The National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) has created a chief operating officer position and named the first position to take the helm in the new role.

The association has chosen Tricia Heon, who has been part of the NAAA for eight years, and most recently served as legislative director and operations manager, for the position, the company announced.

“One of the many reasons we felt the need for the new position is our greater management requirements for daily operations,” explained NAAA CEO Frank Hackett.

Hackett went on to say that Heon had already been fulfilling duties that encompassed the functions of a COO.

In her eight years with the NAAA, Heon has created the association’s Political Action Committee, the annual Day on the Hill advocacy event in Washington, D.C., and monitored federal and state regulations. She has also been a large part of the association’s development of projects and initiatives to study and address issues such as the technician shortage in the industry, reports on the future of the industry.

Heon will continue to serve as NAAA’s legislative director in addition to her new duties of overseeing the staff and daily operations of the NAAA as COO.