Elevating the Fleet Industry

Brad Burgess serves as Interim Co-CEO, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Merchants Fleet. In his role he oversees both the sales & marketing teams with a focus on driving business growth and building brand awareness.
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Joining Merchants in 2023, Burgess develops creative solutions to address the needs and challenges of Merchants Fleet clients, while helping them stay on the cutting edge of fleet. Under his leadership, Merchants’ product offerings will continue to be best-in-class, with advancements related to technology, electrification, market expansion, and more. ​
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A tenured fleet industry professional, Burgess has more than two decades of experience in selling service solutions to Fortune 500-1000 companies. Prior to Merchants, Burgess served as VP, Commercial Operations, Marketing, and Global Relationships at Element Fleet Management, where his strategic mindset and robust understanding of the rapidly evolving fleet market established him as an industry leader. ​
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Burgess has been a chairman and executive board member of the American Red Cross, and most recently was a board member of the Baltimore County Police Foundation. Burgess received his BA in Economics from Washington College and currently resides in Baltimore, MD, with his wife Maggy and their three children Brady, Betty, and Benjy. ​

Kirk Hoffman serves as Interim Co-CEO, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at Merchants Fleet. Joining in June 2023, Hoffman brings more than 20 years of financial industry experience to continue building the momentum of the Merchants brand, redefine fleet industry standards, and serve Merchants’ leading clients.

Throughout his notable career as a financial executive, Hoffman has held leadership positions at some of the most renowned financial institutions in the world. Prior to his role at Merchants, he held the position of Managing Director and Head of Capital Goods and Fleet Coverage at BNP Paribas where he worked alongside Merchants Fleet as a financial partner.

Hoffman received his MBA from Columbia Business School, JD from Fordham University School of Law and BS from Northwestern University. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, hiking, biking and spending time with his family. He resides in Manchester, NH.

Jeff Nieman serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Merchants Fleet, where he oversees all operational functions, driving innovation and aligning strategies with the company’s mission to deliver exceptional client experiences and fuel growth in the evolving fleet management industry.

Prior to joining Merchants Fleet, Jeff held several key leadership roles at Hertz, where he gained extensive experience managing large-scale operations and implementing strategic initiatives. Over the course of his tenure, Jeff successfully led teams responsible for optimizing product operations, advancing field technology, and maintaining critical infrastructure. He also oversaw operations across multiple regions, managing sizable fleets and large employee teams while ensuring operational excellence and fostering innovation.

Jeff’s broad expertise and leadership in navigating complex operational challenges make him an invaluable asset to Merchants Fleet as the company continues to lead the industry with forward-thinking solutions.

Jeanine L. Charlton serves as Senior Vice President & Chief Technology & Digital Officer at Merchants Fleet. She joined the company in June 2018 after serving as a Merchants Fleet board member. Jeanine provides strategic leadership to all Merchants Fleet technology initiatives, to include the innovative and proprietary fleet management software – Merchants TotalView. She is focused on positioning the company for technological advancement and continued growth while creating a culture that celebrates innovation and collaboration.

Jeanine has an extensive Fortune 100 technology leadership background in the automotive, transportation, supply chain & manufacturing industries. She has been on the forefront of IT and business integration by leading the consolidation of manufacturing and technology processes and strategies to create a superior client experience at technology powerhouses DXC Technology, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Over the past 25 years, she has successfully enabled multiple enterprise and government transformations, leveraging technology, services, and people, resulting in improved financial, client, and employee metrics.

Jeanine is an active member of her community, having served on several boards as a technology advisor and contributing time & resources to many community initiatives, including Michigan Women in Technology, Forbes Technology Council, Susan G. Komen, and the Boys & Girls Club of SE Michigan. She has been a mentor in the Menttium Global Leadership Development Program for over 20 years. Jeanine has been named one of the National Diversity Council’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology, a 2020 Chicago CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Award winner, and a 2021 CIO100 winner.

Jeanine received training from Central Michigan University, Arizona State University, Thunderbird School of Business, Columbia University, Harvard University, and Competent Boards. Jeanine lives in New Hampshire with her husband Greg Burke. Jeanine remains active and passionate about health, fitness, and nutrition.

Alicia serves as Vice President of Human Resources at Merchants Fleet. She joined the company in July 2003. Alicia is focused on providing an award-winning great place to work for the 500+ employees who work at Merchants Fleet. Alicia has spearheaded initiatives in the areas of workforce planning, employee engagement, talent acquisition and development.

Alicia serves as an example of the career growth potential at Merchants Fleet. She started her career at Merchants as Human Resources Administrator and held different positions in the company from 2003 to 2017, until serving in her current role as Vice President with a special focus on talent management.

Under Alicia’s leadership, Merchants Fleet has been frequently named an award-winning place to work both locally and nationally. Merchants Fleet has received Best Company to Work For nods in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Additionally, the company has been Great Place to Work Certified during 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Other awards include Coolest Companies for Young Professionals and CEO Cancer Gold Standard. Alicia has supported an expanding workforce, starting with 180 employees in 2003 to now over 500 employees spread over 20 states and growing. She’s active in the community, supporting initiatives such as Stay Work Play NH, Manchester Area Human Resources Association, and the Society for Human Resource Management. She was honored with a 2021 Outstanding Women in Business Award from NH Business Review and a Human Resources Titan Business Award.

Alicia received her bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce College and her MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. She also holds SHRM-SCP and SPHR designations. She lives in the Greater Manchester, New Hampshire area with her family.

Nirmit Agarwala joined Merchants Fleet in May 2023 and serves as Vice President of Business Transformation. In his role, Agarwala is the architect of Merchants’ Business Transformation Office, which promotes value-creation through driving efficiency levers. This is accomplished in close partnership with business leaders, evaluating opportunities, and driving execution and change management across the entire organization.​

Prior to joining Merchants, Agarwala served in several positions at Wayfair, with his most recent position as Chief Customer Officer and GM of Incident Management. He also spent time as a Leader in the Operations Practice at McKinsey & Company, advising senior clients across a breath of topics in Strategy and Operations.​

Agarwala received his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and his BSE and MSE in Industrial Engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He lives with his wife and two sons in Nashua, NH.​