William (Bill) van den Hurk, President/Owner
of Aloha Auto Group Ltd., (dba Aloha Kia), a Kia dealership group in Hawaii, was honored with his nomination for the TIME Dealer of the Year award in 2011.
Van den Hurk was one of a select group of dealers from across the country honored at the annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in San Francisco.The announcement was made by Kim Kelleher, Publisher of TIME, and Johann Finkelmeier, Vice President & General Manager - Original Equipment N.A. Consumer Tire, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, at the convention, which is attended by more than 15,000 individuals involved in the automobile industry.
The TIME 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, but they must also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to effective community service.
Van den Hurk,was chosen to represent the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition--one of only 52 automobile dealers, from 17,000 nationwide.
The award is sponsored by TIME in association with Goodyear, and in cooperation with NADA. A panel of faculty members from the
Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan selects one finalist from each of the four NADA regions and one national Dealer of the Year.
"During the downturn, we cut our staff almost in half," says van den Hurk,
"But having survived financially and been able to rebuild our company and bring the employment staff back by 60 employees, has been extremely rewarding."
