The National Auto Auction Association’s newly established scholarship has its first winner.

Abigail Balk was named the inaugural recipient of the Ron Hope Memorial Scholarship for Auction Academy, the association announced.

Balk, the marketing/communications manager for Greater Rockford Auto Auction and Great Lakes Auto Auction, will join the Auction Academy’s Class 9, which begins in February.

Abigail Balk

During the NAAA World Remarketing Convention in October, the association announced it had established the scholarship to honor the legacy of Ron Hope, who died in June.

NAAA said Hope, who worked in the auto auction industry for more than 50 years and founded CARS Recon, Inc., was passionate about the association and its mission to give back to its members. He was an advocate for NAAA throughout his career and was a strong supporter of Auction Academy from its founding.

Balk joined Greater Rockford Auto Auction as marketing coordinator in December and quickly made an impact by expanding GRAA’s digital marketing reach on multiple social media platforms through use of multimedia, growing and coordinating large promo sales throughout the year, and evolving GRAA’s marketing strategy.

After earning an MBA in 2022, Balk was promoted to marketing/communications manager and expanded her role to include Great Lakes Auto Auction.

In 2023, she helped establish a partnership with the Automotive Remarketing Alliance to host and produce the Hearing Voices Podcast, with the goal of making a positive impact on the industry and helping others stay up to date on market trends, leadership, safety, education and more.

“We are so proud that Abbi is the first recipient of the Ron Hope Memorial Scholarship,” said Ryan Clark, president of GRAA and GLAA. “She is incredibly deserving of this honor. Abbi has truly taken our marketing to the next level and is always there to take on any projects that come up.

“It’s been exciting to watch her take on a larger role in the industry through the podcast, and I know she will be a great contributor to her Auction Academy class.”

Auction Academy is a two-year continuing career training program designed for auto auction and auto remarketing leaders. The curriculum includes industry certificates/training exposure such as ARA’s Certified Automotive Remarketer and Audit and Compliance Training; NAAA’s Safety, Data Security, Arbitration and Frame Damage Analysis; NADA’s one-day dealer training and more.