketing Manager
FISHER AUTO PARTS

James is a 21 year veteran of the auto care industry where he has spent most of his career. He has filled sales and marketing roles within parts distributors, Motown Automotive Distributing and Fisher Auto Parts. He earned his AAP designation from the University of the Aftermarket in 2014, has volunteered on Auto Care Association committees, and was awarded the Impact Award: 4 For The Future in 2018.

JASON PAYNE, Founder & Chief Intelligence Officer
JP STRATEGY & INTELLIGENCE

Jason is a career Warranty Professional, having spent 20 years working within the automotive, heavy industrial, and aerospace industries. He believes that warranty administration within all companies should be a predictive and proactive function, working alongside every part of the company in order to build quality products, while reducing the risk of repair, customer dissatisfaction and high warranty costs. Jason has led or been part of various warranty industry councils and thinktanks, including AIAG, JAPIA, CLEPA Warranty Working Group, ENG, FieldTaskOne, and twelve years with the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) Warranty Management Council…having spent 2013-2020 as the Chairman of their WMC Board of Governors. In 2020, Jason launched his own warranty centric consulting firm (JPSI Warranty Strategy & Intelligence) and now works with suppliers and OEMs to achieve truly proactive warranty systems. When he is not navigating the nuances of the warranty world, Jason is an avid traveler, golfer, artist and the proud new father of a baby girl born in October 2020.

KOLBY RATH, Aftermarket Services Portfolio Manager
JOHN DEERE

Kolby is the Aftermarket Services Portfolio Manager for Deere & Company  In this role Kolby is responsible for the Extended Warranty business for both Ag & Turf and Construction & Forestry Divisions and sits on the Board of Directors for John Deere’s Captive Insurance Company.  In addition, Kolby oversees Expert ServicesTM and John Deere ProtectTM which serve to expand John Deere’s global customers capability to manage their cost of operation across the John Deere Enterprise.

BRIAN ROSE, Senior Manager, Service Engineering & Warranty
MITSUBISHI LOGISNEXT

Brian Rose is a Senior Manager of Warranty, Service, and Parts at Logisnext in Houston, Texas who helps ensure that the Logisnext dealer network are able to quickly and accurately service and repair units.

Before starting at Logisnext, Brian worked for a Logisnext dealer in the Chicago are for 17 years in the service department. He started out as a Field Service Engineer and moved through the ranks to his current position.

Brian enjoys cooking indoors and out and spending time with his grandchildren.

ED ROBERTS, Chief Operations Officer
BOZARD FORD LINCOLN

Ed Roberts, a Jacksonville native, began his time in the automotive world as an Apprentice. Since that time, his career has stretched to positions including Master Technician, Shop Foreman, Technical Service Engineer for Ford, Store Manager, Service Manager, Fixed Operations Director and is currently the Chief Operations Officer at Bozard Ford Lincoln in St. Augustine, Florida. Over his 30-year career he has spent some time with Toyota Dealerships and Ford Motor Company, with the majority of his career within Ford stores.

Over the last 9 years, the Fixed Operations business at Bozard Ford Lincoln has grown dramatically from 7 technicians to the current 89 technicians. Ed is known for being employee focused and creating a “team” atmosphere by building on each individual’s personal strengths. Ed implemented the 2-man team system that has been extremely successful while revolutionizing the express service world. Ed has also paved the way for the next generation of technicians with a multi-level development program.

Ed has also created similar programs to develop career paths for just about any position needed. By doing so, he virtually eliminates employee turnover.

Over the years, Ed has been recognized multiple times for his leadership, innovations, and achievements in Fixed Operations. Most recently he was named as one of thirty Automotive News Allstars for 2020.

MIKE ROBERTS, President
MR INSIGHTS

Mike is the President of MR Insights, where he helps to drive change within manufacturers and suppliers who are frustrated with their current warranty operations and processes.

Mike Roberts worked for Ford Motor Company for over 33 years until he elected to retire in 2015. During his career with Ford he worked with Ford and Lincoln dealerships in 4 different regions of the U.S., assisting with customer service activities and helping dealers in their warranty administration. He led many different, ground-breaking projects within Ford, including leading the initiative to automate Ford’s field organization and helped launch and run Ford’s dealership distance learning network.

Mike has been involved in many different facets of warranty within Ford, including analytics, dealer measurement and reporting, dealership warranty management, counseling and auditing. For 8 years he was Ford’s Global Warranty Strategy Manager and the business lead supporting Ford’s initiative to modernize, globalize and standardize their warranty transactional systems and processes. The ONE Warranty Solution (OWS) is currently being rolled-out to dealers world-wide.

Mike is a member of the Automotive Industry Actions Group (AIAG), instructor for AIAG (CQI-14 Warranty Management, and Basic Warranty), a contributor and facilitator for MAPconnected, and does frequent warranty benchmarking within the industry. He is a speaker at many different warranty and industry conferences. Mike received his Bachelors of Business Administration from Southern Illinois University and his MBA from Eastern Michigan University.

Since launching his very successful warranty consulting company, he has conducted engagements with:
Harley-Davidson, Triumph Motorcycles, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), Hyundai, General Motors, FCA, Navistar

PAUL ROGERS, Senior Manager, Warranty
NISSAN GROUP OF NORTH AMERICA

Since July 2020, Paul Rogers has assumed the role of Senior Manager, Warranty at Nissan Motor Corporation. He returns back to Warranty having started his Nissan career nearly 14 years ago as Specialist in the Warranty Call Center. After completing various roles in the Warranty Call Center he left 4 years later for the field.

In the Northeast Region, Paul assumed many roles including Fixed Operations Manager, Aftersales Development Manager and Service Development Manager before accepting the role of Senior Manager Regional Aftersales Northeast Region in 2018-2020.

Paul is anxious to utilize his experience from the field back at the Corporate Offices in his new role. Paul graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration – BBA Finance and Entrepreneurship from Northeastern University in 2005.

JIM ROCHE, Founder & Executive Chairman
WARRCLOUD

Currently Jim is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of WarrCloud, the auto industry’s first, and only, cloud-based warranty processing platform.

Jim has over 30 years of automotive fixed operations experience. He has written two books about technology for automotive service, Fast Lane and Fast Break. Throughout his career he has visited over 2,000 dealerships, offering his expertise to create modern experiences that generate growth and profitability.

From 2019 – 2020, Jim was the Business Lead for Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book and drove the conception and launch of the KBB Auto Repair Guide (ARG), the first automotive service offering on kbb.com. ARG now enjoys over 2 million consumer visits per month.

Prior to KBB, Jim was SVP of Marketing and Managed Services at Cox Auto’s Xtime, a cloud-based solution for service marketing, scheduling, service lane and the service bay into an exceptional user experience. Spectrum is in use at over 7,500 dealerships and is endorsed by 29 automotive OEM’s.

Previously, Jim was founder and Chief Executive Officer of AutoPoint, where he was the visionary and driving force behind the development of the industry’s first multichannel marketing platform, its adoption by hundreds of dealers and its subsequent acquisition by SRS in 2010; Solera acquired SRS in 2013.

Prior to AutoPoint, Jim served as Vice President of Product Management at Autobytel, where he oversaw the Autobytel product portfolio and drove the development of the RPM CRM platform, and as Senior Vice President of Operations at Newgen during the company’s rapid growth to over 5,000 dealerships and its 1999 IPO. While at Newgen, Jim oversaw the creation of the automotive industry’s first web-based on-demand marketing tool, Carabunga.com.

ART SHAW, Chief Executive Officer
REPAIRPAL

Art Shaw is CEO at RepairPal. After going to Stanford Business School, Shaw worked at McKinsey and then left to run Strategic Planning at Charles Schwab. Shaw changed roles at Schwab in 1995 to help launch www.schwab.com, which defined financial services online and grew to a $1 billion business. He then ran myCFO and sold it to Harris Bank after achieving the #1 rating from Bloomberg Wealth Manager. Thereafter, Shaw was CEO of Connexus, an online advertising company targeting audiences through display, search and social. He served as Executive Chairman of Tunecore (sold to Sony Music) and Lead Director of Insikt.

Art holds a BA, magna cum laude, in Mathematical Economics from Brown University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He was also selected as a Henry R. Luce Scholar and spent a year in Thailand working on Public Policy.

Lakshmi Venkat Vemuganti (LV), Cofounder & CTO
REAL VARIABLE

LV brings 20+ years of experience in Enterprise solutions, large scale project implementations across US, Europe and APAC. LV is an Electronics & Communications Engineer from a Premier Indian Institute. Being a passionate technologist, LV thrives in solving business problems and unravelling new technologies. A digital transformation expert, LV is working with organizations across domains understand and adopt transformation technologies.

He has deep domain experience of Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Logistics Industries. His journey with Cloud, Blockchain, AI & ML for Enterprises started in early 2017 and is instrumental in creating the platform which could address 70% of use cases. He has applied the principles of digital technologies in creating business solutions involving multi party collaboration with secure, immutable data trust. He has designed the Smart Contracts for Authentication, Authorization and Accountability of information being published, shared and viewed through the business collaboration solutions.

A premier global Auto OEM, A premier global Logistics company have implemented the multiparty collaboration solution using blockchain based on the platform conceived and architected by LV. He is currently enhancing the platform to extend the use cases and integrating many functions into the business collaboration. Besides, he is working on the Research and Development of V2X (Vehicle to Any) collaboration solutions using blockchain, AI & ML

BRIAN WHEELER, Automotive Supplier Executive
DELOITTE

Recognized as a thought leader and well-versed professional in the global automotive industry, Brian Wheeler is a business development, marketing, communications, and sales executive with more than 15 years of experience, specializing in the global automotive OE and automotive aftermarket industries. Brian grew up in the automotive industry and initially studied to serve as a journalist, sharing stories in local communities. Following a few years in local television news, newspaper publishing, and serving as an editor for business-to-business magazines, he left the media industry to join the automotive sector in a fully integrated marketing and communications role.

Brian rejoined Deloitte in 2021 after spending most of his career on the supplier and agency side, having managed global OE and aftermarket marketing for a Michigan-based Tier 1 supplier, built a Detroit-based marketing agency’s auto business, and led all marketing, product management, and EMEA sales for an engine components supplier.

JOE WERTH, Vice President, Integrated Warranty, Total Cost of Ownership & Uptime
NAVISTAR

Joe Werth currently serves as Vice President – Uptime, Total Cost of Ownership, and Integrated Warranty, at Navistar Inc. Over his 20+ year career with Navistar, he has lived and worked in China and Brazil, and has served in a progression of roles in the areas of Business Operations, Finance, Strategy, Business Development, and Project Management, including: VP & General Manager, JAC-Navistar Joint Venture; VP, New Product Development, where he was responsible for the launch of Navistar’s newest class 8 vehicle platform and engine; VP, Finance and CFO, Navistar Engine Group; and as CFO, Navistar South America.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Houston, and a Master of Business Administration degree, from The Naveen Jindal School of Management at The University of Texas-Dallas.

CHRIS WOLF, Manager Warranty Compliance
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA

Chris Wolf is currently the Warranty Compliance Manger at Volkswagen of America. He is responsible for leading a team of professionals which conduct dealer warranty audits, manage warranty compliance and establish dealer reimbursement rates. This role requires an intense focus on the various state laws which govern those processes.

Chris began his automotive career as a dealer service technician in 1986. Since, he has held roles in service engineering, product development, manufacturing and aftersales with Mazda, Ford and now Volkswagen.

A lifelong resident of Michigan, Chris enjoys golfing, boating and motorcycling in the limited seasons there. He can also be found attending football games at Michigan Stadium, an occasional rock concert or comedy show.