Frater Nominated for TIME Dealer of the Year Award
This story originally appeared in Brentwood Home Page.
Currie Andrews, president of Andrews Cadillac Company in Brentwood, was one of 50 auto dealers nominated this week for the 2016 TIME Dealer of the Year award.
Andrews and his colleagues from across the country will be honored at the 99th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 1, 2016.
The announcement of this year's nominees was made by Meredith Long, publisher, TIME, and Tim Russi, president of Auto Finance for Ally Financial.
"The TIME Dealer of the Year award nominees are business leaders and pillars of their communities, who have each given generously to support important charitable causes," Russi said in a press release announcing the nomination. "Ally is proud to honor these dealers and to recognize their commitment to making a difference."
In its fifth year as exclusive sponsor, Ally will recognize dealer nominees and their community efforts by contributing $1,000 to each nominee's 501(c)3 charity of choice. Nominees will also be recognized on AllyDealerHeroes.com, which highlights the philanthropic contributions and community service achievements of TIME Dealer of the Year nominees.
Andrews, 79, was chosen to represent the Tennessee Automotive Association in the national competition - one of only 50 auto dealers from 16,000 nationwide - nominated for the 47th annual award. A panel of faculty members from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan will select one finalist from each of the four NADA regions and one national Dealer of the Year.
"We think that our focus on people, both customers and employees, makes the difference," nominee Andrews has said. "We work hard to have a happy, professional staff, and we think it creates a great feeling at our store. We try to treat them right, treat them like family."
A 1955 graduate of Flushing High School in Flushing, Michigan, Andrews earned a B.A. in economics at Albion College in Albion, Michigan, in 1959 and an M.B.A. at Michigan State University in Lansing in 1961. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and also served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Upon graduation from business school, Andrews traveled to Europe and the Far East to set up military sales operations for American Motors Corporation's international division. He later worked at the Cadillac Motor Car division in Detroit and Denver before moving to Tennessee in the late 1970s to open a Cadillac store in Nashville. In 1979, he founded Andrews Cadillac in Brentwood and today owns the business with his son, Nelson, who is general manager, and daughter, Kelly, while retaining majority control.
"During the early 1980s, establishing a ground-up operation was tough but our company's traditions of community involvement and customer service started then and remain to this day," Andrews said.
A member of the national and state dealers associations for 36 years, Andrews has served as president of the Nashville Automobile Dealers Association for the past seven years. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Brentwood and was named the Bob Billington Outstanding Rotarian of the Year in 2014. Andrews also served as president of the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce (now part of the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce), as a board member for the local Boys & Girls Clubs and as a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts of America in Williamson County. He has provided cars for student drivers at Brentwood High School and his contributed to the United Way as well as to construction of the first YMCA in his area.
In 1990, he was founding member of Leadership Brentwood, a group of civic, educational, religious and business leaders who work to address issues facing Brentwood and surrounding Williamson County, with the goal of improving the area's economic viability and quality of life.
"The retail automobile industry has allowed us to contribute to the welfare of our employees and of our community," Andrews said. "I am proud of the events we have participated in over the last 36 years and the awards we have won because they benefit both our youth and the area we live in."
Andrews was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Roberts Weaver, president of the Tennessee Automotive Association. He and his wife, Jane, have two children and six grandchildren.
The Offices of the Grand Chapter congratulates Frater Andrews on his accomplishment!
For more information, please contact:
Daniel Klopfenstein
Communications Specialist
317.872.6533
DKlopfenstein@tke.org