Used Car News

The Florida Independent Automobile Dealers Association has a new
executive director and Quality Dealer of the Year.

The group named Steve Jordan as  the new executive director for the group earlier this year, while John Cousins received the Quality Dealer award.
Cousins, a regional vice president for the association, runs Southeast Car Agency.
Jordan and his predecessor, Larry Peters, both praised Cousins.
Cousins has served on several community boards and is involved in Catholic charities, Jordan said.
“He is definitely a guy who gives back,” Jordan said.
Peters said Cousins has a great reputation in the industry and is known by many banks and credit unions.
“It’s not about him,
it’s always about the
customer,” Peters said.
Jordan said the association will make a big push for Cousins in his efforts to win the National Quality Dealer of the Year award next summer.
Jordan, meanwhile,
replaces the management company run by Peters and Alan Monello, the association’s former director of education and dealer services.
Peters said the leadership wanted to shift the organization toward a full-time executive director system following some changes in staffing.
Jordan said he was offered the position following a national search process.
He will work out of the association’s Tallahassee office.
Jordan spent several years involved in a nonprofit political organization during the 1990s and in 2004 became a partner in a J.D. Byrider store based in Tallahassee, Fla.
He said he’s no longer involved in the daily
operations of that store.
But Jordan said the
experience of running a dealership will help him in understanding the challenges of Florida IADA members.
“(Being the association’s executive director) is just a different approach to running a business ,”
Jordan said.
Jordan believes he has the right experience since working for a nonprofit and partnering in a dealership.
Peters said he and Monello will continue to run the association’s education programs and assist with other needs through the pair’s consulting firm Automotive Industry Center for Excellence.