Auto Row- Keith Domino
Finance and Business Manager, Bill Penney Toyota of Jasper
Words by Cooper Kirkpatrick | Image by Justin Hunter
Keith Domino has spent decades in the automotive industry, refining his skill set and approach to customer care.
After graduating from college, Keith pursued a lifelong dream of playing baseball. But when that didn’t unfold as planned, he channeled his love of the sport into opening his own memorabilia store. He sold autographs, comic books, and baseball cards. While the business provided a decent income, it didn’t fulfill him as he had hoped.
In 1993, Keith’s uncle, Billy Smith, offered him a job at Gossett Motors in their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Billy already had experience in the car business and saw potential in his nephew. Under his uncle’s guidance, Keith found himself drawn to the industry. Over the next seventeen years, he learned every facet of dealership life, from sales to finance and eventually management.
“The car business is weird,” Keith laughs. “If you succeed at a spot, they don’t want to put you back. They want to put you where you’re going to benefit them the most.”
Despite his success in sales and management, Keith knew his passion was in finance. He enjoyed helping people navigate their purchases more than running an entire store. After many years working together, he and his uncle decided to part ways amicably. Keith went on to do contract work for JM&A, a dealership revenue acceleration company that deepened his expertise and expanded his professional connections.
It was through that role that Keith met Scott Crump, then-owner of Scott Crump Toyota in Jasper. “Scott and I hit it off very well, and after working with him for a month, I decided to make Jasper home.”
The decision proved to be the right one. Keith’s children grew up in Jasper, met their spouses, and started families of their own, turning the community into home in every sense of the word. When Bill Penney Automotive Group later acquired Scott Crump Toyota, Keith chose to stay on with the new ownership, finding the same values and commitment to people that had drawn him to the dealership in the first place.
Today, Keith spends his days searching for the best deals, collaborating with the sales team, and, above all, helping customers feel at ease with one of the biggest purchases they’ll make. “I believe that people actually hate buying cars,” he says. “So, if I can make them comfortable and treat them how I’d want to be treated, it typically makes the experience easier.” 78