I founded Automotive Executive Search International, in 1998 with the intent of providing automotive executive search services to vehicular manufacturers and suppliers throughout the Midwestern United States. As with any new business venture, I was concerned about the amount of time and money it would take to launch the company. However, my concerns were quickly eased as our firm was profitable within it's first 30 days and has had a great run since.

In the beginning we primarily focused our efforts on assisting Tier 1, 2 & 3 suppliers in locating technical staff and middle managers. In our first two years of business, we were fortunate to land several major accounts, such as ThyssenKrupp Budd and Meridian Automotive Systems and assisted each in as many as a dozen searches per year. However, in 2001, the automotive industry entered a period of transition in North America and as such I sensed the need to diversify our services and geographic focus.

For several years previous to 2001, I had sensed a need in the global automotive marketplace for quality retained executive search work. As such, we started from scratch and patiently developed our own retained search process after several years of experimentation. Additionally, we expanded our market focus by making it global.

Several years later these decisions have resulted in increased business for our firm and increased profits for our clients that are located from India to Italy. We hope someday to assist in your leadership search and selection process.

Jeff Ketchum, CRA
President & CEO
Automotive Executive Search International, Inc., a division of Lordstone Corporation