ILLINOIS
Royal Gate Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Ellisville, Mo., has purchased Metro Chrysler Center of Columbia and renamed it Royal Gate Dodge Chrysler Jeep. Tom Kalb is the new parts manager, a transfer from Ellisville, and Donald Gregory and Clayton Boice are the parts advisers.
Dave Mungenast Dodge in Alton has named Greg Sutphin its parts manager. Sutphin has more than 20 combined years of parts experience at dealerships and aftermarket suppliers.
Automotive Parts & Service Association of Illinois (APSA-IL) has named the winners of the 2007 Ralph Silverman Memorial Foundation Scholarship--Kevin Severs and Carl Jones. Severs is a freshman at Iowa State University and is majoring in materials science and engineering. Jones is a junior at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, studying automotive technology and marketing.
KENTUCKY
Fariborz Nour, dealer operations manager for the North Central Region of Nissan North America, recently recognized Herb Jones Nissan for 35 continuous years of service as a Nissan dealer in Elizabethtown.
O'Reilly Auto Parts recently celebrated the grand opening of its new location at 367 Gallatin Road in Scottsville. Angel Cherry is the manager of the new store.
MISSOURI
The Missouri Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) announced that one of its members, Robert Beine of Republic Ford in Republic, earned the 2008 Time Magazine Dealer of the Year.
Suntrup West County BMW had just completed its third expansion in 35 years. The dealership, at 14417 Manchester Road in Manchester, exceeds 40,000 square feet.
Shur-Way Auto Body of Maplewood has taken a significant step toward improving the environment and making life better for the citizens of Maplewood. Last December, the shop adopted waterborne-paint products for its business. Owner Mike Swederska said he chose the Sikkens Autowave paint system.
Auto Body Panels (ABP), a family-owned importer of collision parts, recently announced a partnership with key automotive recycling operations in six new markets across the nation. New locations include St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.
The Zeiser Auto Group has officially opened its new Zeiser Ford dealership in Warrenton. In addition to the vehicle showroom, the 18,000-square-foot building houses a six-car indoor service check-in, 12 service bays, and an automatic car wash.
Craig and Carol Bonnarens' Carstar Collision Auto Repair plan an expansion that is to include 10 bays for auto repair.
Michigan-based automotive parts supplier Visteon Corp. recently completed the construction of a $10 million manufacturing and distribution facility in Eureka that was built by ARCO Construction Co. of St. Louis. The building was designed to help Visteon meet the production demands of its client, Chrysler LLC. The facility is expected to employ 240 people in the production of cockpit modules, consoles, door trim, and instrument panels.
