DETROIT — DealerShopTM, the newly renamed U.S. business counterpart of Montreal-based Leader Auto Resources (LAR), a supplier of automotive dealership and collision center resources, has announced the appointment of Vasil Petro to director of purchasing and Tim Rivington to corporate controller. Rivington and Petro will both report to Bill Gryzenia, president and CEO.
Vasil’s business development and management experience coupled with Tim’s expertise in financial leadership make for a strong combination of skills that will greatly benefit our organization and customers.
In his new role as director of purchasing, Petro will be leveraging his extensive expertise in program management and business development. Before joining DealerShop, Petro spent six years in a variety of leadership roles at Meritor, including his most recent positions as senior manager of business development and director of program management at AxleTech, which was acquired by Meritor in July 2019. Prior to joining Meritor, Petro worked at Federal-Mogul Corporation and BAE Systems. Petro holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix. He also received a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the PMI Institute.
Rivington, with exceptional experience with capital projects, forecasting and accounting, will lead DealerShop’s finance activities. Most recently, Rivington served as senior financial analyst at Meritor. Prior to that he spent three years at FCA Group as a budget analyst for forecasts and capital projects. Additionally, he has held positions in auditing and accounting at Abraham & Gaffney, P.C. and BeneSys, Inc. Rivington holds both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Wayne State University and is a certified public accountant (CPA).
“We are thrilled to welcome Vasil and Tim to our growing DealerShop team,” said Gryzenia. “Their backgrounds as automotive industry veterans will be a key asset in positioning our company for success. Vasil’s business development and management experience coupled with Tim’s expertise in financial leadership make for a strong combination of skills that will greatly benefit our organization and customers.”
Both Rivington and Petro will work out of DealerShop’s leased office in Birmingham, Michigan, and move to the company’s headquarters and distribution center in metro Detroit once it’s established.
The launch of DealerShop was officially announced on March 30, 2020, as the result of partnership between LAR and Resilience Capital Partners, a Cleveland-based private equity firm. DealerShop provides resources to help increase dealership and collision center profitability while acting as a one-stop sourcing partner, leveraging a vast network to source administrative supplies and services, warehouse and direct-purchase products and capital equipment. DealerShop aims to help dealerships and collision centers focus on customer support and service as a strategy for profitable growth.
For more information visit www.dealershopusa.com.
