ORLANDO, Fla. -

Three of the next four nominees for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award all spent several years serving with the U.S. Marine Corps.

In the next group of profiles, 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.

All of these dealers are profiled on a special website for the award: allydealerheroes.com/nominees/all.

Auto Remarketing plans to share some of these nominee profiles from allydealerheroes.com between now and when the winner is announced during the NADA Convention and Expo that runs next month in Orlando, Fla.

Dominick Carbone, Don’s Ford, Utica, N.Y.

“Success is always sweet no matter how it comes, but I have had the wonderful good fortune of joining my father and brother early in my career and being part of a transition from a small Studebaker dealer to a multi-franchise auto group,” nominee Dominick Carbone said. “We had a great deal of fun and satisfaction in a business that we all truly enjoy and at which we have worked very hard.”

And that connection to the auto business began when Carbone’s father opened a Studebaker dealership in Utica, N.Y., in the 1930s and Carbone’s family lived above the store. “Mornings before school, evenings after school and summers were spent in the dealership, handling tasks,” he said. Carbone graduated from New Hartford High School in New Hartford, N.Y., in 1955, and earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., in 1959. He then spent three years in the U.S. Marine Corps, rising to the rank of first lieutenant.

Upon returning home from the military, he went back to work in the family business and opened Don’s Downtown Ford in 1968. Today, the Carbone Auto Group encompasses more than 20 franchises operating in 12 locations in New York and Vermont. Carbone’s daughter, son, nephew and two sons-in-law work for the family enterprise. “As I watch my children and our loyal, highly competent management team drive our organization and our community to new heights, I know now that this was my ultimate goal,” he said.

In the area of community service, Carbone is on the board of trustees for Utica College and a major benefactor, establishing the Joseph and Inez Carbone Scholarship Fund in honor of his parents and helping to fund a new auditorium. He’s also on the board of the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties and the Kelberman Center, as well as a supporter of the House of Good Shepherd, American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and founder of the Resource Center for Independent Living’s Wonderland of Lights. He has donated money to many organizations, including St. Elizabeth Medical Center for its new trauma building. In addition, Carbone Auto Group awards two to four scholarships to employee’s children and driver education vehicles to Utica-area high schools.

Carbone is proud of his work for the United Way, which resulted in the largest percentage increase in fundraising in his area when he chaired the annual drive. He was flattered to receive the organization’s Real Hero honor and has received numerous awards for his philanthropic efforts. While he remembers those occasions fondly, Carbone said, “These awards left me with an emotion so high and a sense of responsibility so deep that these feelings have continued to provide me with new energy, purpose and commitment to attend to the needs of my community.”

Carbone was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award by Robert Vancavage, president of the New York State Automobile Dealers Association. Carbone was also the association’s nominee in 2002 and went on to become a top five national finalist. He and his wife, Edna Lee, have four children and 10 grandchildren.

Raymond Ciccolo, Boston Volvo Village, (Boston)

“We are all blessed to be part of an industry that is woven into the very fabric of American life,” nominee Raymond Ciccolo said.

And his life is the American dream personified. Ciccolo grew up in working-class Cambridge, Mass., and his first job was as a bottle breaker at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston — a position he termed “human trash compactor.” His close-knit family instilled in him that anything and everything is possible.

“As a poor kid from Cambridge, education was a key to my growth as a person and my ultimate success as a businessman and as a dealer,” he said. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Suffolk University in 1959 and a master’s degree from Northeastern University in 1984, both in Boston, and served in the U.S. Marine Corp from 1954 to 1960.

And while education prepared him for the leadership roles he would take on through his career, it was a chance visit to a used car dealership in 1963 that steered him into the automotive industry. “I went in to buy a used car and came out buying the dealership,” Ciccolo said. Today, Village Automotive Group includes nine locations in greater Boston, selling a range of brands. A daughter and two son-in-laws are part of the business.

Ciccolo goes the extra mile in his support of the community, both locally and globally. He is a founding member of the Lexington Education Foundation, which provides grants to sustain excellence in public schools, and he has endowed a scholarship at his old high school to help underprivileged students. He established Keys to Success in Boston, a program that awards students with KeyCards (gift cards for area businesses) for their accomplishments, and at the end of the year, one randomly selected KeyCard holder receives a refurbished used car from Ciccolo’s company. He explained, “These efforts pay tribute to the importance of education and help me give back to a society which has assisted me in leading such a meaningful life.”

On the global front, Ciccolo and his wife, Grace, are currently building a home for orphaned babies in Haiti. In addition, he is a founding member of the Global Smile Foundation, which provides free surgical care for underserved children born with facial congenital deformities, and supports Alliance for Children, a group that provides adoption services for children, birth families and adoptive parents around the world. Ciccolo also encourages his staff to get involved in causes that are important to them.

“Creating an organization which mirrors my own ethics and modus operandi, and not only succeeding but becoming a leader in our marketplace, that gives me great satisfaction each and every day,” Ciccolo said.

Ciccolo was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award by Robert O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Grace, have three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Jay Cimino, Phil Long Ford of Denver, (Denver)

“I’ve been fortunate to grow what Mr. Long, the war hero and community leader, created,” nominee Jay Cimino said of the dealership’s founder, Phil Long. “Mr. Long believed that this business is about people first and evoking passion about the product and the process. If you take care of the customer, the customer will take care of you. That philosophy has not changed.”

A Colorado native, Cimino graduated from Holy Trinity High School in Trinidad, Colo., in 1954, Trinidad State Junior College in 1958 and the University of Denver in 1960, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He also served in the Marine Corps for two years between high school and college. “My dad was a car dealer when I was around 4 years old, so I identified with cars from a very young age,” Cimino said. “I worked two jobs putting myself through college so I would not have to have a career as a car salesman as many of my family members had.”

But he did just that.

In 1960 Cimino began his career as a territory manager for BF Goodrich. Then in 1965 he started his new career in the auto industry as a salesman for Jess Hunter Ford in Pueblo, Colo., there he went from salesman to general sales manager. In 1972, Cimino moved to Santa Fe, NM as Partner and General Manager for a Pontiac, Buick, GMC dealer. It was there that he was recruited by Phil Long to be his general manager for Phil Long Ford in Colorado Springs in 1975, a partnership that would also develop into a lifelong friendship.

When Cimino joined the Phil Long team in 1975 it was one franchise with about 55 employees. Over time Cimino grew the employee base and the dealership into multiple franchises. During the auto crisis and recession in 2009/2010 Cimino lost five Saturn dealerships and a Jeep Chrysler dealership, but he was adamant about keeping his employees working. To make this possible Jay created and opened the “Signature” brand dealerships in the former Saturn buildings. Today he employs almost 900 people in 12 franchises.

Cimino has been honoring Long’s legacy in deeds and actions ever since joining the business. He is generous with his personal and corporate resources with the goal of making the community a better place to live and work. His “Fantasy Playground” project allows children to have a say in the design of their own play area. Since 1996, 10 fantasy playgrounds, two athletic fields, a teen center and a skate-park have been built — all created to enhance recreation opportunities in Colorado neighborhoods.

He has played an integral part in the capital campaign for the new Marian House Soup Kitchen, for which he is a top individual donor. Cimino established the Jay and Emily Cimino Scholarship Fund to assist area students. And he purchased a closed church that he attended as a young boy in Trinidad, renovated it and transformed it into the Mt. Carmel Health, Wellness and Community Center.

Throughout the years, Cimino has received recognition for his altruistic efforts including Ford Motor Company’s Salute to Dealers award, the El Pomar Foundations Gov. John A. Love award, Partners in Philanthropy award, the Columbine Individual Citation Award, the John Venezia Memorial Award; the Council for College Resource Development Award, the Citizen Meritorious Service Award and the CIVIS PRINCEPS award just to name a few of the many. But the one that stands out is the Fort Carson Good Neighbor Award, which recognizes a civilian who has enhanced the quality of life of soldiers and their families. “It is for those who serve this great nation with such dedication and are willing to sacrifice so much that makes this award extraordinarily special to me,” he said. “I am humbled by this honor.”

Cimino was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award by Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Emily, have four children and eight grandchildren.

Marc Cutter, Cutter Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, Honolulu, Hawaii

Marc Cutter, a 1976 graduate of Cal Prep in Encino, Calif., is a second-generation dealer, having obtained his sales license at age 16 in California so he could sell cars at his family’s dealership. “I always wanted to be in the auto business growing up,” he said.

And he has worked in different capacities in the family business for nearly 38 years, branching off to start his own operation in Hawaii in 2010. “I spun off and acquired my own business for which I am the president and CEO,” Cutter said of the company he runs with his brother. And this new enterprise encompasses dealerships in Honolulu, Pearl City and Waipahu, selling a variety of brands, including Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Buick, GMC, Mazda and Fiat.

Cutter has received several No. 1 sales rankings in Hawaii from Chrysler and Mazda since taking over the business. To enhance the quality of his dealerships, he established the Cutter Automotive Training Center, which offers a range of courses to help employees further develop their management, communication and vocational skills. “This standardized training program is designed to promote career advancement of personnel internally,” he added.

In the area of community service, Cutter has contributed to local schools, sports organizations and volunteer programs, for which he has received several certificates of appreciation.

Cutter was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award by David Rolf, executive director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Paulina, have a blended family of two children and two grandchildren.

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