AAA Appoints Mike Tully as Chief Executive Officer
Phoenix, Ariz. March 30, 2009 – Effective April 1, the AAA Arizona board of directors will appoint current President Michael Tully as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the auto club, where he will assume the reigns held by Jim McDowell for the past 12 years. AAA Arizona is the state’s largest membership organization and has served as an advocate for motorists and travelers for nearly 85 years.
“Since I hired Mike as chief financial officer over 11 years ago, he has demonstrated strong and dynamic leadership capabilities,” Jim McDowell said. “The Club has enjoyed tremendous success over the past decade, and I’m confident that under his leadership, the Club will continue to thrive and provide members with the products and services that enhance their safety, security and peace of mind.”
McDowell will become vice chairman of AAA Arizona’s board of directors. In addition, he will continue to remain active on a number of community boards and organizations, including the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Valley of the Sun United Way, and the Grand Canyon Association. McDowell will also act in a consulting capacity for AAA Club Affiliates, a holding company headquartered in San Francisco.
“I am honored to take the reigns from Jim, and look forward to building on his numerous successes,” Michael Tully said. “Under his guidance, we have grown our membership by 80 percent, increased our property and casualty insurance business by 300 percent, and doubled the size of our travel agency services. We have also added five branch offices, a state-of-the art member contact center in Glendale, and AAA Plus and AAA Premier membership plans. In addition, we’ve added several new member services, including auto repair, on-site battery delivery, car buying services, and in addition to our AAA contract garages, we now deliver emergency road service using AAA’s own fleet of vehicles. Without Jim’s leadership and the board’s support, much of this could not have been possible.”
Tully joined the Club in 1998 as chief financial officer. In 2005, he was appointed chief operating officer and in March 2008, he assumed the role of president. Prior to joining AAA Arizona, Tully owned an export finance company that arranged structured trade finance transactions for exporters throughout the United States. He has also held the position of chief financial officer at two major corporations and has authored trade finance articles for the International Trade Finance Report, the Institute of Management Accountants and Chase Manhattan Bank. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University. In addition, he recently completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Tully resides in Scottsdale with his wife, Heidi, and two daughters McKayla and Courteney.
AAA Arizona, the Arizona affiliate of AAA, provides automotive, insurance and auto travel services to nearly 800,000 Arizona members. Annually, AAA’s Emergency Road Service responds to more than 450,000 calls for help on the streets and highways of the state as well as providing insurance, travel, and financial services to AAA members and motorists. Since its founding in 1902, AAA has been a leading advocate for the safety, security, and peace of mind of all travelers. AAA can be visited on the Internet at www.AAAAZ.com. |
