T
he Machens name used to grace a Honda dealership in Jefferson City, but in 1997 the company sold it to focus on growing its Columbia dealerships. Now, after many years of growth throughout Columbia, the car giant has re-entered the market with the opening of Joe Machens Capital City Ford Lincoln. The former Mike Kehoe dealership reopened on Nov. 1, 2011, with the Machens name, and it has been providing the customer service that Machens customers have grown accustomed to ever since. “We believe in treating customers right, and we believe in doing the right thing,” says Rusty Drewing, president of Joe Machens Capital City Ford Lincoln. “We don’t want to sell just one car; we want to develop a relationship that will last a lifetime.” That philosophy helped the family of dealerships become the No. 1 automotive group in the state of Missouri last year and one of the top 10 employers in Boone County, a level of success that Drewing says doesn’t happen by accident. “It happens one sale at a time, by taking care of one customer at a time,” Drewing says. “You have to treat customers the way you want to be treated because bad word-of-mouth advertising can hurt you.” Although the dealership just opened months ago, Drewing says it is amazing how quickly and warmly they’ve been accepted into the Jefferson City market. “I’ve already been to events, and everyone seems very excited for us to be here,” Drewing says. “We feel it is a win-win situation.” That means that Jefferson City can look forward to the same level of community support that Machens has committed to providing in Columbia. In Columbia, the company has a 100 percent participation rate in the United Way campaign, and the children’s hospital has benefited from its generosity as well.
“We give a lot to the community, and we like to support people who do business with us, from Little League teams to local functions,” Drewing says. “We will pretty much donate to anything. We’ll be big supporters of Jefferson City, and we’re excited to get more involved with what goes on here.” Jefferson City holds a special place in the history of the Machens story. Drewing’s father, Gary, got his start in the car business in Jefferson City at Capital City Ford, which is where he met Joe Machens. First, he became Machens’ general manager and later, a partner in the business. After Joe Machens passed away in 1997, Gary Drewing and Dave Machens continued as partners. Despite his history and success in the car business, Rusty Drewing says his father never pushed his children to follow his career path. “Everyone thinks the car business is in my blood,” Drewing says. “But my father didn’t push us to be in the business. He allowed us to choose what we wanted to do.” For Drewing, that meant heading off to college at Truman State in Kirksville, where he played on the football team. After returning to Jefferson City, he decided it was time to join his father in the car business. That was in 2005, one year before Gary Drewing became the sole owner of the family of dealerships after buying Dave Machens’ half of the company. Today, the father-son team of Gary and Rusty Drewing owns the company, supported by a capable team of general managers and employees. As for the future, Drewing doesn’t rule out expansion within Jefferson City, but the company’s focus for the next couple years will be on building three new facilities in Columbia. “People think we’re trying to own everything, but we’re trying to do what makes smart business sense,” Drewing says. n
1969
737
75
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Joe Machens opens first dealership in Columbia
Number of full- and part-time employees in the Joe Machens organization
Number of employees at Machens' Capital City Ford Lincoln store
Number of Machens' employees with 20+ years tenure
Total number of stores in Machens' family of dealerships
80 | March/April 2012