Sweeney Dealerships Earn GM’s Mark of Distinction

BOARDMAN, Ohio – Meeting high standards in sales volume and customer satisfaction place the dealerships operated by Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC in the top tier of General Motors dealerships.

GM representatives were on hand Monday afternoon to recognize Sweeney Chevrolet and Sweeney Buick GMC as Mark of Excellence dealers.

The award is presented to the top 5% of GM dealers nationwide.

“You want to be the best of the best,” Doug Sweeney, president of Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, said. Earning the distinction “takes a great team effort and a lot of people who work hard,” he added.

The award “doesn’t happen by one person,” affirmed Bryan Wunsche, Chevrolet zone manager. The Sweeney team goes “above and beyond in treating customers well.” he said.

Andrew Snelling, district sales manager for Buick GMC, praised the Sweeney dealership for being “a great retail partner.” Every year, Sweeney Buick GMC is the No. 1 new GMC store in Ohio, he said. “That comes from a constant culture of great customer service and also innovation.”

“You guys are always trying new things,” Snelling continued. Often the innovations discussed at national meetings are ones the Sweeney dealerships are “already on top of.”

Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC is one of Ohio’s largest dealerships and offers one of the largest new car inventories in the Midwest.  It has been in business since 1921. According to industry reports,  in 2016 Sweeney showrooms sold the most new GM vehicles in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.

Attending Monday’s event was Jack Stanko, former general manager at the old State Chevrolet in Youngstown and a mentor to Doug Sweeney. Stanko, who now owns a dealership in Reno, Nev., happened to be visiting here with his wife, Betty.

One afternoon years ago, Stanko recalled, he got a phone call from Sweeney’s father, Bob, who said his son was graduating from college and asked him to take Doug under his wing.

Sweeney was “a good student” and turned out to be “a great dealer,” Stanko said.

“He knows how to motivate people. He knows how to treat people. He knows the business,” he said. “He’s learned the business from the ground up.”

Sweeney, in turn, thanked Stanko and others like him.

Stanko “represents an awful lot of people that came before us, that helped build the business and worked so hard to give us the opportunities that we have today,” he said.

Pictured above: Doug Sweeney, president, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC; Bobby Stackhouse, general sales manager, Sweeney Chevrolet; Bryan Wunsche, zone manager, Chevrolet; Andrew Snelling, district sales manager, Buick GMC; Derek Snyder, executive manager, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC; Alexa Sweeney Blackann, vice president, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC. 

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.