Val Ward followed his father into the automobile business in 1948 when he was hired by the Cadillac dealer in Orlando, Florida where his father was employed. After World War II, Val Ward had bought and sold military surplus vehicles. While camping with a friend one weekend, T. K. Johnson, the Orlando Cadillac dealer, happened along in his boat and asked Val to join him in fishing. In between catching fish that day, each man talked about his business. The very next week, Mr. Johnson asked Val Ward to join his Cadillac dealership team. Occasionally, different people have been known to ask Val Ward as to what he owes his success. He just leans back and says with a grin on his face, "a fishing trip."
Then in 1970, Cadillac awarded Val Ward the franchise in downtown Fort Myers. The dealership definitely exceeded Cadillac's expectation, since it took them a year and a half to supply us with enough cars to have even one put on the showroom floor. All the Cadillacs were pre-sold prior to actually arriving. Our growth caused us to move to our present location on U.S. 41 South in October of 1978. In 1994, we purchased Marge Lincoln Oldsmobile and moved that franchise to our present location.
I, Val Ward, Jr., came on board in August of 1972, after finishing my military obligation. Val Ward, III joined the business after graduating from college in 1996. We are privileged to say this is a third-generation, family-owned business.
My family and its employees realize that 'people skills' in all avenues of life make for a successful business, as well as a family life. Our philosophy is that when we treat each other respectfully as coworkers, we will have just as strong a loyalty to our customers. This is why we do so much repeat and referral business. It is also the reason this company and our people continue to receive, year after year, General Motors awards for excellence in sales and service.
The Val Ward family has also chosen to support the community as strongly as it has supported us. A percentage of the profit from each car sale has automatically been given to different charities over the years.
I am personally grateful for being given the opportunity to service our customers and General Motors for over three decades.
