Chip Gengras III named Connecticut’s 2027 TIME Dealer of the Year nominee

Chip Gengras III, president of Gengras Motor Cars, will represent Connecticut in the 2027 TIME Dealer of the Year competition at the NADA Show in Orlando on Feb. 19, 2027. The nomination spotlights nearly 90 years of family ownership, dealership growth across New England and a long record of community giving.

Why it matters: - Chip Gengras III is one of 48 dealers nationwide selected for national recognition in the 2027 TIME Dealer of the Year program. - The honor puts a Connecticut family business on a national stage at the 110th annual National Automobile Dealers Association Show in Orlando. - The nomination recognizes dealership leadership, business performance and community service, not just sales results.

What happened: - Chip Gengras III, president of Gengras Motor Cars, was selected to represent Connecticut in the 2027 TIME Dealer of the Year competition. - The national recognition will be presented at the NADA Show on Feb. 19, 2027. - The field includes more than 20,000 automobile dealers nationwide. - The TIME Dealer of the Year program is now in its 58th annual TIME-sponsored competition. - The award is presented through TIME, Ally Financial and NADA.

The details: - A panel of faculty members from the University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute for Global Operations will choose four regional finalists and one national winner. - Ally Financial is the program’s exclusive sponsor and supports charities chosen by nominees and recipients. - Gengras Motor Cars traces its roots to 1937, when E. Clayton “Clayt” Gengras Sr. opened a Ford dealership in West Hartford. - The company grew under the second generation, led by E. Clayton “Skip” Gengras Jr., who bought Clayton Motors in 1969 and helped build the “Comfortable Car Store” approach. - Today, Gengras Motor Cars operates nine dealership locations and employs more than 420 people across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. - The group represents BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Ram, Subaru and Volvo. - In Connecticut, Gengras operates Volvo dealerships in East Hartford and North Haven, a Subaru store in Torrington, Ford in Plainville, and Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram stores in East Hartford and Fairfield. - The company also operates BMW of West Springfield in Massachusetts and Honda dealerships in Rutland and White River Junction, Vermont. - Chip Gengras joined the business full time in 1994 after graduating from Ithaca College in 1993 and attending NADA Academy. - He became service manager in 1995, fixed-operations director in 1999, chief operating officer in 2007 and president in 2008. - Jonathan Gengras joined the company in 2002 as chief financial officer after working at Ernst & Young and earning an MBA from Babson College. - Gengras Volvo East Hartford has consistently ranked among the top 10% of Volvo’s dealer network for customer satisfaction and reputation, according to the nomination biography. - The dealership’s staff includes employees with more than a decade of tenure.

Between the lines: - The nomination extends a family business narrative that blends retail automotive performance with philanthropy, civic leadership and employee development. - Chip Gengras’s background in service and parts operations suggests a hands-on management style rather than a purely executive path. - The company’s “People Come First” philosophy is reinforced by programs that give employees about $30,000 a year to donate to causes they choose and by an internal leadership-development program. - The national award also amplifies the role of local auto dealers in community institutions, especially when dealership leaders support hospitals, schools and nonprofit groups. - The family and its charitable foundation contributed more than $2 million to nonprofits over seven years, according to the nomination biography. - Beneficiaries include Connecticut Children’s, the Gengras Center, the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, Boys & Girls Clubs and House of Bread.

What’s next: - Chip Gengras will represent Connecticut at the 2027 NADA Show in Orlando. - Four regional finalists and one national winner will be selected from the nominee pool. - Gengras Motor Cars will continue operating its New England dealership network while the nomination process moves forward. - Chip Gengras will continue his industry roles, including service on the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association board, where he became executive board chairman in 2024, and work with the Volvo Retail Advisory Board and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.

The bottom line: - The TIME Dealer of the Year nomination recognizes both a longtime Connecticut auto retailer and a third-generation leader whose business record is closely tied to community investment.