Nowcom - Management

Don Rufus Hankey, President

With more than 12 years in the automotive industry, Rufus Hankey has experience in sales, financing and management. Hankey’s previous experience includes sales and financing for Midway Ford as well as being the General sales Manager for the company.

Rufus came to Nowcom in 2000 as its President. Nowcom’s goal was to enable customers to run their business from one software program. DealerCenter was created to allow users to manage inventory, book car values, provide financing and work deals. With Westlake Financial’s focus in sub-prime auto paper, and Knight Management Insurance Service’s focus in insurance products for the auto industry, these partnerships have proven to be a synergistic one.

Today, Nowcom currently has over 10,000 dealers that subscribe to its services, and is gaining both market share while at the same time increasing the product offering to its dealer base.

Rufus graduated from University of Southern California in 1995. In addition, Rufus is a member of the board of directors for all the major companies that comprise the Hankey Group of companies. Mr. Hankey was born, raised and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

A message from Don Rufus Hankey about the Hankey Group Companies:
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Jay Kamdar, Executive Vice President

Jay Kamdar began his career in the field of ship repairing, building and structural engineering in India, before moving to California to pursue his career in the IT sector.

Jay received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State University Long Beach and joined Nowcom Corporation as a software engineer. He has worked his way through the ranks and is currently the Executive Vice President of Nowcom Corporation.

Jay’s vast experience in designing and managing enterprise applications and formulating strategic initiatives to leverage Nowcom's core competency have proven to be of great value to the Hankey Group of companies and our customers. Jay received his Executive MBA degree from the University of Southern California.

Robert Lekstrom, Chief Operating Officer

Robert Lekstrom began his career in the financial services industry over two decades ago, working as a teller for a small community savings bank in Massachusetts. He quickly worked his way through the ranks of the organization serving his last 10 years as Senior Vice President – Chief Information Officer.

He has a broad background with hands on experience in Accounting, Financial Analysis, Risk Management, Information Technology, Human Resources, Commercial Construction Management, Project Management, Strategic Planning, Operations, Marketing and Disaster Recovery Planning. During his career he spoke on various technology and financial operations topics at multiple national and regional trade conferences. Robert also served five years as Chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals in Webster, Massachusetts and two years on the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission.

His educational background includes business finance and management at Nichols College, Massachusetts School for Financial Studies and the National School of Banking.

As Chief Operating Officer at Nowcom, Robert is responsible for conceptualizing, analyzing and executing strategic business initiatives to increase revenue, streamline operations and maximize sustainable competitive advantages.

Vimal Kumar Nair, Chief Technology Officer

Vimal has over 15 years of application development experience. As Nowcom's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Vimal is responsible for planning and managing all activities for software development and the IT infrastructure. This includes all new applications development projects, enhancement projects, maintenance projects, and support for an array of business systems as well as staff management. Vimal's technical / problem resolution management skills, coupled with his dedication to customer service have proven to be a true value-added asset to the Nowcom Corporation.

Vimal’s extensive understanding of the latest IT trends provides Nowcom with the foresight for future application development. His daily management and problem solving responsibilities enhance the efficiency for Nowcom and the other Hankey business units.

Vimal holds a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Physics from the University of Bombay as well as an Executive MBA degree from the University of Southern California.

Matt Mee-Lee, Senior Vice President of Southeast Asia Operations

As Sr. VP of Southeast Asia Operations, Matthew Mee-Lee is responsible for Nowcom’s operations in the Philippines. Matthew focuses on the management and growth of Nowcom Global Services, which provides software engineering, quality assurance, call center, and back office services and support to Nowcom and the Hankey Group of companies from the office in the Ortigas area of Manila, Philippines.

Matthew brings over 17 years of financial software development and business management experience to Nowcom. He has served as VP Software Development for PCLender, a mortgage banking software company, where he led the growth of the development team from just a few engineers to over 25 by forming an offshore development center. As an entrepreneur, he founded and led Techmonde Corporation, which provided offshore employee leasing services with staff specializing in building architecture, mechanical and electrical engineering, accounting, print and web design, and software development.

Matthew is a licensed attorney (Hawaii) and has counseled businesses and individuals on issues ranging from securities regulation, fair debt collection practices, lemon law, software licensing, business formation, intellectual property, and international business. He completed his undergraduate education at University of Oregon and his Juris Doctor at Santa Clara University, and holds the CISSP certification for information security.

Brian Erskine, Senior Vice President of Latin America Operations

Brian Erskine joined the Nowcom team in 2012. He has 17 years of experience in asset management, consulting, strategy, and business development in North America, Europe, and Asia. His experience encompasses multiple industries including transportation, food and beverage, manufacturing, and investment finance.

Prior to joining Nowcom, Brian resided in Saigon and Phnom Penh, managing and developing investments and negotiating key partnerships in Southeast Asia. His objective is to bring the integrated suite of Nowcom and other Hankey Group technical and financial services to a global market, with Latin America as the top priority, thus realizing the worldwide growth potential of secured consumer finance for both consumers and shareholders.

Brian was graduated with an AB with honors from Harvard and with an MBA in finance from Wharton. He is fluent in French and Spanish and proficient in Vietnamese.

Rufus Hankey
President

Jay Kamdar
Executive Vice President

Robert Lekstrom
Chief Operating Officer

Vimal Kumar
Chief Technology Officer

Matt Mee-Lee
Senior Vice President of
Southeast Asia Operations

Brian Erskine
Senior Vice President of
Latin America Operations