The nomination of Shawn Ball, dealer principal at L&S Toyota of Beckley in Beckley, West Virginia, for the 2025 TIME Dealer of the Year award was announced by TIME. Ball was one of a select group of 49 dealer nominees from across the country who was honored at the 108th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Jan. 25, 2025. 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. Ball was chosen to represent the West Virginia Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition — one of only 49 auto dealers nominated for the 56th annual award from more than 20,000 nationwide. “I am proud to say that I am a true product of the American dream, having turned adversity into opportunity and achieving success through determination and perseverance,” nominee Ball said. And that dream began when he was a teenager working in a used car lot alongside his father in a small coal mining town in southern West Virginia. That’s where Ball, who earned a degree in business administration from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, in 1995, developed his passion for the auto industry. “For nearly eight years, I immersed myself in the business, learning as much as I could about every aspect,” he said. “I believed that one day, I would take over the family car lot. However, life had other plans.” Ball’s father was diagnosed with cancer in 1993, and despite his determination to beat the disease, he passed away in 1995. His family was forced to close the business at that time. “Two weeks before my father passed away, he expressed his concern about my future,” he said. “I remember telling him that I wanted to stay in the car business and eventually own my own new car dealership. He was skeptical but I assured him not to worry. Little did he know that that conversation would become the driving force behind everything I accomplished in my career.” Ball went on to work for another car dealership and later moved to an auto wholesaler, two jobs that he believes laid the groundwork for his success. By 2000, he secured a position in a Chevrolet store selling new cars and later became general manager of a Dodge dealership. In 2002, he bought into the Toyota store in Beckley and became the sole owner 10 years later. He has since acquired Advantage Toyota in Barboursville, West Virginia, with his brother and added Ball Toyota of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia, to his portfolio. He is also a multiple recipient of the prestigious Toyota President’s Award, given to dealerships that excel in all aspects of their operations. “Our acquisitions and successes have allowed me to build a strong presence in the industry and achieve goals I once only dreamed of reaching,” he said. “Looking back, I realize that even though my father passed away seven years before I purchased my first dealership, he unknowingly inspired me every step of the way.” A passionate advocate for the retail automotive industry in his state, Ball is proud of his work for the West Virginia Automobile Dealers Association’s political action committee over the last five years. “As a voice for our dealer community in West Virginia, I assist in the recruitment, education and the raising of funds for pro-business candidates and make it a priority to meet with legislators to support critical issues not just related to my profession but to the future success of my beloved state,” he said. “I have fought tirelessly for WVADA MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 17
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