MT. LAUREL, N.J. — Automotive Resources International, a global fleet solutions provider, announced that Bill McKee would retire as president, effective July 31. However, he will immediately take on the role of chief executive officer.

Meanwhile, promoted into the position of president will be Carl Ortell, an executive who has been with ARI since 1987.

Ortell started his career with Holman Enterprises, the parent company of ARI, as an internal auditor in June 1986. He transferred to ARI year later and has served in numerous operations and financial positions. Most recently, Ortell served as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

In his new role, the company explained that Ortell will assume responsibility for all ARI operations throughout North America and Europe.

"Carl has been the architect of our global expansion and a major influence in the development of ARI's management team," noted Mindy Holman, president and CEO of Holman Enterprises. 

The departing McKee started at ARI in 1992 as executive vice president and became president six years later. During his tenure, the company highlighted how it grew rapidly to be ranked second in the industry in fleet size and first in customer service.

McKee initiated ARI's formal strategic planning program, what the company says is a roadmap for future growth.

"Bill has laid the foundation on which ARI will continue to build," Holman insisted.

"His leadership, keen business sense and tactical capabilities will be sorely missed," she added.

In other company news, ARI also revealed that it promoted Tim McHugh to vice president of client relations. McHugh has been tasked with overseeing the company's client relations, implementation and billing departments

McHugh first joined ARI back in 1989 as a participant in its management trainee program. He has held positions in various departments during the 20 years since then, including licensing and compliance, vehicle remarketing and fleet administration.

In 1999, ARI promoted McHugh to assistant manager of fleet administration before eventually becoming manager. Two years later, McHugh became manager of client support services.

Company executives highlighted McHugh's most recent performance when detailing his latest promotion.

"During the past two years, Tim has guided his team in our client retention effort, a major initiative that supports our strategic plan," explained Frank Cardile, ARI's senior vice president of operations.