SPRINGFIELD, Mo. and DALLAS -

Founded by Melvin Reid in 1949, 166 Auto Auction in Springfield is still located on the original property where Reid and his team began selling dealer consignment inventory.

The location has since expanded to 50-plus acres, and the business grew to remarket large volumes of cars for consignors such as Ford, GM, GMAC, Chrysler and various national banks.

Reid in the late 1980s sold the auction to Manheim Auto Auctions, and Tom Schaefer purchased it in October 2011, returning it to its roots as an independent auction, according to the company. On April 25, 166 Auto Auction will celebrate its 70th anniversary.

After the sale of 166 Auto Auction to Manheim it started a specialty sale of boats, RVs, campers and motorcycles in addition to cars and trucks. This sale continues to operate on the third Thursday of every month, and the auction also holds a salvage and inop sale every Thursday morning.

The auction has grown from a small building with dirt floors to a full-service, eight-lane auction. It started as several small buildings for recon and grew to become a 42,000-square-foot retail collision center, serving the retail public and its auction customers.

The location features a 10-bay mechanical shop, performing hundreds of pre-sale and post-sale inspections each week and serving the retail public. The detail facility, which operated out of one of the auction lanes many years ago, is now housed in its own three-lane building.

The auction says it offers technology to provide all forms of upstream remarketing and simulcast selling in each lane. The company also says it has seen a volume increase in commercial and dealer consignment.

It has received awards from Consumer Portfolio and Credit Acceptance and customer confidence awards from OVE. 

“While reminiscing about the past, we are excited for what the future holds, and strongly believe in our motto, 'Building our Future on your Success,'" the company said in a news release.

Alliance raises nearly $48K for Poiema Foundation

In other auction news, Alliance Auto Auctions in Texas raised almost $48,000 for the Poiema Foundation. The donation will assist with the foundation’s mission of working to rescue and help heal human trafficking survivors.

Chief executive officer Tim Adams said the auction group chooses a charity to work with each year.

“And when I learned about the work Poiema does for survivors of the scourge of human trafficking, I wanted to help,” Adams said in a news release. Alliance Auto Auctions is a chain of four Texas auctions serving in Abilene, Dallas, Longview and Waco.

The auctions run more than 1,500 units each week. It is also a member of Auction Management Solutions (AMS), an automotive consulting firm with a network of auto auctions across the United States.

Poiema rescues sex trafficking victims, helps them with their healing, and works to raise public awareness to the mission of helping prevent sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and other methods of sexual exploitation.

Adams said the auction set a $50,000 fund-raising goal and wanted those funds “to stay local.” His company is proud of reaching the $48,000 mark.

“Each auction raised money, but our customers and vendors assisted as well,” Adams said.

The auction said Poiema director and founder Rebecca Jowers was “stunned” that Alliance Auto Auctions selected her group as its charity.

“We were most appreciative, but I had to wonder who are you, and how do you even know who we are?” Jowers said in a news release. “I really think it was divine intervention getting that phone call from Alliance.”

Poiema used the funds for boarding girls in the foundation’s Safe House, medical treatment, food and clothing, counseling, equine therapy, and a service dog. Jowers said face-to-face counseling does not always provide as much care as these trauma victims often need.

“When you bring the horse in, the horse can read their emotions, and it makes an amazing difference,” Jowers said.

The funds provided throughout the year provided Safe House residency for more than 10 girls and provided outreach assistance to another 10 girls, along with staffing, medical treatment, and other services for the survivors.

Adams of Alliance Auto Auctions said that Alliance is not the only entity that provided these funds.

“I’m so proud of our customers,” Adams said. “It’s our dealers, and everyone who attends our auctions. We’re like a huge family. Some of our people donated directly to Poiema as well.”

In the first quarter of 2018, the auction raised $15,000. Then on June 20, Alliance held a charity auction at its Dallas location that raised $11,000. Dealers also donated items for the auction.

Adams said that working with Poiema helps Alliance in its goal of establishing personal and trusted relationships with all customers. Poiema’s Rockwall, Texas headquarters is not far from the Alliance Auction in Dallas. For every car sold during the fundraising drive, Alliance Auto Auction donated a portion of the proceeds to Poiema.

Updated to correct spelling of Poiema.