Jim Addis Selected as Idaho's 2013 TIME Dealer of the Year  

The nomination of Jim Addis, vice president of Lake City Ford in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for the 2013 TIME Dealer of the Year award was announced by TIME and Ally Financial.

Addis is one of a select group of 57 dealer nominees from across the country who was honored at the 96th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in Orlando, Florida, in February 2013. 

The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. Recipients are among the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Addis, 52, was chosen to represent the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition – one of only 57 auto dealers from 17,000 nationwide – nominated for the 44th annual award. 

"The most rewarding aspect of my career has been to work alongside my father," said nominee Addis, a second-generation dealer.  A 1978 graduate of Jenkins High School in Chewelah, Washington, Addis studied at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane, Washington, and Washington State University in Pullman, earning a BS in economics and a BA in marketing by 1984. He started working at his father’s first dealership, Tom Addis Ford, at age 14, and advanced from the ground up – washing cars, performing mechanical tasks, learning about warranties and parts – before serving as vice president/general manager for his family’s Ford and Dodge stores.

"The ability to learn is priceless," Addis said of his on-the-job training. "And the opportunity to grow and thrive in the new and changing marketplace is an exciting, rewarding challenge."  Addis relies on his extensive experience to help further the cause of auto dealers on a state and national level. He was twice elected president of the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association and served on Dodge’s Dealer Council. He is currently Idaho chairman of NADA’s Dealers Election Action Committee.

For his community, Addis is currently working with the Salvation Army to underwrite a program that would transport at-risk middle-school students to the Ray & Joan Kroc Center after school. "These students will be able to participate in all Kroc activities, including sports, exercise, mentoring, spiritual help and tutoring," he explained.

Addis generously donates vehicles to various causes. Addis gives a new Ford every year to a student selected from the six area high schools. Lake City Ford also provided two GEM electric vehicles to the two Coeur d’Alene high schools. A member of the Rotary, he gives one car every year to the club for its annual auction – the biggest-ticket item offered – which funds projects in the area.  "It serves as a reminder to the all [Rotary] members and the businesses they represent that we can all contribute for the betterment of our community," Addis added.

In addition, Addis hosts Ford’s Drive One 4 UR School test-drive program twice a year, raising up to $6,000 per event for area schools. He has served as a board member for the EXCEL Foundation, an endowment that provides grants to local teachers for projects that schools cannot afford.  Addis regularly contributes to Christmas for All, a non-profit program that helps families in need, and St. Vincent de Paul’s emergency shelters. He also made a donation to help build a new center for the Boys & Girls Club. Jim and his wife, Terri, have one daughter.

Addis was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award by Trent Wright, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Automobile Dealers Association.