Emir C. Abinion, president of Fox Valley Auto Group
Q: Describe your company.
A: Fox Valley Auto Group is a collection of three dealerships, Schaumburg VW, West Chicago VW and St. Charles Buick GMC, that is family owned and operated. Our core values include being entrenched and committed in the community, our customers and employees.
Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
A: Yes, we are constantly growing and plan on adding an additional 10-15 more team members this year.
Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?
A: Our VW dealership in West Chicago will be moving to a much larger and near facility just 2 miles east in St. Charles so that we may better serve our customers. During this move, it is always challenging to let all our customers know as well as working out the logistics of the move.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
A: SUVs are still a hot seller for us. Also all the new safety-driven features on vehicles such as lane-departure warning, automatic breaking, blindside warning detection, etc.
Q: If you had one tip to give to a rookie CEO, what would it be?
A: Always be well prepared and calm in all situations. Business usually is about fixing problems and most problems are very temporary. Learn how to manage problems by placing them in “time categories.” It could be a 5 minute, 5 hour, 5 day, 5 month or 5 year problem. The only serious ones are the 5 year problems and hopefully, you won't have many of those so stay calm.
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
A: “Where satisfied customers tell the tale.” It's what all our team members strive for.
Q: From a business outlook, who do you look up to?
A: My mentor in the automobile business is Jerry Gleason. He taught me to operate business using the “Golden Rule.” Another person would be Joe Slawek of FONA International. Joe stewards a local family owned flavor company that is run on Godly principles.
Q: What is one interesting fact about you or your company that most people may not know?
A: We take our commitment to community seriously. It shows in our benevolence with nonprofits we support with time and donations. For example, we donate a new car every year to a local nonprofit so that it can help fund their needs. Recently, those organizations where Children's Oncology Group, Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity and Cal's Angels.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: I love spending time with family so any free time I have, it's usually with them.
Q: What book is on your nightstand? “
A: “What the Dog Knows” by Cat Warren and “Bonhoeffer-Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” by Eric Metaxas.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: I usually sleep well at night, however, I only require about 6 hours of sleep. If one thing can keep me up at night it's Sports Center or Food Network. Other than that, nothing; I rarely worry about anything.
Q: What was your first paying job?
A: I washed dishes at a Woolworth diner. I know this ages me mentioning Woolworth.
Q: If you could put your company name on a sports venue, which one would you choose?
A: Wrigley Field. Who doesn't love baseball and certainly one of the most revered ballparks in the country.
Q: What is one funny thing that has happened to you in your career?
A: Before my career in the automotive field, I planned on and was accepted to attend a seminary to become a priest. However, one month prior to starting in the seminary, I got cold feet and went to attend college instead.
After my second year in college, I ran out of money and sold cars for the summer to earn money to go back to school. After six months of selling cars for Jerry Gleason Golf Mill Ford, I was set to leave and go back to school. The dealer, Jerry Gleason, befriended me and asked me to stay a little longer because he thought that the automobile business may be my “calling.” I never left the car business. However, I found out many years later that Jerry Gleason attended the very same seminary I was going to attend to become a priest. Jerry had left the seminary to go into the car business.
Emir C. Abinion
<b>President</b><b>Fox Valley Auto Group</b>1421 E. Main St., St. Charles, IL 60174 and 560 W. North Ave., West Chicago, IL 60185
Industry: Auto Dealerships
Number of employees: 165
Web address: http://www.foxvalleyautogroup.com/