TIME AND ALLY FINANCIAL HONOR CONCORD DEALER Amanda Grappone Osmer Wins National Recognition for Community Service and Industry Accomplishments The nomination of Amanda Grappone Osmer, fourth-generation steward of Grappone Mazda in Concord, New Hampshire, for the 2024 TIME Dealer of the Year award was announced by TIME. Osmer is one of a select group of 49 dealer nominees from across the country who will be 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. Osmer was chosen to represent the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition — one of only 49 auto dealers nominated for the 55th annual award from more than 16,000 nationwide. “By far, the most rewarding part of my career has been helping to build a culture that puts team members first,” nominee Osmer said. “Every pay plan, job description, policy or procedure has the potential to lift our team up and remove barriers that prevent team members from reaching their potential.” A 1998 graduate of the University of New Hampshire in Durham, where she received a B.A. in Humanities, Osmer also earned an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 2022. Osmer’s great-grandparents, Rocco and Emanuela Grappone, were Italian immigrants who opened a gas station in Concord in 1924. Her grandfather, John Grappone, worked for 79 years to help expand that single business into the Grappone Automotive Group, which today encompasses five New Hampshire dealerships representing Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda and Toyota, as well as one of northern New England’s largest wholesale parts operations. “From a very young age, I wanted to spend time with my grandfather at work,” Osmer said. “He was also my neighbor, and even though he was a well-known car dealer who could have driven any car off the lot, he famously walked 3.5 miles to his Ford store each day, a route that took him past our house.” One day, she accompanied him on his trek to John Grappone Ford in Bow, New Hampshire, and was enamored with the entire Grappone experience. She started working in the dealership at age 16, filing, delivering mail and picking up summer afternoon ice cream orders. After college, Osmer apprenticed with Mazda and Toyota technicians and eventually moved into sales, parts and service, gaining an understanding of the entire dealership operation from the ground up. To prepare for future management roles, Osmer completed leadership training through Chrysler and at the NADA Academy. She spent two years as a sales consultant for Lexus of Marin in San Rafael, California, to observe the workings of a publicly held dealership. All of her education and experiences helped Osmer shape her management philosophy of building lifelong relationships with team members, guests and the community by serving with integrity, kindness and respect. She was asked to share this leadership ideology at a TEDx conference in 2014. Osmer incorporates her principles into the day-to-day management of the Mazda store. When building the new Retail Evolution dealership in 2023, she included a second-floor gathering space that is open to community groups free of charge. Called the Kintsugi Room, it is a meeting space designed to bring out creative and collaborative ideas that will make New Hampshire a better place. In 2018, she also instituted Leadership Grappone, a nine-month team member leadership intensive that is open to any team member. “The program teaches mindfulness, interpersonal communication skills and techniques designed to help participants be more resilient and thoughtful in their personal and professional interactions,” she said. The experience is capped off with a physical challenge event such as an overnight hike or a half marathon. An important voice for car dealers and the auto industry, Osmer has served 10
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==