DETROIT -

Larry Clark, Larry Clark Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac, Amory, Miss.

“Most dealers want stores in metro areas and I understand that,” nominee Clark said. “But I enjoy being in a smaller market and knowing the customers on a first-name basis.”

And that connection to the local community started when Clark, a 1973 graduate of West Point High School in West Point, Miss., began working at a dealership owned by his father in his hometown. “My father was a career car man,” Clark said. “He started selling vehicles in the 1950s and purchased a Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge dealership during my junior year in high school.” At that location, he did everything from washing cars to running the parts and service department to selling vehicles until 1981. He then honed his management skills at other dealerships in Mississippi before purchasing a closed General Motors store in Amory in 1991. Today, his two sons, daughter and brother help run the primary dealership and Clark Ford.

A member of Rotary since 1991, Clark has also been appointed by two Mississippi governors to chair the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission. He was named Monroe County Business Person of the Year in 2005 and serves on the Monroe County Economic Development Board, created in 2013.

He is proud of his service on the board of the Gilmore Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the area through grant allocations. “We fully fund early childhood education in our county for 4-year-old residents,” Clark said. “With Mississippi being one of the lower scoring education states, we feel that the numbers in our county will improve with this program.” The group has also purchased laptops for all incoming seniors, provided wireless Internet access for the entire town and funded a coach for each school district in the county to assist students at risk of dropping out.

In addition, his employees jumped into action after an F5 tornado hit a small community in his county and destroyed the school in 2011, spearheading a fundraiser to pay school expenses not covered by insurance, such as buying uniforms for the band, sports teams and cheerleaders. “We had a golf tournament and auction that raised more than $80,000, which was given to the schools,” Clark explained. “Our dealership employees gave time and money to make this happen.”

He is proud that his business is such an integral part of the community. “I purchased a closed GM dealership with limited resources and slowly built a family business,” he said. “And having my family involved in the day-to-day operations is most rewarding.”

Clark was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by William E. Lehman, president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Lisa, have three children and three grandchildren.

Thomas Cole, Cole Buick GMC Cadillac, Portage, Mich.

“With my passion for muscle cars and racing anything with a motor, I thought I would start a career in the car business,” nominee Cole said. “It was a classic story of starting at the bottom and working your way to the top.”

A 1960 graduate of Richland High School in Richland, Mich., Cole’s first job was as a porter in a local dealership. “It all started in 1960 when Story Oldsmobile hired a lanky 18-year-old kid with a crew cut,” he reminisced. “With a baby girl on the way and bills to pay, I knew it was time to get a real paying job.” Cole soon rose from porter to service cashier and then realized he had an affinity for sales.

Over the years, he established himself as a leader in the industry and was recruited to join several dealerships before buying out his employer at Century Buick in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1981. It was his first step to building the Cole Automotive Group, which he co-owns with best friend from high school, Joe Gesmundo, a local developer. “Our personal friendship was only strengthened with the business relationship,” Cole added. “It was a natural extension of our mutual love for cars.” Cole Automotive Group now includes four additional dealerships representing brands Chevrolet, Nissan, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ford and Lincoln. His son, Tim, is also part of the business.

On the community front, Cole is currently on the board of trustees for the Borgess Foundation, an organization that supports healthcare in southwestern Michigan. He is also director of Cole Community Solutions, a group he founded to help the local community and to find a cure for diabetes. “We have raised well into seven figures over the 17 years we have hosted Touchdown for Diabetes,” he said of the event held at one of his dealerships. “For the third year, Touchdown for Diabetes will be the major funding source for the Borgess Diabetes Center’s uninsured clinic, which underwrites treatment and supply costs for under-insured and uninsured diabetics in southwestern Michigan.”

Cole has also worked diligently with the Western Michigan University Foundation with donations in excess of a million dollars to aid academic and athletic programs at the University.

In addition, Cole’s dealerships support a different charity each and every month. He is proud of the business he has built — commenting that many associates have spent decades working at his dealerships — and the strong community ties he has forged.

Cole has three children and four grandchildren. He was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Terry Burns, executive vice president of the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association.
 

Scott Conklin, Conklin Cars Hutchinson, Hutchinson, Kan.

“I could not ask for a better job than working at the four dealerships in Hutchinson, Salina, Newton and Kansas City (Missouri) with my brother and brother-in-law,” nominee Conklin said. “The only thing better is being able to work with my son, son-in-law and two nephews that have chosen to continue the family tradition by working in our various stores across the state.”

A 1978 graduate of Hutchinson High School in Hutchinson, Conklin received a B.S. in business administration from Kansas University in Lawrence in 1984, where he was also a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He worked fulltime as the service and parts manager at his family’s business, starting in 1981, while earning his degree. “My grandfather bought the Hutchinson Buick dealership in 1941 and dad bought it from him in 1972,” he explained. “I spent my summers after sixth grade helping clean the dealership and then in ninth grade, I started working on the lube and wash rack. Dad let me start selling cars when I turned 18.”

Today, working with his brother and brother-in-law, Conklin has expanded the business to four locations. And he is a strong advocate for the retail automotive sector, having lobbied the Kansas legislature on a variety of industry issues and participated in both the state and national dealer associations.

On the local level, Conklin is president of the Main Street Community Improvement District, a group that promotes economic development in Kansas City, Mo. He is currently chairman of Grace for Orphans at Grace Bible Church, and has led the church council and served as a Sunday school teacher at a previous congregation. “Grace for Orphans is proving to be the most challenging and the most rewarding ministry,” he said. “The needs are so pressing and those needing help are the most helpless and vulnerable. We are working with local couples to raise money for adoptions, starting a church centered foster care program as well as working with the local crisis pregnancy center to serve mothers and their babies.”

Conklin’s company has also provided funding and equipment to Pittsburg State University’s four-year automotive technology program, the Northwest Kansas Technical College and North Central Kansas Technical College. He supports vocational/technical schools in Hutchinson, Newton and Salina, offering career opportunities to graduates. And he has supported the Boy Scouts of America, YMCA (building fundraising committee), March of Dimes and the United Way.

“As a company, we employ more than 300 people organization-wide,” Conklin said. “We are actively involved in each community we work in.” His nomination for the 2014 TIME Dealer of the Year award is particularly meaningful as his father was the Kansas nominee in 2000.

Conklin was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Don McNeely, president of the Kansas Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Kathryn, have four children and two grandchildren.

Editor’s Note: The original versions of these features as well as a list of all nominees and past winners can be found at www.allydealerheroes.com.

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