Chris Hemmersmeier graduated from St. Louis University High in 1984. The school is located in St. Louis, Missouri. Chris said, “My parents sacrificed a lot to be able to send me to a really good high school, where I was surrounded by other students and teachers who challenged me to grow. That journey continued at college, where I was exposed to an even wider variety of learning opportunities.” He earned a B.S. in computer engineering from Northwestern University in 1988. By 1991, he had plans to go to law school. (The engineering degree was a pragmatic choice: Chris didn’t love engineering, but he knew an engineering degree could get him a job.)
Chris is grateful that he discovered something he loved at the beginning of his career. Today, the dealerships are known for excellent customer service and strong community involvement.
Chris’s father-in-law, Jerry Seiner, talked to him several times about selling cars and convinced Chris to move from Chicago, Illinois, to Salt Lake City, Utah, for what Chris initially thought would be just a summer job at the Jerry Seiner Buick GMC dealership in North Salt Lake.
Chris enjoyed his sales job at the dealership so much he stayed. He appreciated the diverse, growing population and how the state is managed economically. According to him, the state has an educated workforce, the regulations and tax rates are reasonable, and the state’s leaders improve the infrastructure. Finally, he enjoyed Utah’s diverse climate and geography. Chris loves Utah springs when it is possible to ski in the morning and bike in the afternoon.
Chris worked his way up; along the way, he attended the NADA academy before becoming the general manager in 1997. Chris also worked as the executive general manager and vice president of dealerships. He became president and CEO when he bought the dealerships’ majority interest in 2012. Later, his brother and his oldest son, who has a marketing degree, also began working at the dealership.
Chris is grateful that he discovered something he loved at the beginning of his career. Today, the dealerships are known for excellent customer service and strong community involvement. Eight stores in Utah and two in Arizona sell many automotive brands, including Buick GMC, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Isuzu Truck, Kia and Ram. In addition, Salt Lake City has a Jerry Seiner Collision Center.
Chris is proud of having created Seiner Management, Inc., a holding company for each dealership. Seiner Management consolidates tax benefits and streamlines dealership functionality. He is also proud of the Seiner dealership corporate model. It gives general managers a great deal of autonomy and authority over their dealerships.
Chris believes that personal and professional success is a joint effort. For example, he couldn’t have succeeded without the help of Jerry Seiner. Jerry’s degree was from the school of hard knocks, but he cared about his customers and his employees, and he was good at doing business.
For Chris, the most rewarding part of his career is helping employees achieve their professional potential. He considers the auto industry a wonderful place to earn a living for anyone who has a strong work ethic and a passion for the business. That doesn’t necessarily mean loving cars. He sees cars as a way to get to and from places. Instead, his best days have always been when a customer or employee tells him the dealership made a difference in their life.
When times are tough, the Seiner dealerships have chosen not to lay off employees. They made that decision because they know employees who are valued do more than is expected.
Looking forward to the future of the automotive industry, Chris expects to see more alternative powertrains. Initially, there will be more electric vehicles, but he thinks hydrogen-powered cars will also enter the market. Another change he expects is new manufacturers from countries like China and India. It’s unclear what will happen with shared car ownership or paying a fee to access a car when needed. Prepandemic, Chris saw interesting concepts for experimental ownership models; after more than a year of COVID-19, however, people’s willingness to give them a try may have changed.
Chris values NCDU because of its legislative advocacy on behalf of dealers. The association also presents seminars for dealers about industry changes, has training programs that help dealerships operate more effectively on topics such as tax laws, and provides members with other useful resources.
Since Chris has benefited from his involvement in NCDU, he has tried to pay those benefits forward by accepting and holding leadership positions within the organization, such as vice president and president. During his tenure as president, he was especially happy about buying a new building to serve as the association’s home. The building is nicer than what NCDU had previously, and it provides a great venue for meetings and training events.
Chris also cares about community service. He has been a board member of the Madeleine Choir School since 2015, is a past board member for Judge Memorial High School and is on the board for the University of Utah Museum of Fine Arts. In addition, he served on the Salt Lake County Board of Health and raised money for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
Chris’s school service has focused on increasing financial positions and giving scholarships to families going through financial hardships. As he put it, “I believe most of our social problems can be improved through education.” The Seiner dealerships also support the Children’s Center and Sub for Santa.
Chris and his wife, Sandy, love to travel and are especially fond of Europe and the beach in Coronado. They also have a small importing business for unique fine wines from France and Italy that are a great value for the money. They sell some of the wine through Utah’s state liquor stores, restaurants outside Utah and businesses in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Craig Bickmore, executive director of NCDU, nominated Chris for the TIME Dealer of the Year Award. Chris and Sandy have three sons: Stephen, Tim and Sean.
