Jason Kirkland has been in the retail automotive industry for 30 years, and he has worked at Jenkins Honda of Leesburg for 26 of those years. Jason has been a general manager there for seven years and currently serves as a director on the CFADA board. We recently talked with Jason about his life, his work and the industry in general. Where are you from, and what’s your background? What interested you as a child and young man? I was born in Clearwater, Florida, and raised in the Fort Lauderdale area of South Florida. I went to private Catholic school, grade school through high school, and played many sports while growing up, but my favorites were baseball and tennis. However, now I play golf because I injured my knees when I was younger and had to have two ACL replacements. Tell us about your education. I had one year of college at the University of Tampa. After turning 22 and getting into the car business, I made too much money and had too much fun to think about going back to school. I don’t have to go to work; I get to go to work. When did you become interested in the dealership industry? I knew a kid when I was growing up whose father was in the car business. His house was impressive. I asked him, “What does your dad do for a living?” He said his dad was in the car business. I thought that was pretty cool, but I didn’t think about it for myself until I met Mr. Jenkins when I was 18 years old and working at the Harbor Island Athletic Club in Tampa, Florida. He was a member there and would always talk. Mr. Jenkins persuaded me to work for him five years after the conversation with my friend. I was 22. How did you become the general manager at Jenkins Honda of Leesburg? When I first started working for him, Mr. Jenkins was the general manager at Courtesy Pontiac GMC. He started me out in sales, and after a year, I went into finance. I’ve worked for him all but four years since then, and I’ve been a general manager for him for 13 years. This article was originally published in 2021-2022 Issue 3. QUESTIONS FOR CFADA BOARD MEMBER JASON KIRKLAND I’ve worked as the general manager at Jenkins Honda of Leesburg for the last seven years. When I wasn’t working for Mr. Jenkins, I was helping my dad out with some little private lots he had. But Mr. Jenkins and I always communicated with each other even when I wasn’t working for him. Why did you join CFADA, and how have you been involved in it since then? Glenn Ritchey is a general manager in Daytona and the Vice-Chair at CFADA. He called me because he was looking for a Honda dealer to join the association. What are the benefits? Why is membership in CFADA important? Belonging to different groups is important because it gets your name out there and creates more business. Associations like CFADA put great 34 Pub Yr 2 | Issue 4
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