ILLINOIS
A special grand opening ceremony in Calumet Park on Friday, Sept. 21, officially marked the opening of Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Corp. 200th company-owned automotive finishes store.
Penray of Elk Grove Village has announced that Matt Zahradka has joined the company as the Eastern Region sales manager for the Automotive Division. In this position, Zahradka is responsible for the regional and private-label sales assignments.
KENTUCKY
Bob Allen Motors of Liberty has won General Motors' Mark of Excellence Award for the second consecutive year.
For the seventh time in a row, Toyota of Murray was named recipient of the Toyota Motor Sales President Award.
Wally Scott, owner of Scott Nissan has sold his dealership to O.B. Garland. The new dealership will be called Garland Nissan and will remain in Hopkinsville.
MISSOURI
Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers recently spent $7 million to open two 9,000-square-foot stores, in Lake St. Louis and Waterloo. Tony Cafazza is the store manager of the Waterloo location and Greg Meyer is the store manager of the Lake St. Louis facility. Each of the new stores employs 20 people.
In June, Don Darr Chevrolet was purchased by the Bommarito Automotive Group.
Local welding equipment manufacturer Thermal Dynamics of St. Louis has announced the hiring of Kent Swart as market manager, America-Plasma.
Bill Shinn and family have built a new 5,200-square-foot building to house the family businesses of The Car Shop and Shinn's Chassis. The new shop is in Monroe City. Located near the new building is a 200-by-200-foot enclosed lot where customers' vehicles can be stored. Lou Fusz Chrysler Jeep Dodge has officially moved to its new location at 3480 Highway K, O'Fallon, Mo.
The Automotive Management Institute (AMI) and Babcox Publications jointly announced that Greg Osborne, estimator, Schaefer Autobody Center, Webster Groves, Mo., is the recipient of this year's "BodyShop Business Magazine Scholarship."