TRAIL
From Trail Smoke Eater to successful dealership owner
Coming from humble beginnings, Dan Ashman continues to build on 25 years of tremendous community involvement
by KEITH POWELL, Publisher


GREAT SELECTION, GREAT SERVICE: AM Ford’s lot is always packed with a great selection of vehicles. Outstanding staff keep things running smoothly inside.
Ask anyone in the West Kootenay/Boundary region to name a business that is a leader in community support and involvement and chances are AM Ford in Trail will be at the top of the list. The full-service Ford dealership that is owned and operated by Dan Ashman has made it a foundation of its success to be involved in hundreds of community initiatives.

“The thing I love about Dan Ashman of AM Ford is that he has a head for business and a heart for people,” said Rose Calderon, a business associate of Ashman’s.

This year is a special one for AM Ford because the company is celebrating its 25th year in business.

It all started back in 1982, when Ashman moved to Trail as member of the famed Trail Smoke Eaters hockey team. He not only racked up points on the ice but quickly developed friendships and acquaintances that led to the opening of AM Wheels—a fledging Lada and Suzuki automotive franchise. Within six months, Ford Motors Canada came knocking and in November 1982, AM Ford was born. The automotive industry was a natural for Ashman’s friendly personality and “let’s get it done” attitude—an attitude he had developed right from his first days in the automotive business back at Parker Motors in Penticton.

Over 25 years, AM Ford has grown to be the highest volume Ford dealership in the B.C. Interior and today has 34 employees and does over $22 million in sales. Along the way, Ashman and his staff have garnered numerous industry recognitions, including a long list of distinguished achievement awards from Ford Canada. In 2003, Ashman was recognized by Kootenay Business magazine as one of the Top 10 business people of the year. What has been AM Ford’s key to success?

“It all boils down to our tremendous community involvement and a business philosophy of building customers for life based on great customer service and customer loyalty,” said Ashman. “In 25 years we have sold Ford automotive products to three generations of West Kootenay/Boundary residents.

“Over the years I have surrounded myself with good people in all aspects of our business. More than 50 per cent of our employees have been with the company for 10 or more years.”

A visit to the AM Ford showroom quickly bears this fact out: right in the middle of it stands a bulletin board crammed with letters and thank you cards from countless satisfied customers and appreciative community groups.

“We work for the customer and we specialize in helping them re-establish or rebuild their credit if needed,” said Shawn Brandt, business manager at AM Ford. “To use a sports analogy, we literally coach them through the auto-buying experience. It’s all about building solid customer relationships.”


Ashman has a reputation of getting things done, and one of the things he is particularly proud of is the company’s $25,000 contribution to bring a mobile MRI unit to the Kootenays. His newest and possibly most ambitious undertaking is his current campaign to equip every hockey arena in the region from Rock Creek to Creston with an automated external defibrillator (AED). AM Ford has made a commitment to pay 50 per cent of the cost of 10 AEDs at about $2,100 a unit.

What does the future hold for AM Ford in the next 25 years? It is Ashman’s goal to have an expanded dealership and new location within two years. Ashman is particularly proud that all three of his children are involved in the automotive business: his son D.J. is in the accounting department at AM Ford, his other son Shaun heads up sales for AC Global Systems out of Dallas, Texas, and his daughter works for the Ford Motors Canada head office. Looking to the future, he expects the company to be a major player in the rapidly growing stealth GPS automotive security tracking business—through his AC Global Systems division—and he foresees the company developing a Canadawide all-makes leasing portfolio.

Based on the outstanding track record that Ashman, his family and his staff have enjoyed in their first 25 years in business, the next 25 years promise to be even more exciting and successful.



 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
AM Ford has enjoyed 25 years of community involvement. Here are just some of the projects AM Ford has supported over the years.
• Babe Ruth World Series – 1995
• Canada/Russia Under 17 Hockey Tournament – 1987
• Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament
• $25,000 in support of the mobile MRI unit for the Kootenay Health Foundation
• The current Automated External Defibrillator Campaign
• Festival of Freedom in Grand Forks
• Greater Trail BC Winter Games
• Minor and junior hockey throughout the region
• Minor soccer and baseball
• Numerous hole-in-one charity sponsorships
• The upcoming AM Ford
International Fight Night