Daytona Beach

Paint lines mixed
at this location:
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PPG
     Global
     Deltron
     Delstar
     Shopline
     Essential
     Duracryl
     Matthews
     PPG Vinyl color
Other
     Awl-Grip

Kip serves as manager for both the Daytona and Deland stores.  He is the husband of Melissa Jolly, our controller and accounts payable manager.  Born and raised in Hartwell, GA, he received a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Southern College of Technology in 1985.  He started with us in 1998 as an inside sales associate in Deland and transferred to Daytona in 1999.  He became Daytona manager in 2001 and added Deland in 2009.  In addition to that responsibility, Kip has undertaken many special corporate tasks as well; he is our resident computer and communications tech and has become a key personality in the success of Ben's.  In 2003 he received the Ben's Award for Leadership.  In his spare time he likes to play golf.  Kip and Melissa enjoy the blessings of two sons, Ethan and Seth.

Rick is the brother of owner Dennis Emerson and also New Smyrna manager Doug Emerson.  He joined his brothers already at Ben's in 1975.  Prior to that he had been an assistant to a general contractor, who later helped build three Ben's stores.  He has roots in both Colorado and North Carolina, but the family ultimately wound up in Daytona Beach.  Rick started in delivery, but in those early days everyone did pretty much everything.  Today he serves as an inside sales associate at the counter and in 2007, received the Ben's Award for Dedication.  He feels that everyone there works together as a team and considers them friends.  Outside of work he enjoys woodworking and projects that help upgrade his home.  His most admired person on the planet is his wife Sherry (since 1984).  He descibes her as "a constant source of inspiration and exhibits amazing strength of character".  And yet we can all look at Rick that way too.  For most of their married life, Sherry has been a quadriplegic, the tragic result of a blood clot after surgery.  These amazing people are parents to a stepson and in-laws to his wife.

Craig was born, raised and educated in Daytona Beach.  He holds an AS degree in Marketing from Warner Christian Academy.  He serves us as an outside salesperson for both the Daytona and Deland markets.  Craig has been around awhile and knows the ropes, having joined the Ben's team in 1982 as a distribution specialist, left for a year and came back working both delivery and counter sales.  He moved up to outside sales in the early 1990's.  In 2003, Craig received the Ben's award for Sales Excellence.  He enjoys the family atmosphere at Ben's and works hard at keeping his customers happy.  In his free time he likes to fish, ride his ATV and work on home projects.  Craig is married and has one son, one dog and one cat....one wife too.

Charles supports the Daytona and New Smyrna stores as an Outside Sales Associate. He joined the Ben's family in January 2007 and his experience in the auto refinishing business dates back to 1992. Charles enjoys the relationships he has with Ben's customers and being able to assist them when faced with certain challenges. He states, "Ben's is a company that truly rewards its team members for their personal and professional growth and provides an atmosphere that's comfortable to do so". In 2008, he received the Ben's award for Pusuit of Excellence. Charles shares his life with his wife Courtney and his three children.

Tamie serves as an Inside Sales Associate and is one of our most experienced team members in that position.  She started in August 1990 making deliveries as a Distribution Specialist and moved to the counter and telephones in 2001.  She was originally from Methuen, Mass. and moved to Florida in 1984.  Tamie has 3 children, one daughter and two sons.  You can't tell by looking at her, but she has one grandson too!

George currently serves as a Distribution Specialist.  He works out of the store and our warehouse.  He was born in Newton, New Jersey and was raised on a large farm 30 miles north of Philadelphia, PA.  He spent his military time in the Air Force and then worked for the General Electric Co. for 27 years as a Precision Sheet Metal Machinist, as well as a government cerified MIG and TIG welder.  George signed on to the Ben's team on 01/01/01.  He likes to watch professional wrestling and football.  He loves working on old cars and enjoys NASCAR stock car racing.  A professional square dancer, George loves traveling to different states to display his skills.  He is divorced, but has one special daughter.  As he says, "the wife left, the dog died and the farm got sold".  So what is George's hobby?  He says, "chasing fat chicks to help them get thin".  What a guy.

Jennifer has been in the refinish business since 1990. She joined Ben's in Jan. 1997 and served as an inside sales associate at the Daytona location until 2003, when she became the Deland store manager.  As she exited counter sales in that year, she was also given the award for Ben's Outstanding Sales Associate.  In March 2009 she returned to Daytona, filling a need for a skilled color specialist.  Since she has also done some deliveries, she has essentially been involved in all 4 inside jobs possible to have in the store.  Jennifer was born in Hollywood, FL and grew up in Deland.  She describes her mother as her "backbone" of dependability.  She is the wife of our Daytona warehouse manager, Mike Clark, who she says is not only her husband but her best friend as well.  In her spare time she enjoys cooking, decorating and playing with her "kids", the dogs.

Karen is working on her biography.   Coming soon....

Originally from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Mike's family moved to Florida in 1970.  He has been around paint stores his entire working life, having started as a delivery driver in 1985.  In Jan. 1997 he joined the Ben's team and did more delivery work, as well as one year in counter sales at our Deland location.  He transferred to Daytona and became an assistant in our warehouse.  When the warehouse manager left in 2001, Mike was promoted to run it.  He does an excellent job of keeping all the stores supplied with PPG, 3M and other items.  Handling truckloads of product arriving almost daily and getting it put away has become an art and a science.  Even in the middle of the hot summer, Mike always keeps his cool.  In 2002, he received the Ben's Award for Service Excellence.  He likes the family atmosphere at Ben's and in his time away from work, he enjoys working around the house and spending time with his family.  MIke is the husband of Jennifer Clark, who also works at our Daytona location as a color specialist.

Dave's background includes being a truck driver and an auto mechanic.  Originally from South Carolina, he moved to Florida with his family.  He started at Ben's in 2007 as a distribution specialist but now works mostly in the warehouse.  He appreciates the working environment at Ben's and in his free time he goes fishing.

In the past, Ben has been both a truck driver and a warehouse supervisor.  So he has a perfect fit at Ben's as he works some in the warehouse, but mostly is responsible for almost daily routes to each of our stores in Florida, bringing them what they need to restock from sales.  He hits the road while most of us are still in bed.  Ben is not the Ben, as some ask.  That Ben was Ben Kimball.  Originally from Ohio, Ben's family moved to Florida when he was 14.  He joined the Ben's team in 2005, and enjoys the people he works with.  He has become a valuable asset to the company.  In 2008, when he was out for a couple of months after heart bypass surgery, everyone pitched in to help take up the slack so that we could get him back.  In his spare time, Ben likes to ride his motorcycle and go camping.