General manager: Brian Belderrain

Dealership group: Lithia Motors

Full-time employees: 57

Sales Manager Michael Kojetin on lessons from the pandemic about being a better employer:
“One of our core values as a company is ‘Growth Powered by People.’ This has never been more apparent than through the last several months dealing with the pandemic. This has solidified our longstanding belief that regardless of the situation, you need to put your people first.”

Belderrain on evolving compensation structure in the COVID era:
“Our dealership started offering alternative or nontraditional compensation plans as an active effort to obtain talent that might have not considered working in a dealership. This has helped our dealership keep staffing levels consistent while giving our employees the flexibility they need.”

Sales Manager Abe Schilling on how the accelerated shift to digital retail changed staffing strategy:
“We have seen a large increase in fully remote transactions this year, and we don’t anticipate it to stop anytime soon. To handle the increase in demand for fully online transactions, we have had to hire more staff to handle deliveries.”

Sales Manager Ian Greenwood on making work schedules more balanced or flexible:
“We have several employees on nontraditional schedules that range from Monday-Friday or even having three days off every week. One of the best parts of working here is the flexibility offered to our employees.”