ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 13, 2010 – Kathleen Gaddie, Owner/Operator of Ryan Chevrolet, a Chevrolet dealership in Minot, N.D., was named the TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year from North Dakota.
Gaddie was chosen to represent the Automobile Dealers Association of North Dakota in the national competition. The award is sponsored by TIME Magazine in association with Goodyear, and in cooperation with NADA.
“Being nominated for TIME Dealer of the Year is a huge honor,” says Gaddie, “My father was chosen in 1986 and made it as a finalist. Ever since, I have had this as a personal goal. My father died in 2008, and I wish he could have been alive to see this.”
Gaddie graduated from St. James High School in Grand Forks, ND, in 1967, and then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English, Speech and Theatre at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN, in 1971. She spent the next 12 years working in the public school system of East Grand Forks, but then fate called, as did her father, James Ryan. “My father had been involved in the auto industry my whole life, and in 1973, he purchased the Chevrolet dealership in Minot,” explains Gaddie. “After 10 years, he invited my husband and I to join him and learn the automobile business.”
“We made the decision to join him and moved to Minot,” Gaddie says, “After two years of making sure my three young children had adjusted to the move, I started working at the dealership in 1985.” And now she’s been at that store for 24 straight years. At first, Gaddie worked as a Customer Satisfaction Coordinator. “I made customer satisfaction calls for sales and service,” she says. “After a year, I moved into the marketing manager position and became the spokesperson for the dealership. I learned a lot about creating the image of the store and selling that image to the community.”
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