In order to accomplish these goals, Greenleaf has brought together some of the most talented people in the industry, supplying them with the resources necessary to meet those goals.

 

Ford creates Greenleaf

 

In 1999, Ford Motor Company Chairman Jack Nasser had a vision of "owning" the customer from the time a car was purchased until the consumer was done with the vehicle, related Sturgeon. As part of that vision, Ford acquired a group of recycling centers, forming Greenleaf.

Ford reached out to independent recyclers, coming to see their operations and making compelling purchase offers. Sturgeon was one of those independent recyclers approached. He saw this as an opportunity to turn his past hard work into a lucrative future. Not only did he sell his business, but went to work for Greenleaf as well.

Sturgeon started in the auto repair industry in high school by learning to keep his own VW running. In 1973, he turned his knowledge of VWs into his first business venture, AAA Bug Service, and soon began working on other types of imports. He started doing collision repairs in the late 70s, while he also bought and sold cars. In 1980, he took 35 wrecks, hired one employee, and opened a salvage yard. Within nine months, he closed the repair service to focus on the salvage business, AAA Small Car World.

 

In 1998, Sturgeon decided that he had grown his business as much as he could as an individual owner, and did a private stock offering to raise expansion capital. He believes his experience is a good lesson for other small business owners, stating that "70% of a much bigger company was worth more money than 100% of a company that belonged only to me." Bringing in investors helped make the business more attractive to an outside buyer, which ultimately turned out to be Ford.

 

"I believe my experience of selling to Ford was less difficult because I had already taken on shareholders and made the transition from the idea that 'this is my business and I can do whatever I want,' to becoming accountable to investors. This helped prepare me for my position in a large company where I had to work in a team framework with other professionals," Sturgeon explained.

Sturgeon continued to work for Greenleaf for 18 months, while serving on the CEO's Advisory Board and dealing with strategic, integration and best practices issues. In 2001, he left Ford and founded North Texas Insurance Auction, which he later sold to his largest competitor in the industry, Copart. In addition, Sturgeon is a founder of United Recyclers Group (URG) and co-author of "How To Salvage Millions From Your Small Business," a guide for all small business owners, not just the auto parts recycling business.

Management team has Ford background

About three years after forming Greenleaf, Ford Motor Company subsequently decided to refocus on what they did best - manufacturing new cars. Greenleaf and other non-core operations were put up for sale. Sturgeon was contacted by Dixon Thayer, who inquired as to whether he would be interested in joining with Gregory Winfield, Brian Nerney, and himself to discuss the viability of pursuing the opportunity to purchase Greenleaf from Ford.

Greenleaf President and CEO Dixon Thayer had been the CEO of Ford's Diversified Consumer Services Division, a $3.5 billion global holding company, when he left Ford in January 2002 to pursue the acquisition of Greenleaf.

 

Prior to joining Ford, he held successful leadership positions in several different industries and companies at critical times in their evolution. Thayer is the founding senior partner of ab3, parent company to Greenleaf.

Sturgeon recalls having some concerns about working with Thayer, "I wondered what the partnership would be like because Thayer came from a high corporate position. As it turned, out he is the best partner you could ever hope for. He is really down-to- earth, with a lot of common sense and is a good listener, as well. This is a complicated business and he is willing to learn."

 

Thayer brings a polished, diplomatic professionalism to the team. He manages all different kinds of personalities. He insists upon accountability and is goal-oriented. I've learned a lot from him about how to focus on the task and get results. It has been a very enriching experience for me to be part of this team."

Winfield controls the purse strings

Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Gregory Winfield also spent time working with Ford's various subsidiaries, including Greenleaf, developing profit improvement strategies. He also wrote and delivered a series of training programs (Managing for More®) for site, regional and corporate personnel to highlight how to implement action plans, which tied improved business performance to employee compensation.