SAN ANTONIO -

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association named Cavender Auto chief executive Lee Cavender as its 2021 National Quality Dealer of the Year at last week’s NIADA Convention in San Antonio.

Cavender, whose store is in Gainesville, Ga., is the first dealer from Georgia to win the award. There were 15 State Quality Dealers nominated this year for NIADA’s top dealer award.

“If I was going to tell a dealer anything, it would be: Participate,” Cavender said during the ceremony, per an NIADA news release. “Participate in everything.

“Your state and local government can make a casual decision that puts you out of business. You’ve got to get to know these people,” Cavender said. “The training and interactions you have with your state and national associations gives you so much. And as I've learned. the more I give, it comes back to me tenfold.”

Cavender’s first job in the car business was at Pope Chevrolet in Stone Mountain, Ga. He worked in various managerial roles for franchised dealers in the Atlanta area for 11 years before opening Cavender Auto in 1996 and launching a related finance company, Genesis Financial, in 1997.

“The most important bedrock, whether you’re dealing with customers, employees or vendors, is to do what you know is right,” Cavender said. “The automobile business is built on relationships, and your reputation in those relationships is the most valuable thing you own.”