Meet the Staff | Steet Ponte VW

Joe Steet Sr. has been working in the car business his entire life starting at age 11 reconditioning cars for his father and uncle's business, United Auto Sales! He lives locally in New Hartford, NY with his wife where they raised their two children, Joe Jr. and Carly, who also work in the family business! In the warmer weather, he loves riding his Harley Davidson with his wife, skiing at Gore Mountain in the winters, and spending time at his camp in Indian Lake in the summers with his family, especially his two grandchildren.

Steve Ponte Sr. has been working in the car business for over 30 years! He lives locally in Herkimer, NY with his wife, where they raised their four children. Steve's son, Steve Jr. also works in the family business! Steve is an avid golfer, having golfed at some of the world's best courses. He loves to spend time with his family, especially with his nine grandchildren, and taking their family trips to Lake George, Florida, and Disney!

Edward Jandreau is our General Manager at Steet Ponte VW! He has been working in the car business for over 15 years and loves meeting new people in our store. Edward lives locally in Rome, NY with his wife and two kids. Outside of work, Edward loves spending time with family and friends and camping. His favorite Volkswagen is the GTI. 

Clay Lonis is the Used Car Manager who joined our team in late 2020 having previously worked for one of our sister stores! Clay lives locally in Rome, NY, and his favorite VW is the VW Tiguan. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, and going to concerts, especially of his favorite band, Dave Matthews Band.

Tony Galvan is a Sales & Leasing Consultant at Steet Ponte VW! He has over 20 years of experience in the car business, and is a Master Certified Sales Consultant for Volkswagen!! Tony believes in always helping others and it shows in his work environment and also outside of work.  He lives in Boonville, NY with his wife, and if you know him from Boonville, you know he's known as the "Boonville Connection" for cars! Tony is actually an Austin, Texas native, and is a huge music fan (of course.) He loves giving back to his community, watching the Dallas Cowboys, and spending time with his wife. His favorite Volkswagen is the GLI and the Jetta. 

Lauren Harris is a Sales & Leasing Consultant at Steet Ponte VW and the face of our store, you may recognize her from our commercials on TV! Lauren has almost 15 years of experience in the car business and has been working with us at Steet Ponte VW since we purchased the store in 2011! Lauren lives locally in South Utica. She loves shopping when she's not at work, hanging out with her family, and is a big basketball fan and also used to play! Her favorite Volkswagen is the VW CC, which she also drives! 

Jason Jones is a Sales & Leasing Consultant at Steet Ponte VW! Jason has over 10 years of experience in the auto business as a whole, as he started out detailing cars and worked his way up as a Master Certified Sales Consultant! He is known as our resident "Tech Guy'' and is always helping us out when we have problems or questions with any of our technology from phones to computers! He lives locally in Verona, NY with his wife and their daughter, and loves fishing in his spare time. His favorite VW is the GTI Golf R, which he drives, and of course the VW Bus, because who doesn't love those?!

Chris Jones is a Sales & Leasing Consultant at Steet Ponte VW! Chris has many years of experience in the Auto Sales industry, and you may recognize him as he used to work at one of our sister stores! Chris lives locally in Utica, NY, and in his spare time enjoys spending time with his family! His favorite VW is the Tiguan. 

Jeff Velardi is a Sales & Leasing Consultant at Steet Ponte VW and is a longtime employee of the Steet Ponte Auto Group! He has almost 15 years of experience in the car business and loves what he does! Jeff lives locally in Utica, NY, and in his spare time he likes to Ski in the winters. Jeff's favorite VW is the Volkswagen Passat. 

Todd Crandall is the Finance and Used Car Manager at Steet Ponte VW who started working with us in early 2020! He comes to us with many years of experience in the Auto industry, and is enjoying his new role here at Steet Ponte VW. Todd is from local Herkimer, NY and in his spare time he enjoys playing softball, and watching the Dallas Cowboys! His favorite VW is the VW Tiguan, which he drives himself! 

Harold Coffin is the Service Manager at Steet Ponte VW! He started working with us in early 2019, having previously worked for us in the past! Harold lives in St. Johnsville with his wife and four kids, who he loves spending time with! In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, coaching, zen stone stacking, and has also been a member of the Masonic Temple for the past 20 years. He also is a Youth Guidance Counselor. He comes with many years of experience in the Automotive industry, especially as a Service Manager. What's his favorite VW, you may ask? "One that is not in the shop!" was his reply! 

Olivia Brutto is a Service Advisor at Steet Ponte VW who has been here for a few years now! Olivia lives locally in Frankfort, NY, and in her spare time she loves spending time with her dogs, which are Bernese Mountain, Newfoundland, and their puppies, her boyfriend, and family and friends. Her favorite VW is the VW Golf R, which she drives herself!

Harold Coffin III is a Service Advisor at Steet Ponte VW who started working with us in mid-2019! You may recognize his name because, yes, that is his father working next to him! Harold lives in St. Johnsville with his family. Outside of work, he loves being outdoors: camping, fishing, hiking, and of course spending time with his family and his dad! His favorite VW is the VW Tiguan. 

Rob Horton is a Senior Master Certified Automotive Technician at Steet Ponte VW,  having recently achieved this prestigious accomplishment in late 2017! Rob lives locally in Rome, NY, and his favorite VW is the GTI. In his spare time he loves working on his GTI and spending time with his family! You may also catch him and his wife in the local parades, as they usually drive one of our VW Beetles to show off! 

Amal Dervisevic is a VW Certified Technician at Steet Ponte VW who started working with us in early 2022! Amal lives locally in Schuyler, NY, and in his spare time, he enjoys going for rides in his car and spending time with his family and friends. His favorite VW is the VW GTI.

Ray Goppert is a VW Certified Technician at Steet Ponte VW who started working with us in mid-2021 as a Lube Tech! He finished his VW Training in 2022 and we are so excited for him. Ray lives locally in Rome, NY. In his spare time, he enjoys being outside and fishing. His favorite VW is the VW GTI.

Josh Knapp is a VW Certified Technician at Steet Ponte VW who joined our team here in late 2022 after working at one of our sister stores! Josh lives locally in Camden, NY, and in his spare time, he enjoys working on his car with his 3 year old son! His favorite VW is the VW GTI or the VW Golf R.

Mika Maphia is an Automotive Technician at Steet Ponte VW and has been working here for a few years. He lives in Herkimer, NY, and enjoys spending time with his family, and is an avid NASCAR fan! His favorite VW is the VW Jetta.

Mike Thayer is the Parts Manager at Steet Ponte VW! If you're looking for anything for your VW, Mike is your guy as he has 28 years of experience in the car business and Parts Department! Mike is a longtime employee of Steet Ponte VW, having worked with us since we purchased the store in 2011, and was promoted to Parts Manager in the beginning of 2021. Mike lives locally, in Russia, NY, and loves being outdoors, hunting and fishing in his spare time. His favorite Volkswagen is the VW Beetle! 

Sara DeGennaro is a Parts Consultant at Steet Ponte VW who has been working with us for a few years now! She was recently promoted in early 2021 to Parts Consultant from her former position as Reconditioning Associate so we are very excited to have her "up front" with us. Sara lives locally in West Winfield, NY, and is always reading, writing, or going on adventures when she's not at work. Her favorite VW is the VW Bus, she stated that ever since she saw April O'Neill pull up in her VW Bus on the Ninja Turtles, she has been a VW fan ever since!!