Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/303876
w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m m a y 2 0 14 • I NsIgh T | 25 [continued] » Bergstrom Automotive has its foot on the gas to take on its busiest time of the year. From mid-May through the end of June, their target is to sell 3,000 vehicles. "I'm very bullish about our business," John Bergstrom says. "I think we're going to hit our aspirational goals this year and reset goals for next year." Bergstrom has declared a goal of $1 billion in sales and company leaders expect they will meet that goal within a year, perhaps sooner. ey were on that ambitious track before the recession hit, then set back when gM filed for bankruptcy and shut down its saturn, hummer and Pontiac lines. since then, Bergstrom has acquired many more locations. It's the largest automotive dealer in Wisconsin, with stores throughout the Fox Valley, green Bay, Oshkosh, Madison and Milwaukee, offering 63 brands, "every brand except the exotics," Tim says. Last fall, Automotive News named the company one of the top 20 dealerships to work for in the country, out of 15,000. John Bergstrom is proud the company continues to pump 25 percent of its pretax profits back into the community and happy to see Tim is leading the charge to the future. "We have a very good working relationship; we talk to each other 10 times a day," he says of Tim, who was named president in January when Richard, 64, stepped out of that role to focus on family and community work. "his job is to run these operating businesses all day long." From Tim's vantage point, his dad is "the car guy," and "Uncle Dick is the money guy," who, with a background in banking, ran the financial end of the business. Dick says his brother and nephew share a passion. "Like my brother John, Tim was born with "We're real people to them," Tim says, referring to how social media has engaged his team. "They interact with me. We're no longer this big, corporate (faceless) employer." Tim Bergstrom often posts photos of sexy new models (of cars), selfies with team members in Bergstrom showrooms, and "checks in" electronically as he travels nationally and internationally. Almost 30,000 people "like" Bergstrom Automotive's Facebook page.