NAMAD TIME Dealer of the Year Nominee James Davis James Davis was one of a select group of 49 dealer nominees from across the country who was honored at the 107th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 3, 2024. The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. The award recognizes the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Davis was chosen to represent the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) in the national competition — one of only 49 auto dealers nominated for the 55th annual award from more than 16,000 nationwide. “The most rewarding part of my retail automotive career is when I help others achieve their dreams or plant a seed to allow them to dream bigger than they ever did before,” nominee Davis said. Davis earned a B.S. in industrial technology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro in 1980. On a whim, he responded to an ad for a car salesperson in Kingwood, Texas, and found a career path that perfectly suited his talent for sales and love of cars. “I also became aware that as a salesperson, my earnings were a direct result of my efforts and my ability to connect with people,” he said. “I began to consider how owning a dealership would be the key to a financial future with the ability to build wealth and bring others along with me.” Davis was named sales manager and then general manager of Deerbrook Forest Chrysler Jeep in Kingwood, where he began to see his vision for the future take shape. “I had the opportunity to build a high-performance, high-integrity team with an understanding of needs-based selling and relationship building,” he said. With the help of a Chrysler dealer/mentor, Davis was accepted into the Chrysler Minority Dealers Association (CMDA) program and was awarded Gulfgate Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram in Houston in 2002. Today, he is the sole owner of the dealership and has added Hyundai of Silsbee in Silsbee, Texas, to the J. Davis Automotive Group. “I attribute my success in the auto industry to my sponsor who not only recommended me to the CMDA program but continued to be a great mentor and sounding board for me,” he said. “I also could not have done this without the support of my wife, who graciously and selflessly allowed me to spend long days and late nights at the dealership, especially when our daughters were just babies.” Davis is grateful for the assistance he had early in his career from Chrysler and from his auto industry peers, and he continues to pay it forward by guiding others. He has served as president of the Chrysler Minority Dealers Association and is currently on the board of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers. “To help someone move from believing that a minimumwage job is the best they can do to becoming a successful salesperson; to know that they can own a home and send their children to college — in short, helping them achieve the American Dream is what now gives me the greatest reward,” he said. Davis is proud to have built a work environment based on honesty, integrity and caring about others. “My employees have fought with me in the trenches to make the dealership a success, and I want to do the same for them,” he said. “I share my success by offering employees fair compensation and benefits, which makes our business a great place to work.” To that end, Davis holds monthly town hall lunch meetings to share news, celebrate employee birthdays and milestones, and offer a forum for associates to make business announcements. He also hosts an annual company family picnic, which features food trucks and games for entertainment. And he takes all employees to see the Houston Astros play during his Game Days initiative. DEALERS’ CHOICE 14
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