Two men took their training from the U.S. Army and leveraged it into success at dealerships. Meanwhile, two women followed in family footsteps to take over rooftops.

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.

Randy Reed, president, Randy Reed Buick GMC Inc., Kansas City, Mo.

“Our reputation is very important to us and we work very hard to create a strong name in the market,” declared nominee Reed, who also owns Randy Reed Chevrolet in St. Joseph and Randy Reed Nissan in Kansas City.

An Iowa native who honed his entrepreneurial and business instincts at an early age while helping out in his father’s grain and feed operation, Reed also learned the automotive business from his dad who opened a small dealership when Reed was a young teenager. He later carved out a career in the Air Force, having attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and serving as an F-15 pilot, instructor, flight examiner and 9th Air Force Top Gun. He left the Air Force as a Captain and credits his time there with helping him become a strong leader. “By passing on the leadership principles I was taught at the Air Force Academy and from my experience in business, I am trying to help improve the leadership in my community,” Reed explained.

He later earned a master’s of management degree at Troy University in Alabama and returned to Waterloo, Iowa, to assist his father in what was then a successful, growing dealership. He wore many hats, learning the business from the inside out, until hearing about the opportunity in 1989 to turn around a failing dealership in Kansas City. He took on the challenge and built Randy Reed Pontiac-Buick (original name) into a thriving enterprise. Reed declared, “My greatest reward is seeing my team members prosper and grow both personally and professionally. As we have expanded our business from one dealership to three, we have been able to give additional responsibility to our staff.”

Reed’s service to the nation remains an important part of his life, as he is chairman of the Congressional 6th District Academy Review Board, a group that interviews and ranks all applicants for the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is also the founder and named sponsor of the Helping Heroes Challenge, a trail running event to raise money and awareness for wounded veterans. He is a member of the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri Automobile Dealers Association, where during his 22-year tenure, he served as president, vice-president, treasurer and on the executive and ethics committees.

Ann Regan, dealer principal, Regan Ford, Haverhill, Mass.

“As a business leader, I am continually trying to develop my personal commitment to excellence that eventually will permeate throughout the workplace and to others,” Regan insisted.

Regan earned a degree in political science, with an emphasis in economics, at Regis College in Weston, Mass.. After graduation in 1979, she was employed as a permanent substitute teacher at her alma mater, Haverhill High School. She was then asked by her family in 1981 to work in sales at their dealership, Regan Ford. “I would be the first female salesperson employed at the company, though presently we have four,” she pointed out. She found that she had a natural talent for sales and providing quality service to customers.

In 1987, when her father Frank Regan Jr. passed away, she assumed his position running the dealership for the family. “As the third generation at Regan Ford, it has been a privilege to work in the family business,” she noted. “I have enjoyed arriving to work immensely every day for 30 years.” In 2003, she and her brother, Kevin Regan purchased the dealership from the family and continue to run it today.

In the area of community service, Regan has been involved with many local events, programs, boards and charities over the years. The dealership donates to the Boys & Girls Club and Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer initiative, as well as to scholarship funds at area colleges. She served on the YWCA Tribute to Women Board, the Chamber of Commerce Government Committee and the Arbitration Board for the State of Massachusetts.

“I have been blessed with opportunities beyond my imagination over the past 30 years in the automotive business,” Regan stated. “The most prestigious award will always be role model to my daughter as a working woman and mother.” She knows there are no boundaries in her future and tries to demonstrate with hard work, dreams can become a reality.”

Robert Ricks, dealer principal, Peninsula Infiniti, Redwood City, Calif.

Ricks started his automotive career as a college graduate trainee in Texas, but after only four short months, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After two years he returned to Ford Motor Co., holding various sales, marketing, field and training positions before becoming general manager of a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1991.

Ricks bought into Frontier Infiniti in Santa Clara, Calif., in 1993, just three years after the Infiniti division was created.  He is still part owner of the dealership and added Peninsula Infiniti in Redwood City to his portfolio in 2000. “We purchased a troubled Infiniti store and it is now the No. 1 volume store for Infiniti in the San Francisco Bay area market,” he highlighted.

Besides keeping his customers happy, Ricks has a long-standing commitment to uplifting his community which includes raising funds and donating vehicles for local charities.

With all of his generous contributions, he’s most proud of his 15-year involvement with the local Rotary Club. He’s held various positions, including president and assistant governor over the years, currently serves as a membership chairman.

He also holds the title of training assistant for the Enterprise Leadership Conference, a program sponsored by four local Rotary Clubs that introduces high school juniors to future business opportunities and helps prepare them for the real world.

This year will conclude his 42nd year in the auto business.  “I started in the car business in 1969 at age 22,” Ricks recollected. “The people I have been able to work with along the way have been the most rewarding facet in my career. I can look back now and see people that have helped me in my development and also see people that I helped along the way.”

Robert Rohrman, president, Bob Rohrman Toyota, Lafayette, Ind.

After a term in the U.S. Army, Robert started his automotive career by working as a used-car sales associate in Lafayette, Ind. Realizing there were no further growth opportunities at that dealership, he decided to open his own used-car lot. In 1969, the newcomer to the American car market, Toyota, offered Rohrman a franchise opportunity and the rest, as it goes, is history.

Today, the Bob Rohrman Automobile Group has grown to represent more than 16 name brands with 32-plus dealerships in Illinois and Indiana. The family owned company employs 1,400-plus people and sells over 42,500 vehicles annually. At the end of 2011, Bob Rohrman Toyota moved to a brand-new, three-floor, 68,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility complete with 26 full-service bays, a massive showroom, a theater room, conference room and a car wash.
The key to all of this success?  Rohrman responded with a simple answer. “Fall in love with the customer. If you love the customer, they are going to like you. And if they like you, they will buy from you.”

As if you’re not impressed enough by his business success, wait until you hear about his community services.  Rohrman actively supports a variety of education initiatives and programs for the disabled and underserved. He has donated $3.5 million to Jefferson High School, his alma mater, to establish the Rohrman Center for Performing Arts.  He also created the annual Bob Rohrman Auto Group Charity Bowl, a bowl-a-thon fundraiser that involves all 12 of his Illinois dealerships with the money raised going to Lambs Farm, a home for mentally disadvantaged adults and children.

Rohrman is active in the United Way of Greater Lafayette and has been a major sponsor of the March of Dimes Walk America and American Diabetes Run.  He ran advertising campaigns to raise funds for St. Matthew 25 Share and Care Soup Kitchen in Lafayette and for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Ft. Wayne.
Rohrman thinks his connection to the area and the people is deep and true to his heart, and that he’s made a lot of friends by selling cars to people he loves and helping those in need.

Judith Schumacher-Tilton, dealer principal, Schumacher Chevrolet, Little Falls, N.J.

Schumacher-Tilton didn’t enter the automotive business until 1998, three days after the death of her father, the man who started Schumacher Chevrolet in 1932. It was at that same time that her brother, who had been working with their dad for 40 years, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. That was when she made an immediate decision to enter the business and help her brother preserve their family legacy.

Now 13 years later, Schumacher-Tilton is proud to say, “I did it!” In July, Schumacher Chevrolet will celebrate 80 years of selling vehicles on the same location of where it began.

She attributes those accomplishments to falling back on the lessons her parents taught her: work hard and figure out solutions to problems. Schumacher-Tilton is known for bringing a positive outlook to work every day and focusing on things she could control, such as the attitude and effort put into servicing and taking care of their customers, and leaving others to worry about the economy. And while others were making cuts, she adopted a growth strategy that resulted in a significant increase in sales. She is also quick to share the praise of the tremendous team she works with every day.

Schumacher-Tilton brings her same positive attitude to her community, contributing greatly to its well-being. She is the co-founder, trustee and director of Give the Kids Hope Foundation, a program that helps underprivileged kids in northern New Jersey. She also supports the Sussex County American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Chilton Hospital Foundation, Montclair State University Foundation and Boys & Girls Club of Clifton. Schumacher-Tilton is most proud of receiving the 2009 Woman of the Year award from the John I. Cecco Foundation, a charity that recognizes members of the community for their good work and service to others.

She and her staff have also assisted those who’ve suffered from area flooding on several occasions, including those recently affected by Hurricane Irene. After one of her stores suffered extensive damage, she once again recalled her father’s advice, saying, “I pulled my shoulders back and went to work.”  With the help of extraordinary teamwork, they were back servicing cars within days.

Schumacher-Tilton also praises that same team for working through a snowy December night to help present the original Chevy Volt to hit the nation. “I wish that my father could have witnessed his little girl being the dealer responsible for delivering Chevrolet’s first all-electric car in the United States,” she declared proudly.

More nominee profiles can be found at allybizhero.com.