Pub. 1 2019 Issue 1

Giving back to the community is a big part of the culture of our dealership. One of my favorite community-oriented projects is our program to honor a veteran each quarter on Facebook. It’s an opportunity for us and our more than 7,000 Facebook followers to thank them for their service. We invite the honoree to our quarterly team lunch and we donate $500 in the veteran’s name to the Horses & Heroes program at McCormick Research Institute in Saint Cloud, which provides equine-assisted therapies to wounded warriors. It’s important for me to encourage our team members to participate in our community. I think it’s important that we all give a little in helping as many as we can. We’re a small dealership, but we try hard to never say no. What is your approach to helping dealers face challenges attheir dealerships? I think we can be a good source of information about the industry, as well as recruiting folks to be a part of this wonderful business. If you look back at your career and life, what would be three things that you have learned, that you would pass onto a younger member within the auto industry? Be nice, say thank you and appreciate that customers chose you. They have so many choices when it comes to buying or servicing their vehicle. If you could describe the best day in this business, what would it look like? There is nothing better than a busy day selling and servicing cars at a dealership. The customers are happy, the sales and service teams are happy, ev- eryone is busy and having a good time. Describe your all-time favorite vehicle (it can be one you’ve owned, or something on your wish list). What are you driving today? I have so many favorite vehicles. Probably the Ford GT. I currently drive a Ford F-150, a spectacular vehicle. Tell us about your family. I have been married 37 years to my wonderful wife, Sherri, and I have two great adult children, Sean and Ashley. We have two precious granddaughters, Emily and Logan. What is your favorite way to spend your free time? Any unusual hobbies? Seeing my granddaughters is number one. I also love to golf, in my free time. I love to play it, the history of it, watching it … Sherri and I are also very active running and supporting a bunch of charity 5Ks. Issue 1 2019 11 CFADA.ORG