ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 13, 2010 – Jeff Longbine, President – Dealer Principal of Longbine Auto Plaza Inc., a Chevrolet, Buick and Pontiac dealership in Emporia, Kan., was named the TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year from Kansas.
Longbine was chosen to represent the Kansas Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition. The award is sponsored by TIME Magazine in association with Goodyear, and in cooperation with NADA.
“My introduction to the automobile business began at birth,” says Longbine, adding, “As a fourth-generation dealer my life has always revolved around the business.”
Longbine graduated from Emporia (KS) High School in 1980, and then studied Business Administration while playing varsity football at both the University of Kansas in Lawrence and Emporia State University. But Longbine’s automotive career started earlier than most. “My father started his automobile career in my great grandfather’s store when I was five days old,” says Longbine. “When I was five years old, our family moved across the state to begin working for my grandfather at our present location.”
As a young man Longbine would join his father at work some evenings. “I was constantly asking him if I could clean cars or configure new car orders.” When Longbine was old enough, he started working part-time cleaning cars and sweeping the shop floor. “All of my family’s lives have revolved around the automobile business,” he says with pride, adding, “I have always appreciated the dedication and passion that I learned from my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father.” Longbine made every stop imaginable, from part-time detail man in the late 1970s to summers in the early ’80s as a Service Advisor to full-time work starting in 1983 as a Sales Consultant, Service Manager, Used Car Manager and Sales Manager. By 1992, he had risen to General Manager, adding the title of Partner in 1997, and, since 2004, he’s been Dealer Principal.
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