Officers
Joel Kansanback
Executive Vice President
- 25 Years of automotive F&I experience
- Served as an F&I specialist, Account Rep, District Training Manager, and Regional Business Development Manager at Pat Ryan
- Served as Regional Sales Manager, National Accounts manager and Director of Sales at Citigroup
- Formed Automotive Development Group in 2002
Bill Kelly
Executive Vice President
- 25 years in the retail auto and insurance industry
- Served as an F&I Specialist, Account Executive, and National Product Manager at Western Diversified (Protective)
- Led Protective’s National Marine F&I outsourcing operation called Navvis Solutions
- Joined Automotive Development Group in 2004 and acquired Navvis solutions shortly after
ADG Team Members
Mark Ekhoff
National Trainer
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- Joined in April of 2006
- 4 years of F&I experience with Toyota, Chevrolet and Dodge
- 1 year as a new Car Manager at a Dodge store
- Senior buyer for Best Buy Software Department
- Owned and managed a national repping company
David Kelly
Director of Training Variable Operations
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- Joined in December of 2013
- Joined the auto industry in 2004 as a sales professional and was shortly promoted to Business Manager and then Finance Director
- In 2009 he began South Dakota Dealer Services, endorsed by both South Dakota Automotive Dealers Association and South Dakota Independent Automotive Dealers Association.
- Prior to joining the auto industry he enjoyed a successful 20 year career with Schwan’s Food Company as a national sales instructor and division manager.
Grant Torgerson
Regional Field Training Representative
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- Joined in February of 2017
- 10 years of experience in the automotive industry
- Worked in the Hybrid – Sales/F&I Environment
- Bachelor’s Degree in Finance
Francis Fagan
Regional Training Director (IL/IN)
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- Joined in July of 2014
- Has been in the Retail Automobile Business for 25 years
- Started off his career as a Sales Person and eventually became a Dealer in West Palm Beach Florida
Peter Celatka
Regional Training Director (IA, WI, FL)
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- Joined in August of 2013
- Has over 20 years in the Automotive Industry
- Served as the New Business Development Manager and Sales Manager and Consultant at American Financial and Automotive Services.
- Spent 16 years with a large Twin Cities dealer group where he served as General Manager, Sales Manager and Director of Finance
Mark Timperley
Regional Training Director (MN)
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- Joined in August of 2011
- 17 years of experience in the automotive industry
- General Manager of a large Honda dealership
- Managing Director of Malibu Products
- Graduate of NADA Dealer Academy General Management School
Heidi Heckes
District Training Manager (MN)
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- Joined in April of 2009
- 25 years of experience in the car business
- 8 years with JM&A
- 6 years in finance
- F&I Director of a 15 store dealer group
Ben Borer
Regional Training Director (SD, PA)
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- Joined in September of 2013
- General Manager of a Wisconsin Dealership
- General Sales Manager of a Minnesota Dealership
- 6 years of experience as an F&I Manager and F&I Director
Mark Fisch
District Training Manager (MN)
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- Joined in March 2015
- 13 years of retail automotive experience
- 6 years of F&I manager \ F&I Director experience across multiple brands
- Served as Director of Finance for large metro auto group
- Spent 4 years as General Manager of a metro Hyundai dealer
Steve McGurk
Senior Associate (IA)
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- Joined ADG August 2016
- 18 years of F&I Training / Income Development with Rosenberg & Associate in Iowa & Wisconsin
- 4 years of experience in Sales & Consulting with Reynold & Reynolds in Iowa & Missouri. 4 years with Fleetwood Enterprise in 12 SE States and 3 years of experience in Sales & Consulting with Chrysler Corporation in Madison Wisconsin.
- Family owned McGurk – Meyers Motors Iowa City Iowa
Brandon Lubich
District Training Manager (MN, WI)
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- Joined in November of 2013
- Began his automotive career in sales at a large Twin Cities Honda dealer
- Spent time on the show floor and in the Internet Department
- Served as Finance Manager for three prominent Twin Cities dealer groups before joining Automotive Development Group
Dustin Baker
District Training Manager (MN)
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- Joined ADG January 2017
- 12 years of experience in the automotive industry
- Served as Business Manager
- 7 years as a Finance Director of a Minnesota Dealership
Mike Browner
District Training Manager (IL/IN)
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- Joined in July of 2014
- 34 years of experience in the car business
- Started out selling cars, moved to Used Car Manager, then New Car Manager, to General Manager for 8 years
- From General Manager moved into a VP of a 10 store group role
Jim Devitt
Account Executive (IL)
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- Joined ADG June 2020
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30+ years automotive experience 10 of those years in F&I
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5 Years General Management
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7 Years VP Training and Development
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3 Years National Sales Manager
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Specializes in organic growth and dealership development
Jake Lambert
Account Executive (IL)
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- Joined in October of 2019
- 10+ years of experience in automotive retail sales
- Experienced background in digital sales process, sales management, & F&I
Kellen Vance
District Training Manager (NE, IA)
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- Joined ADG October 2016
- Spent 5 years as a Finance Manager at the Midwest Region’s largest Chevrolet dealer.
- Spent a year as the Finance Director training incoming Finance Managers.
- Spent 2 years training and developing Finance Managers in Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois.
Sammy Saad
Account Executive (IL)
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- Joined ADG in November 2020
- 20+ years of retail automotive experience in the Chicago area market
- Started as a Salesperson, moved into a Sales Manager role for 5 years, and served as a Finance Manager and Finance Director for 15 years with a high volume auto group
- Experienced in domestic, import, as well as high line automobile sales
Robert Christopherson
District Training Manager (NE)
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- Joined ADG September 2018
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7 total years of retail experience
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4 years as a Finance Producer & Director for a large dealer group
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3 years as a Sales Manager for the same dealer group
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Specialized in training F&I and Salespeople
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Bachelors degree in Marketing at Iowa State University
Nick Alderson
Account Executive
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- Joined in April of 2023
- Started my career in the Automotive industry in 2001
- Lot Technician, Warehouse, Dispatch, F&I specialist, F&I Development Instructor, Account Rep, District Manager
- Worked with Automotive Income Development companies in Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, and California