Hytec Dealer Services’ Jennifer Amatucci Remains Dedicated to Dealers and the Industry.
When it comes to commitment to the dealer community, Hytec Dealer Services’ Jennifer Amatucci, vice president of business development, has always been all in. Growing up in the Orlando area, she watched her father, Peter Brown, and uncle, Daniel Turay, both sow successful careers in the industry, with her dad rising to vice president at Delta Business Systems (eventually becoming IKON), which owned Hytec, and her uncle as an owner of Hytec. To support herself through college, she took on a part-time role at Hytec, the electric circuit board repair and service company servicing the independent dealer channel, initially tackling more administrative roles and quickly on to the sales and customer service side of Hytec’s business.
By the time she finished her Associate of Arts degree from Orlando’s Valencia College, she chose to pursue a full-time career at Hytec, rather than continuing with her studies to become a teacher.
“On my first trip to see dealers, I fell in love with the business,” recalled Amatucci, who started out covering the west coast of the U.S., up through western Canada in 1990. “I love meeting people, I love traveling. I love meeting dealers, listening to their pain points and trying to find a solution for them.”
Though Amatucci had worked her way up through the ranks to account rep in an industry where both her father and uncle held prominent roles, she still felt the ultimate responsibility to prove herself within Hytec and the industry.
“I did feel pressure to prove that I had the role based on my workability and what I brought to the company,” said Amatucci. “I knew my bosses always knew that—our owners were very ‘hands off’—but still, I felt like I needed to separate myself to show that this was based on my ability.”
Driven by a strong work ethic inherited from her father, Amatucci spent eight successful years in the field before returning to the home office to manage the sales team with one other sales manager, and eventually assumed the role alone. By 2004, her career trajectory shifted toward managing Hytec’s relationships with its manufacturers and setting up the business development side.
Today, Amatucci oversees both the OEM and dealer sales divisions, as well as marketing coordination. In the last five years, she has taken on more responsibility on the operational side of Hytec as well.
“As a small business, we are entrepreneurial in nature, we all wear many different hats,” said Amatucci, who recounted that the company has grown from about 40 employees in 1990 to about 130 today. “In addition to the business development side, I also partner with our President Eric Auman to look at the profitability of our programs, the process flows, the operations from the accounting side to the services side, to the distribution.”
Recently, Amatucci implemented Hytec’s reseller agreement with AMETEK ESP. Amatucci thoroughly examined AMETEK ESP’s business and products, how it is selling the products today, how it is pricing those items, and how Hytec can integrate them into the company and also bring added value to the relationship. Working closely with AMETEK ESP’s Dean Blachowski, sales manager, Amatucci developed the reseller program and integrated it into Hytec’s logistics and distribution program.
“This has brought great growth to the group of customers AMETEK ESP has purchasing through us,” said Amatucci. “The relationships have transitioned over to us seamlessly, because of the back-end support we put in before launching the program. We’ve seen good growth from those customers just from having the tools and the infrastructure Hytec has. On the aftermarket support side, that’s where some of the manufacturers and national dealer groups reach to us for support because we have the infrastructure and the ability to handle the logistics and the distribution that is customized for this industry.”
For this project, Amatucci worked across Hytec’s departments to develop and execute the program. She looked to the service, distribution, and accounting teams to work through every detail to ensure Hytec is prepared and organized to fulfill AMETEK ESP’s needs for its customers.
Accumulating varied work experiences and working across the company’s various teams are the primary benefits of working for a smaller enterprise. At larger firms, employees are often siloed in certain roles or departments; however, working for a smaller company often allows employees many opportunities to step in to take on more responsibility, building their skill sets and proving their abilities over time. At Hytec, for Amatucci, this structure has been greatly beneficial to her three-decade career, where she has been able to demonstrate her commitment to meeting clients’ needs, as well as the needs of the company.
“What’s worked best is that I started working with independent dealers and seeing and hearing their challenges, but I’ve also lived through the evolution and integration of many different companies,” said Amatucci. “Before Alco Standard, Danka, and Global Imaging Systems, I worked with these companies individually, and then, I’ve worked with them through their acquisition of multiple dealerships nationally, and eventually through the transition of the manufacturer’s purchase of these companies. When I work with a new customer, I take all that history and experience—what worked and what didn’t work, what were challenges in the aftermarket world as they were merging those companies—and try to help that customer come up with the best solution.”
As a small company, Amatucci appreciates Hytec’s ability to make quick, savvy decisions and start moving in those directions, but also understands that resources are more limited compared to larger organizations, so those decisions may take longer to play out.
“We may commit to investing in a certain area, but usually, I’ll want it faster than it’s possible,” said Amatucci. “We can move fast, but we also have to control it with financial growth. We have 140 employees who are counting on us to make wise financial decisions. That’s a challenge.”
Also challenging is balancing parenthood with a full-time career. Over her Hytec tenure, Amatucci not only grew her career but also her family. Today, she is the mother of four boys, ages 22, 19, 15, and 10. She credits her husband, Martin, for supporting her and the family as she has navigated the balance between personal and work demands. She also credits Hytec for giving her the time and flexibility to be both an employee and a mother.
“Every time I had my children, Eric [Auman, Hytec president] allowed me to work part-time, limited hours for the first year, some of which I worked from home, so I could feel good about when I was ready to dive back in,” said Amatucci. “That has been so rewarding because I didn’t feel like I had to choose [between being a mother and being an employee]. Having that flexibility and understanding was important. Even now, my day-to-day is flexible, because they know I’ll get the job done.”
In turn, this is how Amatucci manages her teams. She is well aware of the demands of home life on her employees and understands that family sometimes has to come first.
“If you’re a committed employee, and you’re responsible for letting us know, I know there will be times you want to chaperone that field trip, or be in your child’s class, or get them to that doctor’s appointment,” said Amatucci. “I never put pressure on that area because I know, as a good employee, they’re probably putting that pressure on themselves already.”
As Amatucci looks to continue supporting Hytec’s customers and employees as well as broaden the company’s footprint into other industries, she strongly encourages women to enter into the technology industry to build their careers.
“Don’t be afraid of technology,” said Amatucci. “I’d love to see more women in the service arena. Hopefully, with the focus on STEM education in the schools, we will see more people interested. There are a lot of women in marketing and sales in this industry, and I don’t think there should be any limitations for women on the service side. We’ve had some women technicians, and they’ve been great in the role, but I’d love to see more. Don’t fear that it’s male-driven. Recognize what you offer.”
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