The TIME Dealer of the Year program honors new-car dealers in America who exhibit exceptional performance in their dealerships and perform distinguished community service.

Dealers are nominated by members of the ATAE (Automotive Trade Association Executives) and the winner is acknowledged at the annual NADA convention.

TIME DEALER OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Kathy Gaddie, owner/operator of Ryan Chevrolet was named one of four regional finalists for the 2010 TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year award.

The TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry's most prestigious and highly coveted awards for new-car dealers. Recipients are among the nation's most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to effective community service.

Kathy was chosen to represent the Automobile Dealers Association of North Dakota in the national competition. She was one of only 45 automobile dealers, from 17,000 nationwide, nominated for the 41st annual award. The award is sponsored by TIME Magazine in association with Goodyear, and in cooperation with NADA. A panel of faculty members from the Ross School of Business at teh University of Michigan selects one finalist from each of the four NADA regions and one national Dealer of the Year.

"Being nominated for TIME Dealer of the Year is a huge honor," says Kathy. "My father was chosen in 1986 and made it as a finalist. Ever since, I have had this as a personal goal. My father died in 2008, and I wish he could have been alive to see this."

"My father had been involved in the auto industry my whole life, and in 1973, he purchased the Chevrolet dealership in Minot," explains Kathy. "After 10 years, he invited my husband and I to join him and learn the automobile business. We made the decision to join him and moved to Minot. After two years of making sure my three young children had adjusted to the move, I started working at the dealership in 1985." And now she's been at that store for 24 straight years.

At first, Kathy worked as a Customer Satisfaction Coordinator. "I made customer satisfaction calls for the sales and service," she says. "After a year, I moved into the marketing manager position and became the spokesperson for the dealership. I learned a lot about creating the image of the store and selling that image to the community." By 1993, Kathy moved into sales management, and in 1996, Chevrolet recognized her as the dealer at Jim Ryan Chevrolet, Inc. After Kathy's father retired in 2000, she took over the reigns.

In community service, Kathy has a distinguished track record. But it's no surprise as, she says "Treat other people the way you want to be treated' is the motto my father and I have lived by." It's served Kathy's well-running dealerships, but it's also a reflection of her extensive charitable works. She's a board member of the Minot Vocational Adjustment Workshop, which is dedicated to employment for the handicapped, the Minot Catholic Schools Foundation Board, St. Joseph's Community Halth Foundation, the Minot Area Development Corporation, the Trinity Health Foundation and the North Dakota Economic Development Foundation (by appointment of the Governor). In 2005, Kathy was awarded the Governor's Choice for Economic Development Volunteer Developer of the Year Award, and she says, "it was a huge honor to be recognized for assisting the state in its efforts to attract businesses and develop good jobs for our children." Kathy also serves on the Board of Regents for both Minot State University and for the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. Among many other good works, she's been a strong supporter of Driver's Education for 25 years, and a 15-year member of PEO, an aorganization that champions women in furthering their education.