Manheim announced May 10 that Mark Ford, regional vice president for the Florida region, will retire at the end of this year, capping off a distinguished 33-year career. The company also promoted two new auction managers within Manheim’s Mid-Atlantic Center at locations in Maryland and Virginia.

Since 2013, Ford has been responsible for Manheim’s 12 operating locations in Florida, including Manheim Orlando, the company’s second largest location. During his tenure, these locations experienced double-digit increases in volume, outstanding revenue growth and strong operational efficiency.

Ford began his automotive career as a condition report writer at Bishop Brothers Auto Auction in Atlanta before joining Manheim in 1989. Over his successful career, he held leadership positions at Manheim locations in Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Ohio, before being named market vice president of the North Central Market in 2010.

With a collaborative leadership style and gift for empowering people to achieve their full potential, Ford was instrumental in creating Cox Automotive’s Future Leaders program in 2014 and recognized for rallying his teams to award-winning performances. Most recently, the Florida Region won Manheim’s Top Performing Region award in 2018 and Region of the Year in 2019.

“There’s no question that Mark has been a driving force for Manheim’s Florida operations and an inspiration to those who worked alongside him,” said Alan Lang, division vice president, Manheim. “We can’t thank Mark enough for his many contributions to helping shape Manheim’s future and for all he’s done for our company, clients and teams.”

Manheim also announced two leadership promotions within the Manheim Mid-Atlantic Market Center:

• Chad Spearman has been promoted to auction manager for Manheim Baltimore-Washington in Maryland. Previously the location’s assistant general manager, Spearman joined Manheim in 2013. As a member of the company’s Sales Effectiveness team, he helped train and develop over 400 Manheim employees, before moving into Sales Operations, where he assisted with the field roll-out of several key initiatives. Spearman holds a Bachelor’s degree from Southern University, a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Ashford University, and is a graduate of the Leading Through Personal Excellence Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education program. 

• Danielle Sweet has been promoted to auction manager for Manheim Fredericksburg in Virginia. She began her career with Manheim in 2015 as field sales manager supporting Manheim locations in Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Ohio. Most recently, she was assistant general manager for Manheim’s auction operations at Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Rochester where she supported the opening of Manheim Cleveland in 2016 and Manheim Rochester in 2020. Sweet’s career experience also includes a decade with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, working in various management positions. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a marketing/management concentration, from St. Catherine’s University.