April 2021

Page B6 APRIL 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on B DESIGN l PRODUCTS l VENTILATION 7 2 0 . 5 8 3 . 1 8 8 6 l V I S I T OU R I D E A G A L L E RY l D U N C A N S T UA R T TOD D . COM H earse H ub ’ s Y ear in R eview At the end of each year, we like to look back and evaluate the impact HearseHub had for the year. 89,947 is the total number of “Hits” HearseHub had in 2020 What is a “Hit”? A “Hit” is not merely someone visiting the HearseHub website. A “Hit” only oc- curs when a visitor looks at the details for a specific vehicle. If you aren’t familiar with HearseHub’s in- ventory, the main inventory page, called the List- ings page, shows a collection of 24 vehicles. Of course, there are multiple Listing pages which com- prise the entire inventory. Each of the 24 ads on the Listings page has a “View Details” button. When this button is clicked for a vehicle, it shows more in- depth information for that vehicle. It is the viewing of this details page that counts as a “Hit”. Mike Jamar is founder and co-owner of Advanced Integration Technology. Mike has been working with computers since the early 80s and started Advanced Integration in 1994. Advanced Integration specializes in Internet inventories designed for spe- cialty vehicles and equipment. HearseHub was created through a collaboration between Advanced Integration and Nomis Publications, and is now in its fifth year of service. HearseHub brings together funeral vehicles from a number of dealerships that specialize in high quality funeral vehicles. HearseHub offers funeral directors a large, and easy to shop inventory, of funeral vehicles. You can reach him at Mike@AITAdvantage.com. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at By Mike Jamar Your Source for High Quality Funeral Vehicles Most of the vehicles are offered by professional dealerships that specialize in funeral vehicles. Oth- ers are offered by individuals or funeral homes. 12,124 is the total number of direct links to dealerships’ websites in 2020 Each vehicle ad on the Listings page also has a “View Website” button. When clicked it links the website visitor directly to the owning dealership’s website. 3 is the number of vehicle types included in the HearseHub inventory The vehicle types included are Funeral Coaches, Lim- ousines and Funeral Specialty Vehicles. As of the writ- ing of this column there were 279 new and used funer- al vehicles in the HearseHub inventory. Almost all are what we call Business Quality, or ready for being used by a funeral home. 7 is the current number of exterior vehicle colors The color choices change over time, based on the in- ventory, but the current colors are Black, White, Sil- ver, Blue, Gray, Gold and the all-encompassing “Oth- er”. HearseHub does offer a color search, if a specific color of vehicle is needed. buying cooperative focused on Texas and Michigan. In 1989, starting with the Elderlite Corrugated Fiberboard Casket and working closely with the Elder family founded Elder Davis, Inc. which quickly grew to become the larg- est cloth covered burial and cremation casket manufactur- er in North America. Gerald continued with its new own- er when Elder Davis was sold in 1997. These experiences prepared Gerald for leading Vandor to anticipate North America’s yearning for ever better cremation products by creating Starmark Cremation Products in 2004. Gerald enjoys being an outlier and leading the Vandor R&D team to constantly develop new and useful high eye appeal products at reduced costs that can be sold in very high volumes and meet if not exceed customers’ ex- pectations. Several recent examples stand out as notewor- thy. When Starmark launched the Transporter Crema- tion Container in the mid-2000s it was at first ignored by many in the funeral industry as unneeded and unwant- ed. Gerald’s consistent reply was “that funeral profession- als just don’t know they need them yet and once they try them they will see how good they are.” Vindicated, the Transporter has become the highest volume cremation container sold in the United States that includes an inte- rior. When this R&D team created the patented injection molded plastic Sure~Lock Cremation Urn, it soon grew to be the highest volume urn sold in North America. Ger- ald’s team also created ceremonial rental caskets that are wider, longer, deeper, and include a crank adjustable bed and easily replaced interior head panels. This team also created compact designed ceremonial rental casket inserts that require less space, lowest shipping costs, and high functionality for all North American funeral homes. Star- mark is currently the largest volume producer of ceremo- nial rental inserts for all brands in the United States. Most recently Gerald and the Starmark team launched the Ar- tisan Series Cremation Container products and all signs lead to sustained record breaking annual sales growth. Gerald comes from a family of casket builders as his fa- ther Forrest Davis founded Goliath Casket in the mid- eighties which continued for nearly four decades under the ownership of Gerald’s brother, Keith Davis. Among his many talents, Gerald is a one-time professional musician who majored in Alto Saxophone at Ball State University and Fort Wayne Bible College (now Taylor University). Gerald met his wife Annette while serving in the United States Army as a music director/arranger in Germany. In retirement Gerald plans to catch up on music skills and spend more time at home with his wife of nearly 47 years. With their four married children, eight grand- children and one great-grandchild there is plenty to keep them busy. His newest toy, a John Deere tractor, will transport him back to his younger farmer roots. All of the Vandor team wish Gerald and Annette the greatest joy and know he will never stop contributing to the ongoing success of its customers. Continued from Page B1 Vandor/Starmark President SCOTTSDALE,AZ— J3Tech Solutions (J3Tech), a sister company of Johnson Consulting Group, has announced the ac- quisition of and partnership with Funeral Results Marketing. J3Tech provides tech-based solutions in the funeral and cemetery space. Funeral Re- sults Marketing is a digital marketing com- pany with strengths in website design, on- line arrangements, pay-per-click marketing, and search engine optimization. “J3Tech works to redefine how funeral pro- fessionals communicate with the families they serve through better technology,” explained Jake Johnson, president and CEO of Johnson Consulting Group. “Rob Heppell and Funer- al Results Marketing brings a deep knowledge of a funeral business’ presence and marketing online, so the acquisition is a logical fit.” “I have partnered with Jake to expand the support and reach of Funeral Results Market- ing,” said Rob Heppell, co-owner and consul- tant of Funeral Results Marketing. “As part of J3Tech, we can combine our creative and strategic digital branding with the data-driven powerhouse of the Performance Tracker cus- tomer experience and survey analysis tool.” “Adding more integrated web-based solu- tions for the benefit of our clients and the profession is our number one priority,” add- J3Tech Solutions acquires Funeral Results Marketing, Expands Offerings Rob Heppell Jake Johnson ed Lori Salberg, director of J3Tech. “Ac- quiring Funeral Results Marketing allows us to provide more support, resources and so- lutions for clients who are not only grow- ing their online footprint but also turning to technology to make better business deci- sions and to communicate more effectively with the families they serve.” With a dedicated teamat the forefront, J3Tech will anticipate and identify market trends and will create digital technology solutions within the funeral and cemetery profession. “It is our job to stay in front of changes in the way people do business, to see trends as they form,” Johnson said. “This new strategic partnership on the digital side of the funeral business is an evolution of that process.” J3Tech Solutions is a technology driven company that provides tech-based solutions in the funeral and cemetery space. For more information on J3Tech, reach out to Lori Salberg at lori@j3techsolutions.com. Funeral Results Marketing is a results-fo- cused digital marketing agency solely fo- cused on assisting funeral homes, cemeter- ies, cremation providers and suppliers to grow their businesses. For more information on J3Tech and the Funeral Results Market- ing partnership, reach out to Lori Salberg at lori@j3techsolutions.com