Behind the Scenes at NADA: Tracy Shields Jones Named 2007 Time Magazine Quality Dealer of the Year

Ask Patty was behind the scenes playing sleuth at National Automobile Dealers Association, bringing you all the news from the dealer side. During the conference, Tracy Shields Jones, president of Century Automotive Group, was named the 2007 Time Magazine Quality Dealer of the Year.

Shields Jones is a third-generation dealer who as a child would watch her grandfather and father and say, “I want to be just like them.” Ironically, her father tried to discourage her from entering the automobile business. But after she graduated from the University of Alabama and became a CPA, her father hired her as a comptroller for his Huntsville dealership. After her father’s retirement in 1993, she became president of the company.

Aside from running a business, Shields Jones has raised more than $10 million for breast cancer research for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She is equally involved in the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, United Way, the Children’s Advocacy Center, American Diabetes Center, the Alzheimer’s Associate, and American Cancer Society, as well as Huntsville Museum of Art and the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. “In the grand scheme of things, I guess I have always viewed my role as not just a car dealer,” she says. “I just happen to like cars.”

With her husband of 20 years, George G. Jones, at her side, Shields Jones says she is fortunate as well to be able to work with her husband (the stores’ general manager) every day.

Shields Jones says she is the “luckiest girl in the world” for being recognized by her peers. “I’m shocked, humbled, and honored.”

This was the 38th annual award sponsored and presented by Time Magazine in association with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

Check out the video of the presentation here.