Pub. 1 2018-2019 |Issue 4

20 Heritage Auto Group T he Davis Auto Group, now Heritage Auto, was originally started in the 1950s by Glade Davis. The first dealership location was called Logan Motors. Glade ran the dealership until 1990 or so. Each of his sons, Robert, Charles, and Bret, took an interest in the business and began running their own dealerships. They purchased a location in Brigham City in the early 1980s and another location in Tremonton in the late 1980s. Starting in 1993, an employee named Joe Betar became a partner in a Richfield dealership, Classic Motors, with support from the Davis family. Joe bought out the Davis family in 2012. Glade celebrated his 91st birthday in December 2018 and has long since retired. His two oldest sons, Robert and Charles, have also retired. His youngest son, Bret, still sells cars at one of the locations. As a result, the dealerships are now being run by the next generation. Jon Weese was recruited into the family business as the CFO in 1999. He is married to Robert’s daughter and had been working in another industry when Robert approached him and suggested that he join the dealerships. After conversations with Robert and Joe Betar, Jon agreed. In turn, Jon later talked with Robert’s son, Brock, about gaining a background in accounting and business administration. Brock had learned how to detail cars when he was young, and he started selling when he got older, but Jon persuaded Brock to go a new direction. When Jon became a dealer principal in 2007, he began running the dealership in Tremonton as Weese Motors, and Brock replaced Jon as CFO. In addition to Jon and Brock, Heritage employs many other members of the family. There are lots of cousins who work throughout the family’s dealerships. By 2013, the dealerships were not growing or adapting to market changes anymore, and it was evident that the family needed to make a decision about the direction they wanted to go. They could sell their dealerships or restructure their business model. They decided to restructure that year. They appointed Jon Weese as president and CEO of the auto group. One of the first initiatives was to unite the group by rebranding all dealerships under the Heritage Auto name. The results have been extremely successful. Not only are they working on a new building for the Logan dealership, the Heritage Auto Group has become a process-driven corporation that has processes for every aspect of its business dealings, and they are now confident that they can continue to grow and succeed in the years to come. The newest dealership is located in Vernal and opened in June 2019. Jon Weese picked it because it was a dealership that was similar to the other markets being served by the group; the Showalter Ford dealership had been run by Gary Showalter and his son Matt and was located in a small-town market. Gary was ready to retire, and Matt wanted to do something other than run a dealership, so it made sense for the Heritage Auto Group to buy it. Brock and Jon answered the following questions about the family business. As you have worked at the dealership, what are some of the things you have learned from other members of your family? Brock: Originally, my father and uncles ran their dealerships separately from each other. But we’ve learned that we are stronger when we work as a group. We take advantage of proximity and buying power, and that allows us to do more than Jon Weese