SEASONED AUTO RECYCLERS
Whelan also serves as chair of the Collision Industry Electronic Com- merce Association (CIECA) Recycled Parts and Inventory Committee, and is proud that she received the CIECA award for outstanding leadership. She writes for industry magazines and is president of GJK Consulting. Looking back at her historic ARA presidency, she will acknowledge that one of the industry’s biggest chal- lenges and changes happened on her watch.
“The first industry consolidation
by LKQ and Ford directly impacted two leaders on the ARA Executive Committee with their businesses being purchased. At the same time, the industry wit- nessed the first internet parts locating service part- nership with ARA Service Corp. and a procurement .com that were providing a computer to ARA mem- bers free of charge to build this network. Both of these brought uncertainty and change to the industry at a time when change was not as easy to accept as it is today.
OHN C. VANDER HAAG, owner of Vander Haag’s Inc. automotive recycling business in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is very proud of the work his son, John M. has done for the business since the father retired 16 years ago. “He has done a wonderful job. When I left there were 65 employees and now there are 300 in six loca- tions,” said Vander Haag, talking about his son’s achievements. Vander Haag Sr., 85, took over a business his father started in 1939, known as Southside Junkyard. He changed the name to Southside Salvage, only to change it again when the business moved and he had to call it Northside Salvage before settling on the Vander Haag name later. The business has carved out a niche market, special- izing in trucks with six wheels or more (no pickup trucks). They focus on Class 3 and bigger and very heavy Class 7 and 8 trucks. “We are probably the largest truck salvage operation in the U.S.,” says Vander Haag. The senior Vander Haag likes to point out that he probably is the only ARA President installed outside of the country when he took the gavel in 1971 in Mexico City.
J
He has fond memories of first starting out in the business. “The first Convention I went to was in Chicago, and there were about 50 people there. I was 22, 23 years old from a little town of 1,350 in Iowa and I was shy, maybe. But the other attendees took me in and made me feel right at home. I learned enough at that convention that I kept going,” says Vander Haag.
years, RON VINCENT decided to go out on his own in 1993 and bought PMP, a full-service auto recycling business in Orangevale, CA, from the family that
A 42 Automotive Recycling | September-October 2016
fter working for the founders of Pick N Pull at their Rancho Cordova, CA location for several
John Vander Haag Sr. with wife.
“I have learned that to envision your success is so important,” says Whelan. “You need an inspiring and meaningful picture of what you want to accomplish. That picture of the industry is best viewed through the ARA and its members.” She urges ARA members to give back by sharing their experience with others and pay- ing it forward. “When you pass on your knowledge and provide coach- ing, you encourage others to achieve their own goals.”
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