AIADA, Newsweek Present Hawaii's Mike McKenna with AIADA Dealer of the Year Award

The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) and presenter Newsweek magazine on Tuesday evening named Mike McKenna the 2005 “Dealer of the Year” and paid tribute to nine “Dealer of the Year Award” finalists during a dinner at the 28th annual American International Automotive Congress. Kailua-based auto dealer Mike McKenna has given away more than 25 free cars as door prizes for Hawaii high school Project Grad events, and is approaching his personal goal of giving $1 million in monetary donations to the schools through 10,000 individual checks of $100 each made out and donated in his customers’ names. So far, 350 Hawaii public schools have received $100 to $28,000 each, through his dealerships’ “Spirit of Giving to the Schools” program. McKenna’s “spirit of giving” program -- which began nearly 10 years ago with a single donation to a high school grad project -- has flourished into a model for wide-sweeping curriculum reform in his island state of Hawaii.

This is the first year Newsweek has presented the prestigious annual dealer award. As part of their partnership with the Dealer of the Year Award program, Newsweek will dedicate a special advertising section to America’s 11,000 international nameplate auto dealers in the May 23 issue. The four-section spread will recognize the community and industry contributions of the Dealer of the Year Award finalists. Click here for AIADA’s exclusive coverage of the event. “Every day in communities across America, AIADA Members are making valuable contributions to our nation’s economy, creating over 500,000 local jobs, providing consumers with safe, reliable transportation and supporting local community-based organizations,” said AIADA Chairman Jim Evans. “A permanent fixture of AIADA’s annual Automotive Congress, the Dealer of the Year Award is recognized as one of the most prestigious awards bestowed in the area of automotive retailing and has served as a constant symbol of our dealers’ commitment to the betterment of communities across the 50 states and the auto industry as a whole.” Held each May in Washington, D.C., AIADA’s Automotive Congress brings together dealers, dealership personnel, industry executives and some of the nation’s most prominent elected officials. The event is the largest grassroots lobbying event in the automotive industry. 2005 AIADA “Dealer of the Year Award” finalists include: Sharon K. Moss (Lafayette, L.A.), Stephen Germain (Columbus, O.H.), Shau-Wai Lam (South Amboy, N.J.), Charles Barker (Virginia Beach, V.A.), Russ Darrow (Menomonee Falls, W.I.), Henry Graham (Jacksonville, F.L.), Mike Shaw (Denver, C.O.), Verta Barr-Meherg (Tuscaloosa, A.L.), and Miles Schnaer (Lawrence, K.S.).