Pub. 1 2021 Issue 2

23 Q: What are the big issues for Montana dealers in the next 5-10 years? A: The biggest issue currently is getting inventory and parts. In the long term, it will be finding technicians. There is a definite technician shortage. It’s hard to find younger people with the qualifications to work on the new cars because you just about have to be a computer engineer before you can work on them. The grease monkey days have changed. Now you need computers and laptops, and it’s hard to find the technicians who can do what is needed. The service personnel in the shop are important to us. Car dealers can emphasize sales, but if they don’t have people to support what they’re selling, they have a problem. Who is going to buy an $80,000 rig if they can’t get service on it? I stay in touch with people at the college up in Havre, and I try to find local guys who like living in a small town. As much as we can, we like to grow our own. If you take somebody and transplant them to Plains, Montana, they might not be happy because we don’t have the stores they are used to. If they are married, their spouses move with them, but if someone is single and moves here, they find that you don’t really have a dating pool here. It’s more like a mud puddle. That’s hard. We have been fortunate with COVID. We have hired some good people who moved from a good area where the town used to be smal l, but it grew. They stil l wanted to live in a smal l town, so they moved here with al l the credentials. We hired a service guy from Nevada. He was a great find. His in-laws were here, and he came with his family. For young guys who are 23-25, they wil l love it if they like outdoor sports like hunting and fishing, but if someone moves here and doesn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, that’s a problem. A lot of our staff are women. Al ly is a service writer, Heidi is a sales manager, Brittany does F&I, and Pete (her name is Becky, but she goes by Pete) does bookwork and accounting. However, we don’t have any women in the service department. Q: What are your goals as an incoming executive board member? A: I don’t have any real goals other than sitting, learning and giving input when I can. You learn a lot by listening. I may have some goals in a year or so, but first, I have to get my feet wet. I have been to one meeting in Helena, and I’ve already learned that Bruce Knudsen is an excellent leader who knows how to make everybody else look great, too. Q: How will your past experiences help you? A: Managing the dealership teaches you how to deal with people and problems. Q: What are your personal interests? What do you do for fun? A: I enjoy collecting, rebuilding and driving cars, especially old cars. The cycle is to fix, drive, enjoy and sell. Also, I collect old gas station memorabilia like gas pumps, signs and pictures. Sometimes I go to swap meets. I really enjoy the old stuff. My oldest car is a 1934 Ford two- door, which is in the showroom, but I also have four or five others. I sel l them periodical ly. My uncle owns cars, too. We use them in shows. We can drive them to work in the summertime, but then we put them away in the wintertime. Q: What about your family? A: My wife teaches seventh- and eighth-grade algebra in Plains. My daughter lives in Boseman. She is an aesthetician, and her husband manages a restaurant. They have a little girl. My middle child is a son who lives in Vancouver, Washington, and works for a construction company. He is an account manager. In addition to managing money, he keeps track of job costs. My youngest boy is going to school in Boseman and studying to be a draftsman.