Our Authors

Jim Huntzinger is Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of BOK Financial, a $30 billion regional financial services company. He is responsible for managing the Alternative Investments Group, Strategic Investment Advisors, and Cavanal Hill Investment Management, Inc. Discretionary assets under management total $17 billion. Huntzinger began his career with Bank of Oklahoma in 1982 as a government securities trader and rose to the ranks of chief investment officer of the trust division in 1992. Ten years later, he was named chief investment officer for the corporation. As part of his current role, Huntzinger serves on BOK Financial’s asset and liability committee, which manages the corporation’s interest rate and balance sheet risk. Huntzinger received his bachelor’s degree from Ball State University and attended the American Bankers Association School of Financial and Funds Management at the University of Oklahoma. He is on the advisory board of San Miguel School of Tulsa.

James (Jim) A. Maxim Jr., serves as President and CEO of MaximTrak Technologies, and oversees the strategic direction of the company’s domestic and international operations.  As a hands on operator, Jim is actively involved with client relations as well as technology innovation, product design & development, keeping MaximTrak relevant in today’s fast paced environment.  As the recipient of CIO Review Magazine’s “Top 20 Most Promising Automotive Tech Solutions Providers 2015” Award, Jim’s mission is to stay on the cutting edge, providing agents and dealers with interactive, next-gen tools that enhance the consumer experience in the dealership.  Prior to launching MaximTrak, Jim Maxim served in leadership positions at General Electric and Lucent Technologies in Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance.  Jim currently resides outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife, Alison and two children James and Dylan.

Jim Schalberg is a 40 year veteran in the automobile industry where he spent 16 years in new car dealerships. He spent 16 years in the rental industry as an owner operator. Today, Jim is the owner of Jim Schalberg Auto Rental Solutions, and helps operators get started in the rental business as well as training and consulting with existing rental operations. He can be reached at 800-396-9128 or on the web at www.schalberg.com and e-mail at jim@schalberg.com.

Jim Smith, owner and Chief Executive Officer of SouthwestRe, has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. He began SouthwestRe in 1985, by establishing a nationwide reinsurance program offering limited capitalization Producer-Owned Reinsurance Companies (PORCs), as well as third party administration of reinsurance and direct insurance products. A nationally known reinsurance expert, Jim has an extensive background in insurance accounting, taxation and administration, and is a frequent speaker for insurance and automotive industry-related organizations throughout the country

Jimmy Atkinson is SVP and COO of AUL Corp. He began in the automobile business as a salesperson in 1983 and served as an F&I, Sales and General Sales Manager in dealerships. Jimmy has been a featured speaker on sales, leadership and F&I at eight NADA conventions, the F&I conference, RVDA, ATD and many associations and 20 Groups. In his current role with AUL, he works daily with agents and dealers across the country to create unique solutions to the rapidly changing marketplace we face.

Joe Verde Sales & Management Training, Inc., is an automotive sales and management training company focused on leadership, management and sales training. Joe Verde holds workshops across North America and pioneered virtual training with JVTN.

Joel Kansanback has more than 20 years of automotive finance and insurance experience. Starting with one of the premier F&I training and consulting companies, he worked his way up to regional business development manager for the Rocky Mountain region. After a six-year career for a major auto lender, Joel left his position as sales director to form Automotive Development Group in 2002. Based in Eden Prairie, Minn., Automotive Development Group is focused on giving dealers the highest level of training, support and reinsurance expertise coupled with very high-touch service.

John Braganini is a principal with the Great Lakes Companies, a multidimensional income development company based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

John Fuhrman is the director of training for OptionSoft Technologies. He has been training dealership professionals since 1996 and has authored 13 books on topics such as sales, leadership and management, and trained over 15,000 sales, management and F&I professionals.

John Palmer is the president and CEO of Dealer Marketing Solutions, the maker of ProMax Unlimited and ProCredit Express.

John Possumato is the founder, president & CEO of Automotive Mobile Solutions LLC, a comprehensive mobile marketing technology company dedicated to automotive retailers. Both a serial automotive industry entrepreneur and a retail sales floor veteran, Possumato has over 28 years of car industry leadership experience, having founded three other industry focused companies. Possumato began his automotive career as the owner/operator and sales manager of a small single point Chrysler store, and transformed it into the second fastest-growing small business in New Jersey, and the fifth largest volume Chrysler store in the nation in 1990.

Prior to joining United Development Systems as Director of Training in 2017, John has spent the past 30+ years dedicated to the automotive retail business. John worked for 16 years in the dealership environment before becoming a trainer for a fortune 300 integrated insurance company utilizing his dealership experience to train and develop dealership personnel throughout the United States. He went on to become Vice President of Business Development for that same company working with dealers, dealer groups, third party administrators, manufacturers and other insurance companies throughout the Americas. Additionally, John enjoyed several years as a partner in a large Harley- Davidson franchise. Today, John directs all training programs for UDS – Ranked 13 consecutive years as a top F&I Training company in America by Dealer vote, as well as a top Compliance provider.