
CBC: Who are you?
Dave: I am a dad to 3 kids. I had a son the day after my 19th birthday. I was divorced for a while and remarried and my son from that marriage just turned 19. So, I joke I had kids too young & too old. I got into automotive sort of by mistake and it’s been an industry that has been extremely good to me. Separate from Automotive, I love the beach/ocean at night. It’s so peaceful. I love to golf although I rarely get a chance to do it. I love coffee and specifically coffee shops/houses and the atmosphere around those. It’s not all about the coffee – it’s the atmosphere, the electric people.
CBC: How did you get into the Automotive Industry?
Dave: My dad was the Dean of Buildings and Grounds at a Community College in Worcester and I was enrolled in the computer maintenance program in 1986/87. This program was one of the top around to teach you how to repair computers. My dad said, “There’s a lot of math in that program, you sure you want to do that?” and I said “Absolutely!”. A couple of weeks later he revisited that and said “Hey, there’s a new program from Ford Motor Company coming to the school – you should look at that”. So, I sat in that and decided to join Ford’s Asset Program. I think I had changed the oil in my car once and stripped my dirt bike but I wanted to try. The Asset Program taught me how to work on vehicles. It was set up between three days of classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Automotive, Tuesday/Thursday: Academic. You did that in 9-week cycles. 9 weeks in the classes and then 9 weeks in a dealership to work in the “real world”. It was a 2-year program, and it wasn’t typical college – it was a constant 2-year cycle, and you graduated with an Associates in Applied Technology in Automotive Tech and usually, when you got out, you had a job with that dealership.

CBC: What's the greatest career lesson you've learned that you wish someone had prepared you for?
Dave: I would say that it is knowing when to voice your opinion or conviction and not always believing that you MUST voice that opinion or conviction. I spent a lot of time early in my career always seeing Black and White only – not grey. And that didn’t always serve me well.
CBC: What piece of advice would you give to someone entering the Automotive Industry?
Dave: 2 things: a.) learn as much of the business as you can and b.) get to know as many people as you possibly can that are outside of your own unique circle.
CBC: What keeps you going in this industry of so many ups & downs? What keeps you passionate about it?
Dave: At times, needing an income has kept me going. I have made some forays outside of it and come back to it. What keeps me going? This industry has so much potential for so many people and I don’t think enough people even look at it as a viable career choice. It’s not just the dealerships. There’s just so much opportunity – it’s such a huge industry – there is so much you can do, and not enough people look at that. That’s one of the things that keeps me going. What keeps me passionate about it? I’ve said for a very long time is my mission is to leave it better than when I came into it in 1987. I want to make enough of an impact that the industry is just a little bit better than when I joined it.
CBC: If you weren’t in the car business, what would it be? What has stopped you from making the change?
Dave: I kind of alluded to this earlier, I would own a chain of coffee houses – each one individually branded to the area that it is in. Boutique coffee places. Each one is completely different – almost like each one was a different type of magazine. What has stopped me? I had a kid who was very young, and the money just isn’t there in that business like you can in automotive.
CBC: What’s your least favorite part of the Automotive Industry?
Dave: My least favorite part is the poor reputation that it has. I really dislike any time you talk about you’re in the car business, everyone has a story about some bad thing that happened. Some bad people at a dealership did something wrong to them. I really dislike that because there are 17-18k dealerships out there – are there some bad people at some? Yeah of course. But there could also be bad people at coffee shops. But the car business got that reputation so long ago that it just persists – it drives me nuts. Because I’ve met more good people in this business than bad people.

CBC: What’s the biggest flattery/moment where you felt like you made a difference in your career?
Dave: It’s funny that this question was on my list because 3 days ago, I got a text and the person’s name was in my phone, but I didn’t immediately recognize the name. So, at some point, I knew this person was. I texted back and said “Hey, I hope things are great for you too!”. This was a person who went through my leadership training in automotive and he asked if I was still doing it. I told him I still had some people doing coaching but not out and about. “The world is missing out man because your guidance and coaching is invaluable”. It was cool to get that and see his own growth. It was cool to know that something you did now was able to help someone else.
CBC: What new technologies would you like to see incorporated into our industry?
Dave: I want to see a robot that answers every call that comes into the dealership. A robot that pokes service advisors every time the phone rings. I’d love to see that but it’s not going to happen. I would like to see a better CRM system that keeps tracks of customers like/dislikes/preferences so you can relate faster to your customers. Or a customer calls in and they only can offer you a Tuesday morning but that’s the one day you absolutely can’t do – that should be in there so they already know that you can’t do Tuesday mornings. You should be able to drive in and have a nice experience to immediately be known. All those little details will help elevate your experience and make it more personalized.
CBC: What are you doing to help curb the “misinterpretations” about our industry when attracting new talent?
Dave: I try to put the message out there about how great of an industry this is – the opportunities are endless. I worked at a six-store group that was owned by a guy who used to be a technician at one of those stores. You can literally go from the lowest position to the highest position in this industry. That’s not always available in every industry. You can get into it without education because they’ll happily teach you everything you need to know. Using my platform as much as I can that this is a good industry, and it can do a lot for you & your family.
CBC: Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? Where do you see the industry in the next 10 years?
Dave: Where do I see myself in 10 years? I would say that right now, being at OEM Interactive, the things we are building and growing – I certainly see myself still here. I would see my role kind of changing as we are in the building phase of a lot of things and 10 years from now will be different obviously. 10 years from now for Automotive? There’s a lot of things I hope will evolve over the next 10 years. I would like to see Automotive Careers looked at as just that – they are professionals and careers not just jobs. We went from mechanic to technician because of the technology of things. We went from Service writers to advisors. I would hope it would evolve to a place that they see as a career versus just a job to do as a college job/meantime thing. I hope it’s looked at as much more of a profession vs. just a job.
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