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Editor's Note: This is a special preview, available only to CMG Premium subscribers, of our special "Top Dealers: Champions in the Community" issue for June.

The Jim Ellis Automotive Group, well known in the Atlanta metro area and surrounding Georgia communities, is celebrating 50 years of unique community service efforts and successful dealership business. 

The company first launched as a Volkswagen dealership in 1971, and has now grown to include 16 brands. 

Jimmy Ellis, president and CEO, and the son of Jim Ellis, founder of the company, spoke with Auto Remarketing about the importance of community connection to the dealership and dealer group company culture — as well as some of the creative ways the dealer group has provided services beyond car sales via community service efforts and more. 

“Well, it starts with the culture of giving back … my mother and father started many years ago, shortly after they had started the business, and (were) able to gather a little bit of excess liquidity and cash,” Ellis said. 

In other words, the dealer group started giving back to the community, focusing on families in need and especially children in need — since those early days. 

“Our primary mission is giving back and supporting the communities in need in and around the Atlanta area,” Ellis said. 
In fact, the Ellis family is sixth-generation Georgian, with roots that “are very deep in the city (Atlanta) and state,” he said. “We believe very strongly in serving and giving back to the communities that we serve and supporting them.”

Jim Ellis Group community outreach 

Ellis said that his parents just began a “culture of giving” that has existed throughout the years — even now through the second generation that is operating the business, as well as third-generation executives (Ellis’ son, daughter and niece are in executive-level positions, as well.)

What are some key ways the dealer group uses every year, in terms of community outreach? 
●    An annual charity golf tournament, in which all 1,500 of the dealer group’s employees are engaged. 
●    Individual charity campaigns throughout the year, supporting specific areas of need. 

For example, in 2020, as food insecurity spiked due to hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jim Ellis Automotive Group raised funds for the Atlanta food bank as the need continued to grow. 

And past holiday giving campaigns raised funds for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, whose focus is on children with pediatric cancer. 

“So, we supported some of their music therapy and special visits with emotional support canines, and funding more one-on-one sessions,” Ellis said. 

The dealer group also participated yearly in the efforts of the Empty Stocking Fund (ESF) around the holidays to ensure underprivileged children receive holiday gifts.

This past year, the dealer group donated $65,000 to ESF through its annual holiday giving campaign. 

The company also delved even further into efforts to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. From Aug. 31 to Sept. 7, the dealer group led a group-wide Labor Day sales event with a portion of the new- and pre-owned vehicle sales proceeds going toward Atlanta Beats COVID, or ABC.  

And Audi Atlanta, Audi Marietta and Volvo Cars of Marietta, all Jim Ellis dealerships, launched a community meal drive last year with a goal to help eradicate hunger for senior citizens and keep them safe from the Coronavirus. 

“There have been many, many more efforts over the years … for us, it’s about focusing on families in need in and around the communities of Atlanta and Georgia,” Ellis said.  

Community service as a crucial part of dealership success 

When asked if he thought community service efforts were a crucial part of dealership success and staying power in their respective communities, Ellis said, “It’s a part of our culture, and it’s who we are, too, who our parents were as individuals and what they have led us all to understand the value of the communities we service. 

“It doesn’t matter what particular business or industry you’re in, you likely are serving the communities in your area with something. And so, it doesn’t really matter who you are, what business you’re in, I think that it’s (community service) just something that you should feel drawn to do,” Ellis explained. 

Although he admits that efforts like these are personal choices, Ellis said, “We do feel strongly that it’s something we should do … we were taught by our parents that you should give back and support those in need, particularly in the communities you service — it’s the right thing to do.” 

He said he also thinks extensive dealership community service efforts are often overlooked during discussions gauging the value of the franchised dealer system to the nation and its communities. 

“It’s not just simply that it’s (franchised dealer network) the best way to distribute and service vehicles within the nation. That obviously is something that will be debated for years to come, as to which is the most efficient and effective way to serve the community,” he explained “But what can’t be argued is to say that many of those local community entrepreneurs give back to those communities that they serve — it gets overlooked too much, in my opinion.” 

Building company culture 

Community service in the dealership can also be used to boost and form company culture. Ellis said it can certainly help in building team motivation 

“We certainly expect our employees to all be good citizens of their communities that they live in and be proud that they work for the Jim Ellis Automotive Group that shares that philosophy and that culture of giving back,” he said. 

A benefit, Ellis said, is that employees can walk proudly among their communities and say, “I work for Jim Ellis Automotive, a great, local family-owned company that believes strongly in supporting and giving back to the communities it serves.” 

He also noted it’s important for communities to see employees as the “face” of the company, and trust that the dealer group is employing individuals and families that live within those same communities the business serves. 

“It’s not just a one-time donation here and there. I think it’s just part of the culture that you engage all your employees. So, I think that kind of says it all,” Ellis said. “We need to get the word out to more of these people that don’t recognize the benefit of the franchise system as more than just a way to solve communities’ transportation needs.”