DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — F&I product provider JM&A Group said this week it closed out the best year in its 37-year history with record month-over-month growth. For 2015, the F&I product provider sold more than 3.4 million contracts nationwide.
According to officials, December 2015 marked the 23rd consecutive month JM&A surpassed its monthly objectives — setting sales records an astounding 69 out of the last 72 months. And after steady growth over the last seven years, officials claimed the company captured 11.3% share of the market in 2015.
Officials said the company continues to focus on leading change, particularly as the retail sales process continues to be redefined by well-informed and tech-savvy consumers. In an ongoing effort to remain innovative and support the company’s long-term development strategies, JM&A President Forrest Heathcott recently announced several new executive-level promotions. They include:
Mike Caseywas promoted to group vice president of sales, where he continues to oversee the strategic planning of sales-related initiatives, as well as sales administration. Casey had served as vice president and general manager of sales and field services since 2009. He joined JM&A in 1984 as a specialist and has held a number of leadership roles throughout his career, including region manager, division manager, zone vice president and vice president of strategic alliances.
Mike Pritchard has assumed the role of group vice president of operations for JM&A. In this role, Pritchard oversees the company’s operational functions, including field support, product development, customer service and claims, Fidelity Insurance Agency, the business development group and strategic planning. Pritchard began his career with World Omni, a subsidiary of JM Family, in 1996 and held a variety of financial positions. In 2000, he moved to JM&A and led a number of departments before being promoted to vice president of operations. Pritchard transitioned back to World Omni as group vice president of operations in 2013 and was responsible for service center operations as well as training and business process re-engineering efforts.
Sandra Porceng was appointed to vice president of product development and directs the team accountable for managing product initiatives, including the oversight of existing products as well as the development of new products and programs.Porceng joined JM Family in 1997 as human resources generalist supporting JM&A and has held a number of HR leadership roles in several business units. Prior to her new role, she served as vice president of human resources, a role in which she led the enterprise HR operations functions.
Brian Walwyn has an expanded role as vice president of sales operations, directing sales strategy and development while continuing to lead the teams responsible for the Performance Development Center (PDC), specialists, OEM partners, and strategic accounts. Walwyn began his career at JM&A in 1994 as an F&I specialist. His management style led him to serve in several leadership positions throughout his tenure at the company.
Scott Gunnell was named vice president of sales strategy and development, overseeing the PDC, specialist group, sales process development and sales associate development. He joined JM&A as an F&I specialist in 2003 and two years later, transferred to sister company Southeast Toyota, where he held a number of sales-related positions. Upon returning to JM&A in 2010, Gunnell stepped into multiple sales operations roles and most recently served as director of sales administration and strategy.
Justina Davis was promoted to assistant vice president of the PDC, which provides training and consulting to dealer partners and clients in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Davis had nearly a decade of automotive management experience prior to joining the company as an F&I specialist in 1998. She has held various positions of increasing responsibility in training before moving to Southeast Toyota as director of sales training in 2008. Davis returned to JM&A in 2010 where she most recently served as director of the PDC.
According to the officials, the promotion of company’s former senior vice president and COO Ron Coombs to CFO of parent company JM Family Enterprises was another driver of the recent promotion. Rather than keep the traditional COO role, two new positions — group vice president of sales and group vice president of operations — were created. This strategy was aimed to expand responsibilities and support JM&A’s continuous growth by building its leadership capacity and enhancing an even stronger, more flexible operation.
