Business of the Week – Tri-County Ford Lincoln Mercury

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Be sure to read The Prowers Journal each week when we highlight a featured Business of the Week.

This week we spotlight Tri-County Ford Lincoln Mercury at 7240 Hwy 50 West, in Lamar which is managed by General Manager Jeff Travis.

Tri County Ford Lincoln Mercury has been operating just past the KLMR corner since 1997 when the current owner, Tony Cuomo purchased the auto dealership from Dale Spradley on January 2 of that year. Cuomo has had a lengthy car sales and management experience, having worked for Daniels Chevrolet in Colorado Springs and at Spradley Chevrolet in Pueblo as GSM and GM.

In 2000, Cuomo partnered with his long time friend Louie Carleo and together they purchased Tri County GM in La Junta and began the Tri County Auto Group in Colorado. Their expansion plans included Tri County Fort Morgan, a franchised Dodge, Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership in 2001. Shortly after, they opened Tri County Autoforce, two, pre-owned dealerships in Pueblo and in Colorado Springs.

The current General Manager, Jeff Travis, has worked his way up the ranks at the Lamar Ford Dealership, and was employed by Dale Spradley in 1992 as parts counter/delivery person. Including the transition in ownership, Travis has worked in all facets of the dealership including Parts Manager, Service Manager/Advisor, Parts/Service Director and to his present day position.

Tri County Ford has a reputation for longevity in employees including Raul Perales who was hired in 1998, Candy Hall in 1988, Paul Navarrette and David Lawrence were hired in 2001, Benny and Bobby Ramirez were hired in 1989 and Brett Travis was hired in 2003. The group of employees brings years of experience and dedication to the area. Special recognition to those employees that have passed throughout the years include: Frank Grove and Jim Turner, both loyal and long-term employees who worked hard for us and are deeply missed. We currently have 14 employees on staff.

The most challenging experience at Tri County Ford was the October fire of 2004 which resulted in a total loss to the physical building. We had to scramble to set up a temporary service department and office as well as set up out sales department so we could continue to service our customers. The most difficult aspect of the change wasn’t the construction or dealing with the insurance companies, it was having the store split. We operated our service department and business office out of the Farley Machine Building which is now Ace Tire. Our sales department was located at our lot next to the Wal-Mart shopping Center on East Olive Street. During that period most of our employees, myself included, found ourselves needed at both locations at once. By 2006 construction for the new building was completed and Tri County Ford was off to a fresh start with all new equipment.

Last year Tri County Ford sold 38 new and used vehicles per month on average and wrote almost 320 service repair orders each month. We had a great 2011 and look forward to an even better year in 2012.

Our customers are served by a highly motivated staff; Paul Navarrette and David Lawrence are certified Ford Master Sales Consultants and Brett Travis is a Senior Master Ford Technician. Raul Perales is a Ford Master certified service manager. Mike Ramsay is a Master Certified Parts Manager. Kayla Mauch is a Master Certified Parts and Service Advisor. We are a Number One rated Blue Oval Dealer with Ford and we consistently have one of the highest customer viewpoint ratings out of all the dealers within our group at Ford Motor Company. A special thanks to all our customers over the years for their continued support.

Jeff Travis, General Manager
Tri County Ford
7240 US Highway 50 in Lamar
719-336-3268