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At Trotter Auto Group, employee turnover is low, promotion from within is high, and the Trotter family's influence on the culture is hands-on.
"We have a good work ethic throughout our company," said H. Ford Trotter III, president of the dealership group based in Pine Bluff, Ark., about 40 miles south of Little Rock.
"Our motto is lead by example," Trotter said. "I try to always make sure my action influences managers in a good way."
Trotter Auto Group owns four dealerships in Arkansas selling Ford, Lincoln, Toyota, Nissan, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram brands. The company sells about 2,200 new and used vehicles annually.
No retirement
Trotter, 52, credits his conscientiousness to a strict family work code.
"No one in our family has ever really retired," Trotter said in a slow Southern drawl. "They slow down as they get older, and the younger generation takes over the day-to-day management, but they're there most days. That's the example that was given to me."
Indeed. Trotter's grandfather, Henry Trotter, worked nearly to the day he died in 1992 at age 93.
"He was at work on Monday; he died on Tuesday," Trotter said.
Trotter's father, Henry Trotter Jr., worked from 1961 up until two months before his death in April at age 78.
Even Trotter himself has had little time off. He graduated from the University...