DALLAS, TX— The National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) has named KAR Auction Services President of Remarketing Services David Vignes and Cox Automotive Safety and Environmental Senior Director Kenny Jones as Warren Young Fellows. The honor recognizing their instrumental roles in developing and promoting safety initiatives for the auto auction industry was presented during the association's Safety Summit in Dallas, Texas, this month.
NAAA, which represents more than 340 wholesale auto auctions and 134 associate members, bestowed the award with a $2,500 donation each in their names to NAAA's nonprofit Warren Young, Sr., Scholastic Foundation. A Fellow is a donor at that level, or in whose honor or memory a contribution is made in that amount, to support the scholarship organization.
The corporate auto auction executives join an exclusive group of 111 others who have attained the lifetime distinction of being named a Fellow. They received a gold medal, a framed commemorative certificate and will have their names engraved on a plaque of esteemed Fellows at NAAA headquarters.
Established in 2004, the foundation has raised more than $2.3 million to help deserving students pursue dreams of higher education by awarding $52,000 in merit scholarships annually for full-time study at accredited institutions. It was named in honor of Warren Young, Sr., a pioneer of the auto auction industry who retired after 35 years of service to his profession and NAAA.
"Tasked with developing a world-class safety program for its ADESA auctions in 2012, David Vignes conceived the Safe T. Sam training program," said NAAA President Chad Bailey. "The course of short instructional videos has become the industry standard and, thanks to KAR generously making it available free to all our members, more than 75,000 people have been certified or recertified in auction safety."
The program's now familiar mascot, Safe T. Sam, is the brainchild of Vignes, inspired by his 16 years as an executive with the Walt Disney Corporation prior to joining ADESA in 2007. As the cartoon image began branding the program's materials, Vignes felt a bigger impact could be made if the logo came alive, making personal appearances at auctions as part of the campaign. So dressed as the character, he began touring the auctions; when his visits went viral, grabbing attention on social media promoting the message of safer auctions, Vignes had a mascot costume made and Safe T. Sam was born.
"Kenny Jones has devoted 26 years to safety, the last 19 years in the wholesale remarketing industry focused on building a culture of safety at Manheim," Bailey said. "His many initiatives include a driver training program that led to NAAA's initial educational video offering, 'Cycle of Safety,' as well as safety leadership instruction and safety process evaluations."
In 2018, Jones oversaw a campaign that successfully resulted in all Manheim auto auctions becoming 100 percent safety certified.
"And their dedication to making auctions a safer place to work and do business doesn't stop with these successful initiatives," noted Bailey. "These two gentlemen have written numerous safety articles for NAAA's "On The Block' magazine; they never hesitate to join in conference calls in our ongoing efforts to develop or improve our safety programs; and, they're always willing to give of their time participating in our safety seminars and summits. Those are just a few reasons why we're proud to recognize their contributions by naming them Warren Young Fellows."
