Bill Healy, president and chief executive officer of Karmak, and John Lebel, the company’s chief technology officer, recently graduated from the American Truck Dealers Dealer Academy.
Academy director Jim Schoonover says it is the first time an industry supplier has had executives graduate from the program. “I believe this is a first for the ATD Academy and demonstrates the interest Karmak has in providing an exceedingly effective management tool through their DMS,” Schoonover says.
According to Healy, the reason he and Lebel decided to attend the academy was so they could better understand the business from the dealer’s perspective. “We hoped to gain knowledge of the requirements of the academy so as to better assist our dealer customers who attend it,” Lebel says. “This effort has extended into the development of new reports as part of our DMS, as well as the creation of internal classes at Karmak to inform our employees about the academy.”
Two other Karmak employees are in the current class at the academy, and two others will be attending a later session. “The Karmak personnel who attend the academy gain valuable knowledge of the challenges facing dealers, as well as experience working in and analyzing dealer operations,” Lebel says. “We intend to continue this relationship with the ATD Dealer Academy.”
The ATD Dealer Academy is an 11-month training program that combines six weeks of classroom instruction with 45 weeks of work experience in the sponsoring dealerships. The classes address financial management, parts, service and new and used truck sales, and conclude with a week of overall dealership management.
