Executive of the Month: Ticketech principal Kasman: High tech innovations are key to industry growth

"The parking industry has come of age," said Daniel Kasman, real estate professional and principal of Ticketech, the Long Island City company that has been creating and implementing software programs for New York City's parking garages for over 40 years. The industry's evolution has been gradual but transformative. Once a largely mom and pop business operated with a "cigar box" cash register and virtually no data analysis, the introduction of revenue control over the last four decades has changed the face of parking; now, data management is further revamping the industry into a sophisticated and profitable business. "For years parking failed to keep pace with the real estate industry to which it is intrinsically linked. As long as there was no way to track and analyze what was being collected, it couldn't grow and develop in its own right. The more you can control and monitor revenue, the greater the potential for profitability. Ticketech provides a reliable system that connects the entire operation," he said. Seeing Ticketech's complex and highly sophisticated software at work in over 80% of the tri-state area's garages, Kasman decided to meet with senior management including founder Isaac Seychett, COO Mauricio Cotto, CFO Giselle Seychett, and CAO Enrique Wauters. Beginning as an advisor, in 2007 he joined the Ticketech team. "The product is software, but its application is in parking facilities in the nation's most densely populated urban areas, starting with complex garage operations in New York City. Clearly Ticketech is of great value to the real estate community," said Kasman. Ticketech is widely used by major garage operators, by owners who prefer to manage their own parking facilities (Rudin Management, Glenwood), and by a number of institutions such as Stony Brook University Medical Center. The product's advantages are immediately apparent: customization capability, flexibility, ease of use, security, and prompt support, all of which provide superior levels of service and comfort to its demanding and discerning users. He credits Ticketech's latest platform, Ultra, with providing cutting-edge features that adapt to rapid change and upgrade requirements and interface easily with other programs and apps as the technology environment evolves. "Parking today is not the passive business it once was - it is active and very competitive. We are constantly seeking ways to improve and facilitate the customer experience," he said. Efficient parking operations are especially important in a tough economic climate. In the past, owners leased garages to operators, serving as a buffer and providing a steady stream of income. "It was a line item on a P & L statement," he said. "More recently, the business has been transitioning more to management contracts. There's more risk for the garage owner, but more upside potential from efficiently-run operations. The Ticketech system provides a valuable tool." In the years since Kasman joined Ticketech, additional changes have continued in diverse aspects of the parking business. The firm now deals more with public companies, consolidations, changing client structures and greater institutional presence. He works closely with the management team to strategize, plan, and advance Ticketech on several fronts: marketing, positioning, structuring transactions, and interfacing with clients. "There's a lot of third-party institutional capital in this business today - private equity, investment firms, banks. This marks a pivotal change, and we have had to adapt and evolve," he said. He has also played a key role in altering the company's business model. Ticketech upper-level executives now have direct ownership in the company, a move which has dramatically changed the dynamics. "We're all speaking as owners now, fully vested in the future of the company," he said. Kasman is confident that Ticketech will achieve even greater market penetration in the New York metropolitan area, and foresees that the company will retain its leadership role regionally and expand into more major urban cities along the east coast and eventually nationwide. "As we strengthen and gain relationships in the tri-state area, we are laying the groundwork for significant growth," he said. Daniel Kasman, Ticketech