Kukui Corporation, a provider of integrated marketing automation and business analytics solutions for the automotive industry, says it has hit the ground running in 2020 with the addition of industry heavyweights to the company lineup and powerful new product features. 

Six months after receiving a record-breaking investment from SSM partners, Kukui reports that it has established a solid game plan for market expansion and growth. The company has made several strategic placements in sales, marketing and business development to provide focus on stronger partner support and a deeper industry knowledge base.

Luke Kusher has joined as the new vice president of strategic partnerships. Kusher comes to Kukui from MechcanicNet, now Epicor, where he led the company’s business development efforts for more than 15 years. 

Kukui also has expanded its’ marketing team to support new product initiatives with the addition of Rick Sage as director of marketing and creative services. Sage brings more than a decade of marketing and branding expertise, most recently as vice president of marketing and brand strategy with Honest1. 

In addition, while expanding the sales team, Kukui has tapped the talents of industry veteran Bill Adams, owner of Bud Adams Auto Repair for 18 years and host of the California Car Show radio talk show for the past decade. Also new to the sales staff are Karl Coleman, a 20-year sales veteran with both MechanicNet and Mitchell1, and Connor Tracy who spent more than 15 years as a store manager with Firestone, Sears, O’Reilly, and others. 

Kukui also has invested in substantial additions to the client services and development teams and has implemented an Agile Scrum methodology for the entire technical organization to support an iterative release schedule. 

According to Todd Westerlund, CEO of Kukui, “Kukui has had an amazing couple of years with month after month of non-stop growth topped off with the investment by SSM Partners in 2019. But, I know that to continue to be the best in our industry and to continue to provide our customers with the highest levels of success we have to continue to add to our collective expertise. So, I sought out the best people who could bring new perspectives and a wealth of experience to the Kukui family.  I am really excited to learn from all our new team members.”