ServNet Owners Gather for Fall Owners' Meeting

Owners of the 31 ServNet Auctions gathered in Waverly, NY, for the group's Fall Owners' Meeting, which was hosted by the Barber family at State Line Auto Auction, one of the founding members of the ServNet Auction Group. State Line Auto Auction is moving into its third generation of ownership and management, with three of Jeff and Jean Barber's children - Emily, Beth, and Paul - all active in the business. 

"This year's meeting was outstanding," stated ServNet President, Patty Stanley, who owns Carolina Auto Auction with her husband Henry and also Indiana Auto Auction with Henry and their son Eric Autenrieth. "We decided to start a new tradition for the Fall Meeting that includes visiting a ServNet auction facility. It is refreshing to get back to our roots in seeing how other high performing businesses operate in our industry."

The first order of business at the Fall Owners' Meeting was to endorse the membership of ServNet's newest location: Winchester Auto Auction, a new venture by the Angelicchio family, which owns Pittsburgh Auto Auction, a ServNet member since 2008. The auction owners then focused a considerable portion of their discussions on Multi-Platform Selling and other strategic initiatives that are the outgrowth of the increased volumes of vehicles coming into the auction lanes as well as daily advances in technology. 

The owners also reviewed the success of two new programs instituted in 2014: ServNet's 20 Group, which meets for in-depth financial analysis and comparisons between auctions; and ServNet's Fleet/Lease Manager Conference which was held in August and covered the many aspects of business operations for remarketing vehicles for commercial accounts. 

Also addressed at this meeting was the succession of ServNet's leadership team. In the area of corporate governance, Brad Sturgeon (DAA of the Rockies, DAA of the Southwest) was thanked for his tenure on ServNet's Board of Directors and Eric Autenrieth (Indiana Auto Auction) was elected to the open board seat. Autenrieth also serves as ServNet's representative to the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA) Board of Directors.

In addition, Ben Brasher of Brasher's Sacramento Auto Auction, formerly serving on the group's Board of Directors, was elected to the office of Treasurer. Kevin Brown, owner of Missouri Auto Auction, who had previously handled duties as both Treasurer and Vice President, continues on as Vice President and will succeed Stanley after her current term as President ends in the Fall of 2015. 

Other board positions remaining in place are Chairman of the Board: R. Charles Nichols, (BSC America / Bel Air and Tallahassee Auto Auctions); Director: Bill Williams, Jr. (Flint Auto Auction); and Director: Dave Angelicchio (Pittsburgh Auto Auction, Winchester Auto Auction).

After enjoying a tour of the picturesque Finger Lakes area in upstate New York while driving a caravan of classic automobiles, the owners met back at State Line Auto Auction on sale day (Friday), for the opportunity to see the Barbers' auction team in action.