AUTOMOTIVE
JM Family chairman retires
Pat Moran, who six years ago succeeded her father, Jim Moran, as chairman of Deerfield Beach's JM Family Enterprises, has stepped down.
BY PATRICK DANNER
pdanner@MiamiHerald.com
Pat Moran has retired from her job as chairman of Deerfield Beach's JM Family Enterprises, six years after she succeeded her father Jim Moran at the helm of one of the nation's largest private companies.
Moran, 61, will remain a director of the diversified automotive company, which employs 4,500 people and does everything from vehicle distribution to insurance and retail sales. The chairman's post has been eliminated with her retirement on Jan. 2.
Colin Brown, JM Family's president and chief executive, will continue to oversee day-to-day operations of the company. Neither Moran nor Brown was available for comment, but the company said Moran retired to spend more time with her family and on philanthropy and not because of any health issues.
Moran is credited with building the company even as she fostered a family-style culture where employees are called ''associates.'' During her time as chair, JM Family's revenue rose to $9.4 billion from $6.6 billion. Yet JM Family has also appeared for nine straight years on Fortune magazine's list of the 100 best companies to work for, including ranking 41st this year.
Mike Maroone, president of Fort Lauderdale-based AutoNation, the nation's largest auto retailer, said Moran succeeded in the difficult task of following in the footsteps of her father -- regarded by many as a legend in the automotive-retail business.
''She brought a lot of warmth and caring into a fast-growing corporation,'' Maroone said. ``I think she was a catalyst for making sure that the company cared about the people who work there and [its] customers, and not just having this tremendous sales growth.''
JM Family's various businesses include vehicle distributor Southeast Toyota Distributors; JM Lexus, a Margate dealership; finance company World Omni Financial Corp; and insurance company JM&A Group.
The company is known for its on-site child care, among other amenities. Fortune said JM Family ''looks out for its own,'' citing a $25,000 contribution it made to a fund that helps employees meet emergencies.
Moran joined her father's business as a clerk in 1983, when she was just divorced with three children. She held a variety of posts through the years.
Moran became president of the company's biggest subsidiary, Southeast Toyota, and executive vice president of JM Family in 1989. Three years later, she was tapped as president and chief executive of JM Family -- positions she held until 2003.
''I think for women as a whole, she's been a great role model,'' said Tony Argiz of Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, a Miami accounting and consulting firm that has more than 200 car dealerships as clients.
In a 2003 interview with The Miami Herald, Moran recalled how she had vowed to herself to help families more when she was in a position to do so. So she founded Deliver the Dream, a retreat program for families with a member facing a serious illness or crisis.
The nonprofit combines recreational activities like hiking and swimming with therapeutic workshops. More than 2,400 families have attended the retreat since it launched in 2002.
''One of the approaches that I have toward business decisions is also helpful in the world of philanthropy,'' Moran said in 2003. ``You have to be open-minded enough to see that the direction you had originally taken may not be the best one.''
Jim Moran, who founded JM Family in 1968, remains honorary chairman. |
