Digital Dealer - April 2020 - 4

CONTRIBUTORS

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A. ERIN KERRIGAN is the
founder and managing director
of Kerrigan Advisors. Kerrigan
Advisors is a leading sell-side
advisor and thought partner
to auto dealers in the US. In
the last ﬁve years, the ﬁrm has
represented on auto retail's
largest transactions, including
ﬁve of the Top 100 Dealership
Groups, more than any other
ﬁrm in the industry. Prior to
founding Kerrigan Advisors,
Ms. Kerrigan headed Presidio
Automotive. Prior to Presidio,
she was a SVP at AutoStar, a
subsidiary of iStar Financial,
where she led transaction
origination. Early in her career,
she was dealer operator of her
family's dealership, which she
sold in 2006.
C. CHARLIE POLSTON is an
automotive customer retention
and proﬁtability consultant
with BG Products, Inc. Charlie

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has been with BG's Fixed
Operations Division for over
38 years. He has trained over
7,500 dealers, managers, and
technicians - and has been a
frequent workshop leader at
NADA's annual convention.
D. GREG GIFFORD is the
Vice President of Search
at SearchLab, a boutique
marketing agency based in
Chicago. He's one of the most
in-demand speakers at digital
marketing conferences all
over the world, with dynamic
movie-themed presentations
packed full of actionable tactics
and information. He has over
17 years of online marketing
and web design experience
with more than 13 years in
automotive. His expertise in
Local SEO has helped hundreds
of businesses gain more
visibility in local searches.

E. ED KOVALCHICK has
traveled the world training
and consulting in ﬁxed
operations for manufacturers
and dealers. His extensive
background includes master
technician status, independent
shop owner, dealer with all
Chrysler & Nissan franchises,
and founder of Net Proﬁt
Inc. He is a graduate of the
University of Louisiana and
has served as state president
of the Automotive Service
Councils, and the advisory
boards of WyoTech and Virginia
College. He has been a regular
columnist and conference
presenter with Dealer Magazine
since 1995.
KATIE BENESCH, Digital
Retail Lead at Facebook, helps
automotive shopping sites
activate on Facebook's full
suite of apps and services to
drive customer acquisition
and dealer success. Katie
has 11 years of experience in
automotive digital marketing
and has been working with
digital retailers since she joined
Facebook in 2018. Prior to
Facebook, she led automotive
business at Pinterest and
Google. Katie is based out
of Facebook's Los Angeles
oﬃce where she also leads
Facebook's West Coast Women
in Automotive involvement.
HUGH ROBERTS, CFP® is a
partner of The Rawls Group Business Succession Planners
(www.rawlsgroup.com). Hugh
specializes in dealing with the
issues that must be resolved by
auto dealers and their families
in order to preserve assets and
develop succession plans for
their dealerships.

ASHLEY SPARKS serves as
Client Operations Director,
Regional Account Manager
for Pinnacle Advertising &
Marketing Group. Fueled by
passion to be both processdriven and client-focused,
Ashley's mission is to get better,
see clearer, think bigger, and
push clients to do the same.
Combining dealership and
agency experience, along with
love for creativity, she brings a
unique perspective of the auto
landscape.
ALEX RUSSO has 15 years
of marketing, technology,
and consulting experience.
He is the Director of Product
Management for Digital
Advertising at CDK Global,
working with various
manufacturers and dealer
groups across all tiers of
automotive advertising.
B. MELANIE BORDEN, a
Fashion Institute of Technology
graduate, has spent the
majority of her 14+ year
marketing career in the
automotive tech industry.
Melanie has worked in various
atmospheres from social
media startups to a public
tech company in consulting,
marketing, and business
development roles. Presently,
she is the VP of marketing for
Tom Maoli's Celebrity Motor
Cars auto group where she
develops and implements
all facets of the marketing
strategy and built the in-house
advertising agency.

KRISTOPHER NIELSEN serves
as ecommerce and guest
experience manager for Kansas
City's Aristocrat Motors, a
DealerFire digital marketing
partner since 2010.
JASON DRUCKER is the Chief
Operating Oﬃcer of Foureyes
and oversees all customer
experience departments,
including product, data science,
marketing, and revenue.
Foureyes sales intelligence
software helps businesses
track, protect, engage, and sell
better.

April 2020
http://www.rawlsgroup.com http://www.digitaldealer.com
Digital Dealer - April 2020

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