by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Dealer.com president and co-founder Rick Gibbs has been named chief executive officer and president of the Burlington-based tech firm. Company founder Mark Bonfigli will focus on innovating and evolving Dealer.com's workplace and unique culture of wellness and community engagement in the newly created role of chief Earthling. He will remain on the Board of Directors.
Under Bonfigli's leadership for the past 14 years, Dealer.com has become one of Vermont's fastest growing and largest companies, and a category-leading brand in the automotive industry. Because the company culture has been a key driver to Dealer.com's growth, Bonfigli decided that he will dedicate his leadership position to ensuring the workforce and culture remain an integral part of the company's continued success.
As chief technology officer, Gibbs (see Q&A with Gibbs) has been a driving force behind the company's industry leading products and technology. Since his appointment to president in 2010, he has orchestrated phenomenal growth for the company, strengthened performance, and helped the company better align with customer needs. Gibbs's ability to combine creativity with strategic foresight has enabled him to structure Dealer.com as an organization for seamless scalability, long-term growth and success.
"I have decided it's time for me to step away from day-to-day responsibilities as CEO, and focus my energy and passion on growing and continuing the spirit of our company," said Bonfigli. "Rick has been my partner in creating this business, and I am beyond confident that he is the best person to lead this company as CEO. With his strategic vision and leadership capabilities, and my dedication to our positive energy and culture, we are more than ready for our next stage of growth."
"I am energized about my new position and am ready to lead Dealer.com," said Gibbs. "I respect and appreciate everything Mark has done for this company, and his devotion and inspiration has madeDealer.com an incredibly special place for our people and for our customers. I look forward to what lies ahead as we continue to chart new territory in the auto industry as a category leading brand."
"This is a great move for Mark, Rick and the company," said Jason Chapnik, chairman of the Board of Directors. "They are both amazing leaders and are now positioned to focus on what each does best. They have the vision and fortitude to keep Dealer.com nimble and responsive, while staying true to its original vision and values."
"The culture of wellness, innovation and collaboration at Dealer.com is possible because of the people we bring into the company, and also because we have nurtured it at every stage of growth," continued Gibbs. "As we continue to develop, we have to keep our spirit alive because that is what makes customers want to work with us, and talented people want to work here. I am looking forward to working with Mark to ensure that we continue our commitment to our people, product and customers."
Since the company's inception in 1998 with five founding employees, Dealer.com now has almost 700 employees, bi-coastal offices, and serves nearly 40 percent of the auto industry with dealership marketing and operational solutions.
Q&A with Rick Gibbs
VBM: What are the annual revenues for 2012?
Gibbs: We are estimating our revenues to be north of $180 million.
VBM: How do you plan to grow the company (greater market share and/or new products or services, and what might they be)?
Gibbs: We have a lot of opportunities for growth. While we serve roughly 40 percent of the auto industry with our solutions, there is still room for growth. We believe that every dealer in the world could someday be running the Dealer.com platform on some level. We are most excited about helping clients solve real world problems using the products and services that have been developed at Dealer.com over the last 14 years.
For instance, this year we introduced our industry-changing CRM solution, which puts us deeper into the dealership operations. We now have the ability to serve both critical needs at a dealership marketing and operations and to do so in an integrated way that leverages shared data. This gives our customers an entirely new level of simplicity, visibility and control over everything. Weve made it easy to see how each aspect of marketing and operations complements and affects the other from advertising spend and reach, to competitive inventory pricing, to sales staff performance, to using customer history to better negotiate a deal. We are finding great innovation opportunities the more we integrate our offerings.
The most exciting aspect of our future growth is the opportunity to innovate side-by-side with customers. We find that many of our customers are extremely engaged and are interested in being a part of their future solutions. CRM is a perfect example it was built by dealers, for dealers. This dealer-centric approach has been a big contributor to our growth in the past, and will continue to be going forward.
VBM: Mark is a gregarious person, how does your management style differ, if at all?
Gibbs: Mark has an undeniable magnetic, entrepreneurial spirit, and I lean more towards the reserved side. Our personalities complement each other well, and our philosophies and beliefs in how to manage Dealer.com has and will always remain constant. For the past couple of years, we have been fulfilling roles that play to our strengths he with culture and me with overall operations management and this announcement just formalized the roles and titles.
VBM: What kind of car (vehicle) do you drive to work, and what on the weekend?
Gibbs: I currently try to ride my bike to work every day. About two years ago, I decided that I needed a better way to get some exercise so commuting to work via bike became the answer. On the weekends youll find me still pushing the pedals unless our family is headed to Stowe to make some turns. In that case, well jump in our Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
About Dealer.com
Dealer.com is a leader in automotive digital marketing and operational solutions, serving automotive retailers, OEMs and media companies worldwide. The company employs approximately 700 people in its Burlington, VT, and Manhattan Beach, CA, offices. For more information, visit www.dealer.com.