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MARIADA State Quality Dealers of the Year Highlight

MARIADA STATE QUALITY DEALERS OF THE YEAR HIGHLIGHT EXCELLENCE IS EARNED

JAMES MAKIA

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Named Maryland State Quality Dealer of the Year

Exclusive Motorcars, LLC is owned and operated by James Makia. In 2006, James decided to forego a career in criminal justice after selling his first car, a Ford Crown Victoria, at a Baltimore City gas station for a $1,400 profit. After discovering his passion for sales, he invested every dollar he made into procuring and selling vehicles to the public. He sold 40 units in 4 months and started his wholesale business. In just nine short months, he generated $1.5 million in revenue, garnered $200,000 in floorplan financing with Manheim Financial, and used $150,000 in capital to open his first location in the heart of Baltimore City in 2008.

Exclusive Motorcars quickly outgrew the 1,000 square foot building, which housed three employees. The company moved to its current location in Randallstown, Maryland (a suburb of Baltimore), where it embarked on a $4 million renovation project to include retail sales and automotive service work. The building houses sales, service, finance, parts, and accounting on its 5-acre lot, consisting of 360 spaces. The Randallstown location went from 17 employees in 2015 to 40 employees and grew from revenues of $13.1 million to $33.1 million. James also secured a $6 million floorplan line with First Unit Bank & Trust and 15 more retail lenders, including Capital One and Ally Financial.

James currently serves as Dealer Principal for Exclusive Motorcars and continues to be a hands-on leader working directly with the dealership’s core management staff to develop strategic policies and programs to drive profitable and stable growth across the company. “I’ve been blessed with varied and unique experiences in the automotive industry, as well as worked with some incredible leaders and teammates. I firmly believe this is an entrepreneurial business, and it’s all about the people,” James said. Many of his current employees have been with the company for four or more years. His top salesperson has been there since the company’s inception when it was at its original location in Baltimore City. Says James, “I have a fantastic team, and they make me proud daily”.

In addition to his full-time work at the company, James also contributes to various organizations in the community. He is a board member at Vehicles for Change which awards cars to lowincome or financially challenged families and empowers them with the means to achieve economic and personal independence through car ownership. He is a sponsor for the Randallstown High School basketball team and has been granted various citizenship awards. He received the Baltimore County Council Resolution for his distinguished and dedicated service to the citizens of Baltimore County, the Executive Citation for the services he provides to the Randallstown area, and the Certificate of Recognition in celebration of his excellent service to patrons throughout the Tri-State area and as one of the top independent used car dealers in Maryland.

James’s business philosophy is simple. “Treat the customer very well, and everything else will fall in place because when it’s all said and done, the customer is the real boss.”

Congratulations to James Makia on being named the Maryland State Quality Dealer of the Year! n

MARIADA STATE QUALITY DEALERS OF THE YEAR HIGHLIGHT EXCELLENCE IS EARNED ROBERT “BERT” STRAUB

Named Pennsylvania State Quality Dealer of the Year

Since opening in 2015, 1st Choice Auto, LLC has been familyowned and operated. Its founder, Robert “Bert” Straub, along with his wife, Linda, built the foundation of their business by being an ethical, moral, and trustworthy dealership. Bert started his career over 40 years ago pumping gas at a local station. His love of cars and the desire to grow fueled his drive to learn more about the industry. He moved to managing the local Mercedes-Benz dealership parts department and realized his true passion was selling cars. He became a licensed salesperson for the state of Pennsylvania in 1985, where he started out selling motorcycles and ATVs. His connections with other salespeople in the business led to working for a local franchise dealer. He soon became an F&I manager and helped launch a large used car store. “After 10 years of franchise work, I went to work with a smaller independent dealer to have some time to enjoy my family,” says Straub. Eventually, the demands of growing that particular small dealer business outpaced his efforts, and Straub felt led to enter the banking end of the business and was hired at Citigroup. There, he handled the pass-through with Citi Financial until the 2008 financial crisis. Afterward, he was hired by Credit Acceptance in Southfield, MI as a market area manager. “This proved to be a great learning experience,” says Straub. As the company was transitioning its business model, Bert and Linda used that opportunity to open their own dealership in 2015. They quickly became very involved in their Independent Auto Dealers Association. “They were integral with our start up success, and with their help and guidance, we’ve been able to maintain compliance, stability, and a wonderful reputation locally.”

The property where 1st Choice Auto resides was originally a residential property that was remodeled for commercial rental. The site was upgraded with hardwood flooring, new windows, two offices plus a workroom, a kitchen space, conference room, and lobby area. The outside received new siding, a concrete customer parking area with a handicap-accessible ramp, and shaved asphalt for the retail sales vehicles.

“We would like 1st Choice Auto to have the reputation of being a local, family-run, small business that you can trust,” explains Straub. With customer loyalty of repeat or referral customers nearing 63%, the company has achieved just that. With an average of $1.1 million annually in retail sales and $70,000 in wholesale sales, 1st Choice Auto doesn’t need to be the highest volume dealer in “sales”, but they strive to be the dealership that puts the customer relationship first. They specialize in subprime sales and helping customers improve their credit, whether that be in the form of purchasing a car or assisting customers with estate beneficiaries of a vehicle.

Bert is also an active community member outside of his business. He contributes a flat rate per vehicle sale to various needs in the community. He is the leader of a men’s group that contributes time and effort to ongoing service projects within the community, has been involved in numerous food and clothing drives, and donates time to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Through the Fairview school district, he also hosts a program for special needs students where they can learn job skills on-site at 1st Choice Auto. He also feels very honored to have had the opportunity to speak on several podcasts and share his experience at the Autovate conference in Texas regarding vendor products.

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