James Joseph Keras III

2016 KING OF CARNIVAL
King James Joseph Keras III
A
s Carnival Memphis celebrates our 85th Anniversary,
James Joseph Keras III has been chosen to reign as
King to honor a very important industry in the Mid-South
– The Automotive Industry, which is an integral part of our
area’s economic base.
King Jay has been involved in the Automotive Industry
for most of his life starting with summers working at the
family car dealerships, Jim Keras Automotive Group,
which includes Chevrolet, Nissan and Subaru automotive
dealerships on Covington Pike. Jim Keras Automotive
was founded by King Jay’s grandfather, Charles Everett
Reed when he opened Charles Reed Buick in 1945. After
Mr. Reed’s retirement in 1988, the dealerships became
operated by Jim Keras and continued to grow. During the
last 70 years, the dealership group has experienced much
success and received numerous awards. Jim Keras Nissan
has been one of the top performing dealerships in new
volume sales across the country and has been a member
of the National Dealer Council, as well as multiple winner
of the Nissan Circle of Excellence Award. Jim Keras
Chevrolet is a multiple award winner of Chevrolet's Mark
of Excellence. Jim Keras Subaru boasts one of Subaru’s
highest Customer Satisfaction Index rankings in the
country.
Our King quickly learned the value of hard work and
customer service selling cars as a young man. During
college, he worked not only at Jim Keras but in Dallas
at Ewing Buick/Pontiac/GMC where he was salesman of
the month and as Finance Manager with Mercedes Benz
of Plano, developing a greater understanding of the
automotive business. In between his early automotive
work, King Jay, worked for United States Senator
John McCain as a Research Assistant for the United
States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science &
Transportation during the 2001-2002 congressional year.
Senator McCain served as Chairman of the Committee
and King Jay provided research regarding federal
agencies such as NASA, FAA, NOAA, NSF and Federal
Research & Development Funding. Prior to co-owning
Jim Keras Automotive Group, King Jay gained great legal
knowledge by obtaining his Juris Doctorate degree from
The University of Denver College of Law. Today, King
Jay serves as co-owner and Vice President of Jim Keras
Automotive Group, and is responsible for overseeing
dealership operations with a staff of over 300 employees.
A lifelong Memphian, Jay matriculated from The
McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN and then arrived
at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He
was very involved with his fraternity, SAE, and received
a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in
Public Affairs and Corporate Communication. King Jay
The Keras Family: King Jay, JJ, Dallas and Coco
then attended The University of Denver School of
Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate degree. He
also graduated from the National Automobile Dealers
Association (NADA) Dealer Academy in McLean, Virginia.
King Jay has been very involved in our community
and has served on the Board of Directors of the Boys
and Girls Club of Greater Memphis, the Board of the 100
Club of Memphis, a non-profit that supports local fire and
law enforcement agencies; and also the Church Health
Center Development Board. Our King and his family
have a long and storied Carnival history. He served as a
Carnival Memphis Page in 1990, an Escort in 1999 and a
Scarab in 2001. Jay has also been a long-time member
of the Grand Krewe of Osiris. His father, Jim Keras,
represented Carnival as King twenty years ago in 1996.
King Jay met his wife, the former JJ Smith, while at
SMU and they have been married for 10 years. They
have a son, Dallas, and daughter, Coco who will serve as
Carnival Memphis Pages this year.
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