2004 Entrepreneur of the Year: Charles Rotuno, Matchmaker

Smart Business Cleveland, Jul 01, 2004 by Klein, Dustin S

President and CEO

OEConnection

Founded 2000

www.OEConnection.com

Competition in the auto industry is fierce, and getting the Big Three automakers to sit down at the same table and play nice isn't easy. So it's that much more impressive that Chuck Rotuno, president, and CEO of OEConnection, was able to bring together General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler to form a joint venture that provides auto dealerships and their wholesale parts customers with business-to-business Internet-based logistics and parts procurement, products and services.

Rotuno's vision arrived in 1999, when he took a job at ProQuest, an information technology company that owns and operates a substantial automotive division that commands $100 million in annual revenue, more than 500 employees and a customer base of more than 30,000 franchise car dealerships. Rotuno envisioned multiple Internet-based solutions that could improve efficiencies within the highly laborintensive original equipment replacement parts industry. He served as the primary catalyst, leading the team in negotiations with the Big Three automakers to launch a joint venture with ProQuest in 2000.

Today, as president and CEO of OEConnection, Rotuno's vision has become reality. The Richfield-based firm's signature product, D2Dlink, has revolutionized the workflow and infrastructure of dealership parts departments by connecting trading partners for the timely location and purchase of OE replacement parts.

And, its CollisionLink product has transformed how collision repair shops validate and purchase replacement parts by providing faster and more accurate information about purchases.

Rotuno says the next issue OEConnection plans to tackle is data mining and reporting. Later this year, it will launch a product aimed at, plugging dealerships' profit, leaks that come from not having solid information about sales and inventory at their fingertips.