With a new contract in place and possibility on the horizon, Lee Motors — owned by local entrepreneur Terry Lee — will now be able to bring more valuable jobs back to the area.
Officials at Lee Motors had to lay off several employees last year — due to a declining auto industry — but now, they plan to rehire those employees and start selling automobiles, once again.
General Sales Manager Steve Bailey said that the road has been rough for those employed at Lee Motors, but claimed that the immediate future is promising.
He explained that a majority of the Chrysler-Dodge dealerships in the general Knoxville area were recently closed — which, in his opinion, opens up the market for this area.
“There is a wide open market for those Dodge-Chrysler customers that are out there driving around, and don’t have anywhere to get their vehicles serviced,” said Bailey.
“We were one of 50 dealers in the United States to get reinstated, so that speaks highly of Mr. Lee and the work that we have done here in the past,” he added.
Bailey said that Lee Motors will be upgrading their facilities over the next few weeks, in order to meet the requirements set forth by Chrysler-Dodge.
He is uncertain of the types of improvements that will occur at the location, and stated that he and his staff are currently awaiting more information.
“We have been doing everything that they asked us to do, and we could open some time within the next 30 days,” alleged Bailey.
He then expressed tremendous relief and excitement for the future of Lee Motors.
“We’re so excited. I just can’t wait to get the doors back open,” said Bailey, adding that last year’s closure affected a lot of customers within Bell County.
“I’ve been working here for 14 years. I’ve got a lot of customers and built a lot of relationships. And to tell those people I couldn’t work on their cars anymore, it just broke my heart,” Bailey conveyed. “But we’re excited — not only for us... but more importantly, for our customers.”
As a result of the new agreement, Bailey hopes to have the lot jam-packed with vehicles, ready to sell, in the coming weeks.
Bell County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rob Lincks spoke about the new agreement.
“The Chamber is really excited that Mr. Lee and Lee Motors were very diligent in working with Chrysler-Dodge, in order to get their dealership back,” said Lincks. “It will add about 20 jobs back to that dealership, so those are jobs in the auto industry that are back in Bell County.”
“I’m really excited that they were able to get that done... We’re just glad that Mr. Lee, Lee Motors, and Steve Bailey have worked hard to do that,” Lincks added.
Currently, officials at Epps Motors — which is located just down the road from the Lee car lot — are attempting to get General Motors (GM) back to their dealership.
The GM dealership at Epps was terminated on July 9, 2009, after 52 years of business, because of the downturn in the auto industry.
Epps representatives are now encouraging people to go online and sign a petition to help the cause.
Moreover, several county and city officials are “clicking away” to help get business moving again in the area.
Pineville Mayor Sherwin Rader recently told WYMT Reporter Ashley Reynolds that it is important for local individuals to promote the county, as well as businesses within the area.
Rader said that area officials need “to keep people in Bell County,” so that individuals conduct business, such as auto sales, locally — which helps to strengthen the local economy.
Car company officials are presently in negotiations to decide which dealership in Bell County will get GM certification. GM executives say they are uncertain when an official announcement will be made, in regards to where they plan to do business within the county.
Adam Young is a Staff Writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted by e-mail at ayoung@middlesborodailynews.com. Some information for this article was taken from the WKYT-WYMT website.
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