The Ken Garff
Executive Team

Katharine Garff is the chair of Garff Enterprises, filling the position long held by her late husband, Robert Garff. She has been a board member for many years and is committed to leading the company to further growth and continued community service.

In addition to her position as chair of Garff Enterprises, she is also a director of the Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Foundation and the Chair of the Success in Education Foundation. Previously, she served as chair of the Utah State Board of Education and as a board member for the Utah Board of Regents.

Kathi is passionate about education and has dedicated many years to helping students across the state. Because of this passion, she and Bob founded the Ken Garff Road to Success and Ken Garff Keys to Success programs, which help Utah students succeed academically, continue their education, and achieve their career goals.

Kathi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business education from the University of Utah. She is a member of their National Advisory Council and was the former Chair of the U of U President’s Club. She is a former member of the Crimson Club Board of Directors and received the University of Utah’s highest honor, the distinguished alumni award, at the university’s Founders Day in 2020.

Kathi lives in Bountiful, Utah, and enjoys spending time with her five children, twenty-one grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

John Garff is the CEO of Garff Enterprises, Inc. He received his Bachelors of Science Degree from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business and earned his M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

He currently serves as a board member on the National Advisory Board for the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. In 2010, John served as President of the New Car Dealers of Utah.

John resides in Salt Lake City with his wife, Amy, and their five children.

After being rejected from medical school, Brett went to graduate school and received his MBA from Arizona State University and Thunderbird. It became quickly apparent to him that he is better at managing spreadsheets than a scalpel.

Early in his career, Brett worked for Convergys in Paris, France as Director of Finance Europe.  Brett oversaw all of Finance and Accounting for Convergys in France, Sweden, and the UK and was instrumental in leading the business to a profit for the first time in ten consecutive years.

Brett eventually left Convergys to work for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Organizing Committee, where he served as CFO.  Brett was instrumental in the financial turnaround and success of the 2002 Olympic Games that ultimately generated a $100 M+ profit.  After the Olympics, Brett was named a Finance Expert by the IOC and given assignments for 10 years to help current and future Organizing Committee plan and host Olympic Games. Brett currently sits on the Utah Athletic Foundation Board.

After the 2002 Olympics, Brett joined Ken Garff Automotive where he is currently the CEO and oversees all automotive operations and acquisitions.  Brett loves and thrives in the auto industry because he feels (and is known to say), “there’s always need for another good spreadsheet.”

Brett is married and has 4 children. Brett’s hobbies include working, golfing, boating, skiing, and trying to crack funny jokes. Ultimately, his favorite thing to do is spend quality time with his wife of 25 years, Traci.

Matthew grew up in Bountiful, Utah and graduated from Woods Cross High School. He received his Bachelor of Science Cum Laude in Accounting from the University of Utah in 1999, and he received his Masters of Business Administration with a Marketing Emphasis from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 2004.

Matthew was put to work early in the car business by his father where he swept dealership floors, mowed lawns and sold his first car at the age of 14. Matthew operated six Ken Garff Ogden franchises where he increased customer satisfaction scores and gained market share. He was also the Vice President of Business Development for Vehix.com.

Matthew joined the Ken Garff team because he wanted to further his knowledge of the automobile business and wanted to join the family business that was founded by his grandfather, Ken Garff.

As the Executive Director of Asset Management, Matthew now manages the real estate assets owned by Ken Garff subsidiaries. He oversees real estate properties, construction, maintenance, purchases, and sales.

Matthew and his wife, Nicole, have four children. He enjoys hunting, skiing, and spending time with his family.

Dax grew up in Casper, Wyoming and started his automotive career at a very young age; working his way through junior high and high school pumping gas and working on cars at small independent repair shops. Dax started his professional career and schooling in Phoenix, Arizona, and in 1996 he accepted a position with the American Honda Motor Company, which took him from Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale and almost everywhere in between.

Over a 17-year period with the American Honda Motor Company, Dax held many field positions including District Technical Manager in the Acura Service Division, District Parts Manager in the Honda Parts Division, and Assistant Service & Parts Zone Manager in Northern California for five years and South Florida for three years. His last assignment at Honda was as the National Manager of Service and Parts Marketing, in which he was responsible for Fixed Operations marketing and was involved in strategic planning for the Service Division.

Dax joined the Ken Garff Automotive Group because of the group’s vision of changing the automotive industry. In his role as Vice President of Dealership Operations, Dax oversees a team responsible for setting strategy and executional support for all dealerships in the area of sales, F&I, service, parts and collision center operations. He is most proud of his opportunities to help develop people so they can succeed.

Dax lives in Park City, UT with his wife, Christina, and his two children, Magnus and Esme. He loves mountain biking, motorcycling, and outdoor recreation in general. Dax’s greatest personal achievement is his family.

Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, Phil studied Accounting and Finance at Utah State University, graduating Cum Laude. Phil received his CPA license in Texas, where he earned his MPA from the University of Texas with Cum Laude honors.

Phil worked as a Finance Manager for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Organizing Committee and as a Senior Accountant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He joined the Ken Garff Automotive Group and served as both the CFO and the de facto Vice President of Business Operations for a number of years.

As the Vice President of Business Operations, Phil leads the operational efforts of an ever-growing automotive group.

Philip and his wife live in Bountiful with their four children. He enjoys basketball, reading, hiking, skiing and spending time with his family.

Michael lived in Massachusetts as a child and then lived in Utah since he was 11 years old. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of Utah in 1992 and then received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1995.

After Michael was an associate in the Salt Lake City law firm Scalley & Reading from 1995 to 1999, he joined the Salt Lake City law firm Ray Quinney & Nebeker P.C., where he was a shareholder and director and served as Vice Chair of the firm’s Automobile Dealer Law Practice Group. He was also a member of that firm’s Business Development Committee and its Recruiting Committee. Michael also served for one year as Chairman of the Business Law Section of the Utah State Bar.

In 2007 Michael joined the Ken Garff team as Vice President and General Counsel in order to help the company expand its footprint into other states. He oversees all legal matters for the company and provides counsel to the owners, executives, and management of the company. He also is a contributing member of the National Association of Dealer Counsel and has particular experience in the automotive, real estate, technology, and e-commerce industries.

Michael is married and has four children and two stepchildren. He enjoys healthy living, working out, hiking in the mountains, spending time near the ocean, and occasionally binge watching a great show.

A Salt Lake City native, Jim graduated from Brigham Young University with a Masters of Accounting. After graduation, Jim worked as an auditor for Deloitte and Touche, became a CPA, and had an extensive career at American Express, where he worked for over 20 years in a variety of financial and risk management related roles supporting prepaid and credit card products.

In 2015, Jim accepted the opportunity to become the Chief Financial Officer of Ken Garff, leveraging his experience and insight to add value to the automotive group. As Chief Financial Officer, Jim provides financial and accounting support for Garff Enterprises and other affiliated companies. He loves working with the great, dedicated people at Ken Garff and is always happy to provide information and perspective that has led to solid business decisions.

Jim currently lives in Salt Lake City with his wife of 25 years and his six children, 3 girls and 3 boys. Jim loves traveling, but he also makes time at home for doing home improvement projects and gardening. As a true family man, Jim considers his great marriage and terrific kids as his greatest achievements.

Brad received his Masters of Accounting from Brigham Young University. Before joining the Ken Garff Automotive Group, Brad served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rick Warner Automotive Group in Salt Lake City.

Brad is a partner with the Ken Garff Automotive Group, and he currently serves as President and CEO of the Kornerstone Insurance group of companies. Kornerstone provides F&I products that are sold to automotive customers. They also provide risk management and administrative services to the automotive group. Brad is proud of the partnership relationships that he has built over his career.

Brad resides in Salt Lake City with his wife, Brenda, and their three children. Brad is a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and he considers serving others as his greatest personal achievement.

Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Rick has always been in sales. When he was 12, he started selling health care products door to door. Rick received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Utah and a Dealership Management Degree from the General Motors Dealer Academy. Before joining the Ken Garff Automotive Group, Rick worked for a computer appliance company called Stokes Brothers.

Rick joined Ken Garff because of his love and admiration for the Garff family and the principles behind the business. He is responsible for developing initiatives that make a difference in the lives of the community. Rick also works with the Ken Garff dealerships on large community sponsored projects along the Wasatch Front.

Rick is proud of the opportunity to develop and launch the Keys to Success, Road to Success, and Code to Success education programs. These programs influence almost 300,000 students attending high schools and elementary schools in Utah.

Rick is married to Jennifer Garff Folkerson and together they have two children, Richard G. and Jacob R. Folkerson. Rick loves athletics and sports, fly fishing, hunting, gardening, and riding bikes. His greatest personal achievement is his wife and family.

Joe is a Utah native, born in Ogden and raised in Nibley. He graduated from Utah State University with a bachelor’s in business management, one class shy of a chemistry minor, and plans to attend dental school. However, dental school didn’t work out, so after spending a few years successfully managing a sales team, Joe decided to return to USU for a master’s in human resources.

He continued recruiting, building, and motivating teams, and became known for his incredible mentor skills, which eventually landed him a VP position that oversaw the HR department. When that company was sold during the recession, Joe spent the following years consulting, working for a staffing and HR company, and then a hospitality startup. He started at Ken Garff in 2015 as Director of Human Resources before being promoted to VP.

Joe loves people and feels lucky to have met so many unique individuals throughout his career. He enjoys helping people develop and takes great pride in watching them both succeed and get back up after they fail.

Joe is married with three children, and he enjoys traveling and experiencing new things with his family. He likes to golf and spend time outdoors, and he’s an avid fan of baseball and Utah Jazz basketball (he even coached a small-town baseball team to an undefeated season and their first-ever championship!). Joe also loves cooking and eating, and says that he can identify the burger or pizza from any national chain by taste alone. But, despite his passion for food, Joe has never had a cavity, making his inner dentist (and his actual dentist) proud.

Matt is a Salt Lake City native who graduated from the University of Utah as an English major and a Watching Utah Sports minor. After graduation, Matt worked at ad agencies ThomasARTS and Axist41 in account management and strategic planning. During this time, Matt went back to the University of Utah to get his MBA.

Matt worked with Ken Garff as a client during his time at ThomasARTS. When the call from Ken Garff came, asking Matt to make the jump from agency life to corporate life, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

As the Vice President of Marketing, Matt oversees all marketing activity on the brand level, managing the internal marketing team, and working closely with the different regions and dealerships on their marketing. Matt appreciates Ken Garff’s focus on changing the industry, breaking dealership stereotypes, and trying to make the car-buying process more enjoyable for the customer.

Matt loves and has helped develop the “We Hear You” campaign (though it wasn’t his idea, in spite of what he may tell you). He’s always proud when people make jokes about listening or big ears when he tells them that he works for Ken Garff.

Matt lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and four children. When he has the time, he enjoys gardening, baseball, historical and biographical novels, mid-1980s Nintendo games, yelling about the misuse of the Oxford comma, and eating well. His greatest personal achievement is being the 3rd place finisher in the 2011 Utah State Fair pie eating contest.

Jason started in the automotive business in 1984 at Great Basin GMC in Salt Lake City, UT in the accounting department while attending the University of Utah. After graduating cum laude with a degree in Finance and a minor in Spanish, he became the full time F&I manager at Great Basin.

In 1988, Jason became the F&I manager at Ken Garff Honda. In 1989, Jason went to work for American Financial & Automotive Services of League City, Texas as a district manager. His responsibilities included consulting and training with some of the largest dealer groups in the country. His clients included Red McCombs, Group One, Ken Garff, Larry Miller, and hundreds of other dealership organizations of all sizes. While at AFAS, Jason learned the inner workings of some of the finest F&I operations in the automotive industry. After nearly 14 years at AFAS, including service from 1995 to 2002 as the Divisional Manager over the company’s largest division, Jason returned to Ken Garff.

CEO Brett Hopkins recruited Jason with a vision of where the company was going. Jason always thought the car business could be different, and that he could help make it an honorable profession where people would love to work, and he saw this as his chance to make this dream a reality.

In his role as Utah Market President, Jason oversees the regional operations for all of the Ken Garff stores in Utah. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Sales and Finance. He continues to serve on the Executive Committee of Ken Garff and is heavily involved in Dealership Operations.

Jason and his wife, Shelley, have 4 children. In the community, he is involved with The Utah Down Syndrome Foundation, The Boy Scouts of America, and other youth organizations. He enjoys anything outdoors and counts running the Boston, New York, and Marine Corp Marathons as some of his greatest thrills. He is proud of the humanitarian efforts that his children have been involved with, including 16 or so schools that have been built as a direct result.

Dan, originally from Milwaukee, started his career in the automotive business in 1987 at HUB Chrysler/Plymouth. In 1997 he moved to Des Moines to work at Stew Hansen’s Dodge City and remained with the Ken Garff Automotive Group when the dealership was acquired.

Dan’s growth in the automotive industry has been a traditional one. He began as a sales professional, then continued on to finance management, sales management, general management, and now platform management as a Regional Vice President. Dan has served on the Chrysler Midwest Dealer Council for 10 years and the Chrysler National Dealer Council for 4 years.

Dan is proud of his work family that has now grown to 7 Ken Garff dealerships in the Des Moines area. He is honored to work with a team that upholds Ken Garff values every day, prioritizing treating people R.I.G.H.T. and knowing that every employee counts.

Dan has been married to Karen for more than 30 years and they have three children together. He enjoys playing golf, reading, bicycling, attending major sporting events, and traveling.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Allen attended to Texas A&M. He owned an export company before getting into the car business in 1999. Allen started his automotive career at Munday Chevrolet for 4 years, then spent 11 years at Davis Chevrolet before coming to Garff.

He joined Ken Garff after meeting with Brett Hopkins and hearing about the company’s philosophy. Allen believed dealerships should be “un-carlike”, transparent, and employee-centric, and knew that the Ken Garff Automotive Group was the right fit.

As the Regional Vice President, Allen oversees the regional operations for all of the Ken Garff dealerships in the Houston area.

Allen has been married to his wife, Kheli, for over 16 years and have four boys. Allen is a sports enthusiast. He loves to golf and enjoys watching his boys play sports. Allen is also a huge fan of the Texans (original PSL owner), the Astros, and the Rockets. His first car was a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge that his great grandma bought brand new in 1971. He wishes he still had it.

Paul is a native of Lake Arrowhead, CA where he grew up enjoying all the perks of lakeside living, including waterskiing, boating, fishing, and, of course, attending dock parties.

After high school, he enrolled in Cal State Fullerton and started selling cars at a Chevrolet dealership in Riverside to help him through. He graduated with a degree in finance and decided to continue his career in the automotive industry. Paul worked his way up the ranks, starting as a sales associate, then becoming a Finance Director, a General Sales Manager, a General Manager for two dealerships, and now Regional Vice President at Ken Garff, which he says is by far the best place he’s ever worked.

Paul and his wife, Kellee (his high school sweetheart), now live in Chino Hills. They have three wonderful children: twin daughters Sydnee and Karyssa, and son Dillon. They enjoy spending time outside barbecuing, swimming, and hanging out with family and friends. They also love travel and over the past few years have been able visit Europe, Australia, Mexico, and the Cayman islands.

Chris started in the automotive business in 1986 after school as a lot technician at Gus Paulos Chevrolet where his father was the General Manager. Chris worked his way through the fixed operations department as a parts driver, parts counterman, and service advisor. He later took a position as Service Director for Tim Dahle Nissan and then became their Fixed Operations Director. In 2009, he was promoted to General Manager at Tim Dahle Nissan.

He left in 2013 to become a Fixed Operations Director for the Ken Garff Automotive Group. He immediately knew that it would be a great fit because he and Ken Garff Automotive share the same values and focus on putting people first. He was later promoted to General Manager of Ken Garff Ford in American Fork, and then became General Manager of Ken Garff Chevrolet in American Fork as well.

When Ken Garff expanded to the Colorado and Wyoming region in 2021, Chris was promoted to Regional Vice President. In his role, he oversees all operations of the Ken Garff dealerships and is enjoying getting to know all the new employees.

Chris says there is no way he could have accomplished success in his career without the support of his wife, Wendy. He enjoys outdoor activities, travel, and spending time with his wife and their daughter, Paige, whenever possible.