DETROIT -

One nominee had a modest start in the car business, pumping gas and fixing tires at age 10. Two others started at stores first opened by the grandfathers.

In the next group of profiles of nominees for TIME Dealer of the Year Award, these store executives all share what’s important to them — in and out of the showroom.

The awards program, which is produced in cooperation with the National Automobile Dealers Association and sponsored by Ally Financial, aims to recognize the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service.

Auto Remarketing plans to publish these nominee profiles between now and when the winner is announced during the NADA Convention and Expo that runs later this week in Las Vegas.

Collin Sewell, president, Sewell Family of Companies, Odessa, Texas

“I strive to be a great example as a husband, father, leader and community citizen,” Sewell stressed. “Our team has evolved from a car dealership doing good business to a company making a difference in our community.”

A graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where he earned a degree in marketing in 1995, Sewell began his career in the family business working in fixed operations to both understand existing procedures and build relationships with the people on the team. He quickly introduced innovative services and streamlined efficiency with improved processes, earning him the title of president of the Sewell Family of Companies in 2002. The group also leads a Chevrolet, Buick, GMC dealership in Andrews, Texas.

“We recognize our greatest asset is the people on our team,” Sewell said of the dealership his family founded in 1930. “In the history of this dealership, we have been blessed to maintain a relatively low turnover. For us, tenure and longevity speaks volumes as to who we are and the kind of company we strive to be.”

In the area of community service, Sewell Family of Companies’ Big Serve days send employees, their families and friends out to help an organization that’s in need, from picking up trash to repairing buildings. Sewell highlighted, “Our team and our families will volunteer more than 800 hours this year. In the last 15 years, we have tripled the number of people on our team. We are a business that is humbled by its growth and share the responsibility to make our communities better.”

The company also donates a significant amount of its income to local, national and global organizations that make our world a better place. Sewell is most proud of his company receiving recognition as the Philanthropic Business of the Year in 2010 because, as he put it, “We are the only car dealer to receive this honor in our region; we received the honor in one of the darkest business times in our company and the recognition is about what we did for others, not ourselves.”

Mike Shaw, dealer principal, Mike Shaw Chevrolet Saab, Denver

After graduating from Texas A&M University with a degree in business management, Shaw began working at a dealership in Beaumont, Texas, and immediately fell in love with the car business. Within just a few years, Shaw went from being a manager to becoming a sales manager and then general sales manager before ultimately owning his own dealership.

Today, he owns seven dealerships in Colorado, Texas and Louisiana, and has become one of the largest minority-owned car dealers in the country. He says he credits his success to always focusing on the customer’s needs and never compromising his integrity.

In addition to running his dealerships, Shaw is extremely active in his community. For the past 17 years, he’s been involved with numerous projects and organizations, including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Urban League of Denver, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Colorado Aids Walk, Food Bank of the Rockies, American Cancer Society (golf classic), Crime Stoppers, Executive Women International and Seniors Inc., to name a few.

Shaw has also used his expertise to help several charities increase their sales in their various fundraising efforts. Under his leadership, the local Boy Scouts’ Popcorn Sales Fundraiser went from a $200,000 program into a $3 million bonanza.  “I set it up as if it was one of my dealerships and the Scouts were the salesmen,” Shaw explained.

Gene Steffensmeier, president, Gene Steffy’s Chrysler Center, Fremont, Neb.

“My career started at Farmers Garage, pumping gas and fixing tires at the age of 10,” Steffensmeier recalled of his early years in the business. “By age 22, I was promoted to my true love of the automotive business: selling cars.”

A Nebraska native, Steffensmeier graduated from Dodge High School in 1960 and Creighton University in Omaha in 1964, where he earned a degree in accounting and was a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the accounting honors fraternity. He served as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve from 1964 to 1970.
His experience at Farmers Garage in Dodge set him on a path from pumping gas to running the parts and service department to selling cars and finally, managing the business by the time he was 28 years old.

Today, Steffensmeier is president and owner of Farmers Garage, that beloved entity which shaped his early years and his passion for the automobile industry. In 1981, he founded Gene Steffy’s Chrysler Center in Fremont, followed by Gene Steffy Ford in Columbus. He is proud that his family is following in his footsteps. “All four of my sons are employed at the dealerships,” he shared. “And I have one daughter employed there as well.”

In the area of civic service, he has devoted himself to bettering the communities where he lives and where he owns his dealerships. He’s been a member of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and Dodge Chamber of Commerce. He supports many organizations, including the Fremont YMCA, Friends of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Fremont-area Care Corps, Boys Town and Siena/Francis House (a homeless shelter). He was also instrumental in the successful plight of his church to build a new Catholic elementary school. “It motivates young people of all faiths to better ideals and a more secure life,” Steffensmeier stated.

Steffensmeier’s greatest reward, however, is the family life he has built. “Our dealerships allowed my wife, Peg, and I to raise six girls and four boys to be happy, productive citizens who have love for each other and for life,” he emphasized.

Bruce Titus, dealer principal, Bruce Titus Eastside Subaru, Kirkland, Wash.

Titus’ grandfather started in the business in 1912 and owned his first Ford dealership six years later. After graduating from college, Titus followed in his footsteps at the family dealership, working his way through every department, learning the business from the inside out. Titus eventually opened his own store in 1995 and now has cultivated eight different franchises in four different Washington locations.

Titus opened Eastside Subaru in Kirkland in 2009, purchasing the dealership from a group that had financial difficulties during the 2008 downturn and transforming it into a profitable enterprise. “Our reputation is second to none,” he asserted. “As a local person who grew up in this community, being ethical is critical. We have received many distinguished service awards.”

In the area of the community service, Titus has a profound network of organizations he supports. “Working for the family gave me great perspective on what our role in the community should be,” he insisted. “Giving back and supporting all types of organizations can be very rewarding.”

Titus contributes his business acumen to the University of Washington Business Advisory Board, Bellarmine Prep High School Capital Campaign, Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce and the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. He also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Tacoma Art Museum, the Humane Society in several cities, FISH food bank, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Sisters Big Brothers, as well as many other national charities and universities and cultural institutions throughout the state.

His most gratifying contribution is to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, for which he was given a Distinguished Service Award, having raised more than $1 million and chairing the largest fundraiser in Pierce County for 20 years. “What started out as a donation 20 years ago has become part of my life today,” Titus said. “This award was special because I have been able to help so many people plagued with this terrible disease.”

He concluded with, “When we are able to support our families and make an impact on their lives, we come to count on each other, work as one and make an impact. I was given a chance to become successful by my family and I am grateful to be able to pass this along to all of my employees.”

Morrie Wagener, president and founder, Morrie’s Automotive Group, Minnetonka, Minn.

Wagener started becoming “a car guy” during high school while working entry-level positions in the automotive business. He started at Tom Roddy Imports, where he worked as the only service technician, eventually helping to grow the business. Three short years later, he became self-employed and Morrie’s Automotive Group was born.

In the 1960s, Wagener became a franchise dealer of novelty import brands like Citroen, Saab and Alfa Romero. Along with this niche of imports came a growing used-car business sporting then unfamiliar names such as Jaguar, Volkswagen and Aston Martin. Today, he sells an equally diverse group of vehicles from his dealership showrooms. And his daughter, three sons, and son-in-law all work in his successful dealerships.

“I believe that one should always do what is right because it is the right thing to do,” Wagener contended.  To that end, Morrie’s Automotive Group has created “Morrie’s Gives Back,” an internal initiative that promotes and organizes civic, community and charitable acts.  Recipients include Dunwoody Institute (vocational school and Wagener’s alma mater), Courage Center (rehabilitation center for children and adults with disabilities), Perspectives Family Center (transitional housing and support services for homeless and at-risk families), Sharing and Caring Hands (providing shelter and food to the homeless) and Toys for Tots, to name a few.

Wagener credits Dunwoody College of Technology with allowing him to turn a degree in automotive technology into one of the premier automotive dealership groups in the nation.  And in return, he has served on its board of directors for the last 35 years and spearheaded major fundraising and expansion efforts.
Through it all he’s been recognized with several awards for his community service. When asked which one meant the most, Wagener replies that the only reward he desires is the continued success of those organizations he’s so proud to be able to help.

William Wallwork III, owner, Valley Imports, Fargo, N.D.

“In our area, we have always been held to the standard of treating our customers, associates, communities and suppliers as our friends and neighbors,” Wallwork shared.

A 1979 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Fargo, N.D., Wallwork studied automotive marketing at Northwood University in Michigan, economics at San Diego State University in California and business finance at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He worked at the family owned dealership during summers in high school and college, gaining experience in each department, from parts to service to sales to finance and leasing. In 1986, he graduated from the NADA Dealer Candidate School and took over the business after his father’s death in 1990.

“I’m a third-generation dealer in a business founded in 1921 by my grandfather, William W. Wallwork Sr., who had the opportunity to meet Henry Ford,” Wallwork shared. Today, Valley Imports sells Audi, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche vehicles from its Fargo showroom.

In the area of community service, Wallwork supports many local and national programs. He applauds the work of ShareHouse, an organization that provides chemical dependency treatment services to adult men and women, and he has served on its board. “Working with the people at ShareHouse over the years has been very rewarding,” he noted. “The recent emergence and success of the program called “Sister’s Path” is an example of their unique approach. This program focuses on single mothers with young children seeking recovery from alcohol and substance addiction. They work on recovery and begin new lives in recovery with their children, while in a safe and structured environment.”

Wallwork also donates time and funds to the Salvation Army, March of Dimes, Muscular Dystrophy Association and Children’s Miracle Network. He’s served on the development foundation board for Fargo Public School and the North Dakota State Advisory Board. For his alma mater, Minnesota State University Moorhead, he has worked on community campaigns and established alumni foundation scholarships.

More nominee profiles can be found at allydealerheroes.com.