POSITION: President
FAVORITE MOVIE: Forrest Gump
FAVORITE HOBBY: Renovating my 160-year-old home
FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: Palabana, Zambia
PROFESSION WOULD LIKE TO TRY: Run a nonprofit
NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT: Duct tape and knife /
Joe Hearn is a matchmaker – he finds people who want that wreck or that old rust bucket on wheels no one else wants.
It turns out there is always someone who wants it.
Hearn is the co-founder and president of Advanced Remarketing Services Inc., a 15-employee Warren company that acts as broker between car owners – whether they are individuals, insurance and leasing companies or charities that have received a donated car – and willing buyers such as salvage companies, wholesalers or international buyers.
“We started our company to handle the traditional headaches of dismantling or disposing of old or unwanted vehicles,” Hearn wrote in his 40 Under Forty application. “Our company built a technology platform that lets us interface with thousands of buyers to get these cars off the road and into the recycling chain quickly and efficiently.”
Not all the cars that pass through Advanced Remarketing Services are turned into scrap metal. Some are sold for reuse on the road, either in the United States or overseas.
Hearn says his most rewarding work is managing the vehicle-donation programs for numerous high-profile charity groups, such as Habitat for Humanity.
Hearn has been involved in the automobile remarketing industry since 1999, helping to launch Advanced Remarketing Services two years ago. In starting the new business, he assisted in designing the marketing materials and the software technology. Now he oversees day-to-day operations.
“We’re still a very young company, but we currently handle about 2,000 cars per month, and we expect to keep growing quickly,” he said. •
