By Ashley Reyes
The SEMA Truck and Off-Road Alliance (TORA)’s Volunteer Spotlight features Ben Winter of Transfer Flow, an active volunteer of TORA’s Education and Technology Sub-Committee, where he utilizes his 28 years of experience to educate and train council members in different truck and off-road segments of the industry.
His professional experience includes sales management, introducing service opportunities, and executing projects with successful profits. In 2010, he became director of business development with an emphasis on OEM sales and growth. His current role at Transfer Flow involves networking, customer maintenance, presenting new business and fielding diversity in manufacturing.
Get to know what inspired Winter to volunteer for TORA in his Q&A with the SEMA Truck and Off-Road Alliance.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the truck and off-road industry?
I really have a passion for what customers want, what their expectations are and what their trips are going to be. Being in the automotive and transportation segment, I am able to find out what they like to do; it may be commercial, recreation or government—I like to make sure that I find a product that we can offer and it fits exactly what their needs are.
I’ve been traveling through my years at Transfer Flow and learning the different segments. I really enjoy having that opportunity to grow with our customers, grow with our nation, and grow with innovation.
Why did you decide to volunteer for TORA? How has it or will it impact you?
Over my 28 years of being at Transfer Flow, I gained training, education and experience in the work truck off-road industry. What I was hoping to do was share that experience and training with this working group, as well as extract some information from other team members to make my company better, as well as to make the end users’ experience that much better.
What advice do you have for someone pursuing a career in the automotive aftermarket?
What I like about this industry is that it’s ever moving. It’s always changing and it’s always innovating. If you’re prepared to be agile and work through those different lines of education and learning, then this is a great place for you to start a career. There’s always something changing. There’s always something new on the forefront, whether it’s through government agencies, or it’s vehicles through the OEMS or it’s alternative fuels. There’s always something that you need to be one step ahead and that one step ahead will make sure that your company has success in the automotive aftermarket and off-road segments.
What is your dream truck or off-road vehicle? Where would we find you in it on any weekend?
It has to fit a lot of different characteristics. I have a family. I have of five kids, two of whom are out of the house, but I need to make sure my adventure vehicle is able to fit my family, my mountain bikes, all of my running gear and all of our camping equipment. So my dream vehicle would be a large SUV that’s able to get me off a beaten path. And that beaten path might not even be created yet, but I’d like to get back into some country that we can fish, go camping and ride our bikes around as a family.
My SUV would take me to a trailhead where I could do some running or do mountain bike riding. I can also take it to the back country to find a secret fishing spot and ultimately, I can take it across the country to the Boston marathon.