AIMExpo 2016

Sam Dantzler
President
Sam's Powersports Garage, Garage Composites


Sam was the kid who grew up down the road from you who was never allowed to sit on a motorcycle. It was an image thing, not a safety thing, so motorcycles and tattoos were forbidden. So, he’d hide issues of Cycle World under his mattress for late-night perusing. Taking off to college in the late ’80s, he had secured both a motorcycle and a tattoo by the end of his first day on campus. That’s where it started, and he’s currently on motorcycle number 58. Sam began working in retail at a sporting goods store as a kid, selling motorcycles in college, and eventually found his way into a job as a retail sales trainer. He found out about LEMCO (Ed Lemco’s company) in 1999, and Ed brought him on in 2000. Sam became the director of training for Lemco in 2003, running the nine-month long Management Development Programs. With financing support from Mark Tkach and Bill Coulter (RideNow), the three bought the company from Ed in 2005 and named Sam as the new CEO. The name changed one year later to RPM Group (named after one of the training modules, Retail Powersports Management). Sam made an attempt to form alliances with OEMs, a constant source of friction for many dealers. Sam has been a columnist for Powersports Business since 2012 and is presenting at the Powersports DEALER Seminars @ AIMExpo for the fourth time.

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