2024 TIME Dealer of the Year Nominee: Fredrick “Fred” J. Timbrook F red Timbrook is the 2024 TIME Dealer of the Year nominee for West Virginia. On Feb. 3, 2024, he, along with 49 other dealer nominees from across the country, will be honored at the 107th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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. “My retail automotive career has given me the opportunity to help others achieve their goals and dreams,” Fred said. “As a result of my success in this business, I have also been able to financially support many causes that improve people’s lives.” Fred graduated from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1992 with a B.S. in finance. Even though his father, Fredrick, ran a Pontiac and Cadillac dealership in Cumberland, Maryland, where Fred worked as a teenager, he never planned on a career in the auto industry — nor staying in the town where he grew up. “Of course, life can change in a moment, and my dad ended up purchasing the Cumberland store due to the sudden death of the owner when I was a junior in college,” he said. “I joined him after graduating, and my first ‘real job’ was Body Shop Estimator.” He worked his way through every department, developing an in-depth knowledge of dealership operations and gaining the experience necessary to take on a leadership role. In 2001, when he was 31 years old, he bought the business. “My father sold the dealership and the real estate to me — for full price — because he wanted me to experience the responsibility that goes with owning a store,” Fred said. At that time, there were 50 employees. His father was a great mentor who taught by example. “He was very demanding but very rewarding at the same time,” recalled Fred. When asked what lessons his father taught him, he shared: “Never do anything illegal or immoral to make money; you’ve got to make money to be able to give money and work for the job that you want, not the one you have. My father was a great mentor and continued to help me build the company until his retirement in 2017. His sacrifices in the past paved the way for our future.” Fred took his father’s advice to heart, and today, Timbrook Automotive has 14 locations in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania and has 450 employees. “All of our team members, some of whom have been with the company longer than I have, are truly outstanding,” Fred said. “Most of our locations have general managers who are also partners in the store, which has provided me the opportunity to focus on growing the company overall.” Being a member of WVADA is important to Fred. In 2007, he opened two dealerships in West Virginia and immediately after joined the association. “With so many issues facing the industry, the united voice that the association provides is imperative,” Fred stated. He went on to say, “They represent us with legislators. They’re pro-business, pro-dealer and making sure that our franchise laws are protected.”
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