DETROIT -

Jerry Durant, Jerry’s Chevrolet, Weatherford, Texas

“We started in 1970 with a Chevrolet dealership located on six acres,” nominee Durant said. “We now have seven brands and more than 60 acres.”

But the expansion did not come easy. “At the time we were in the middle of building new buildings and renovating old facilities, the bottom dropped out of the car business,” he explained. “The last two years have been great and 2013 will be even better. The pain of 2009 and 2010 was terrible. This year makes everything we went through seem like a bad dream and the pain is a distant memory.”

A 1965 graduate of Granbury High School in Granbury, Texas, Durant earned a degree in business administration, majoring in banking and finance, at the University of North Texas in Denton, where he graduated in 1969 and was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity.

He worked for his family’s dealership in Granbury before buying a bankrupt store in Weatherford in 1970, which he named Jerry’s Chevrolet. Today, he has three additional dealerships representing brands Toyota, Scion and Hyundai, all located in his county or the adjacent county.

In the area of community service, Durant is a member of the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse, which works to preserve western traditions, and the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce, where he served as president.

He has also donated his time to further education initiatives in his region, serving on boards for the Weatherford Independent School District (WISD), Weatherford College and the Project Opportunity Scholarship Foundation at Weatherford High School.

For his efforts, he received the Heroes for Children award from the Texas state board of education, as well as the Distinguished Alumni award from the University of North Texas.

“While serving on the Weatherford ISD board, we had many challenges but none that we couldn’t handle because the entire board was working for what was best for our students,” he said. When his daughter graduated, he gave 60 acres of land to the school, which is now home to a state-of-the-art high school building.

He is the recipient of Weatherford Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Citizen award and James H. Doss Award, given to individuals who have shown exceptional dedication to the community.

Durant was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Bill Wolters, president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Vickie, have two children and two grandchildren.

David Dyson, Barber-Dyson Ford Lincoln, Elk City, Okla.

“(Barber-Dyson Ford Lincoln) is a small-town dealership that has a huge impact on the local economy and its people,” nominee Dyson said. “I take a lot of pride in that and will never take it for granted.”

Dyson has deep roots in Elk City and in Oklahoma, having graduated from Elk City High School in 1983. He attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, and still roots on his beloved Aggies to this day.

His passion for the automotive industry also runs deep, as his father has a Buick GMC dealership in Durant, Oklahoma. “I was raised around the car business and bought my first Ford dealership in 1994 from the dealer I washed cars for during the summer before I went off to college,” Dyson said.

He later bought a second Ford dealership in Brady, Texas, in 2004 (which he sold in 2013) and recently added another Ford dealership in McAlister, Oklahoma, to his portfolio. “I bleed Ford blue!” he said.

And Dyson is proud of the businesses he has built. “This dealership wasn’t given to me. A lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into it over the years,” he said. “Additionally, I couldn’t have done any of this without my business partner Bruce Barber,” Dyson added. “And my employees are very important to me. Every day I try to park in the back of the dealership and walk my way to the front, greeting each one. I want them to be as successful as the dealership and also be good stewards of the community. I try to set a good example for them every day.”

A member of the First Baptist Church of Elk City, Dyson has taught Sunday school for 25 years. He also has a long-standing commitment to the Kiwanis, joining the organization in 1987 and serving as its president in 1995. “I take a lot of pride in my affiliation with our local Kiwanis Club,” he added. “The projects we do throughout the year to raise money for the youth of this community who might not be so fortunate really puts a smile on my face.” His oldest son, who works at the dealership, is now a Kiwanis member.

Loaning vehicles for driver’s education courses in area high schools is another program that Dyson initiated 19 years ago to aid the youth of his community. “It gives me a lot of joy to help local students,” he said. “I have been blessed to have a great faith, family and business. We take great pride in being successful but giving back to the community means a lot as well.”

Dyson was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Steve Rankin, president of the Oklahoma Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Shana, have three children.

Chuck Eddy, Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Youngstown, Ohio

Of all of his successes, Eddy said, “Working with my dad and my family has by far been the most rewarding.”

That legacy started in 1969 when his father founded Austintown Chrysler Plymouth Imperial, where Eddy started in the car business in 1973, pushing a broom around the dealership. He graduated from Canfield High School in Canfield, Ohio, in 1976 and studied business management at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Michigan, and at Youngstown State University in Ohio. Today, he owns two dealerships with his father.

“I worked my way up through every department, eventually holding positions in sales and management,” Eddy said. “I have been involved at every level of the industry, from the store to the corporation.” And that passion for the auto business has rubbed off on his own family, as his two sons, a daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, brother-in-law and niece all work for his dealerships.

His expertise brought him to Washington, D.C., to be involved in the National Auto Dealers Association Task Force on the Auto Industry, working with the Department of the Treasury, the White House and Congress. “Testifying and being a small part of history to save Chrysler and GM is beyond belief,” Eddy said.

In addition to his influence on the national stage, Eddy is deeply committed to his local community, donating his time, talent and resources to help those in need. He supports the local food bank and is currently involved with a canned goods drive, hoping to reach $10,000 worth of goods before Thanksgiving. For the Salvation Army, he has raised more than $12,000 annually. And each year, he donates a new police cruiser to a deserving area police department, as well as numerous cars as prize giveaways for fundraisers.

“We are involved at all levels of civic and business service,” Eddy added, which includes supporting the Akron Children’s Hospital raising over $190,000 at the local level during a phone-a-thon that he was the title sponsor, numerous local churches, area youth organizations and working as chairman of the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley, a refuge that offers food, shelter, safety and counseling to those in need.

“Serving the community and giving back a portion of what we have been blessed with is the greatest reward,” he added.

Eddy was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Stephen Chos, executive vice president of the Automobile Dealers Association of Eastern Ohio. He and his wife, Kathy Jo, have five children, a daughter in-law and a son in-law and one grandchild.

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.