Forty Under 40: Monte Johnston

Monte Gerald Johnston, 36, is working hard to keep up with his father, Gerald Johnston, former chief financial officer for Tyson Foods Inc. After several start-up businesses, he’s finally found his niche.

Johnston earned a financial managment degree from the University of Arkansas in 1992. He then went to work for Stephens Inc. in Little Rock. After a year there, he left to start his own temporary employment agency, A&C Services in Fort Smith.

In 1995, he switched gears and started a food brokerage company, Alliance International, in Fayetteville.

After two years, he started a company that would take him back to his hometown of Springdale.

Automatic Auto Finance is more than a “buy here, pay here” car dealership, he said. The company is more in the financing business, helping people with credit problems get into reliable cars, Johnston said. The company does all of the decision making and underwriting. It profiles a person and then put them into cars they can afford.

Johnston started the company from scratch with one store and a $1 million portfolio. Now he has eight stores and a $20 million portfolio. His goal is to reach the $30 million mark and continue to increase efficiencies.