Carrying on his father’s legacy with cars and cancer research

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - As family legend has it, Herb Gordon was a reluctant car salesman.

“My grandfather begged him to come to the business,” said Tom Gordon, Herb’s son and the current president of the Herb Gordon Auto Group in Silver Spring.

The begging eventually worked and, after earning an MBA from Columbia University, Herb Gordon moved to Maryland in 1955 to work for his father-in-law at a local Dodge dealership. The rest, as they say, is history, and today Tom Gordon and his brother Jim are the third generation of car dealers working to carry on the family legacy.

“[Customers will often say] ‘My dad bought a car from you. He had a great experience, and I want to do the same thing,’ ” Tom Gordon said.

The Herb Gordon Auto Group grew from one Dodge dealership in the 1950s to the business that Washingtonians know today, with multiple dealerships that sell cars built by Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Subaru.

Herb Gordon, who passed away in 1995 from pancreatic cancer, was the driving force behind the Auto Group, Tom said. But his father was very hands-off when it came time to bring his sons into the business.

“When [my brother and I] came in the business, he felt the best way for us to learn the nuts and the bolts was to learn from the managers,” Tom said. “As much as I wanted to learn from him, he did me the favor of having me work with all the managers that ran the different departments.”

The method worked.

The Herb Gordon Auto Group, which was acquired by MileOne Automotive in 1998 but is still independently run, typically sells about 7,000 cars a year and has consistently grown the sales revenue under the leadership of the Gordon brothers.

While they have been leading the company without their father for more than 10 years now, his influence is still felt.

“Our family felt very strongly we wanted to continue his legacy,” Tom said.

With that goal in mind, the Gordon family founded the Herb Gordon Foundation in 1999 to raise money for research on gastrointestinal cancers. Tonight they’ll hold a Vegas-themed fundraising gala, where they expect to raise more than $300,000 for the foundation.

As for the future of the company, it’s too soon to name an heir apparent to the family business from among the brothers’ six children, Tom said.

But regardless of whether there will be a fourth generation leading the Auto Group, Herb Gordon will continue to drive the company, Tom said.

“He created a culture here; we perpetuate it.”

BUSINESS

Current job: President, Herb Gordon Auto Group

Last job: Been here since 1982

Number of e-mails a day: 40

Number of voice mails a day: 15

Essential Web site: www.mileone.com

Best perk: Company cars

Gadgets: iPod, Blackberry

Education/credentials: B.S. in Marketing, Miami University of Ohio

Last conference: Mercedes-Benz national meeting

First job: Lawn-mowing business with two friends at age 13

Original aspiration: Always wanted to be in business with my father

Career objective: To run the best automobile retail company in the area

PERSONAL

Date of Birth: Oct. 8, 1960

Hometown: Bethesda

Sports/hobbies: Golf, working out

Transportation: 2007 M-B E500 AWD, 2003 M-B SL55

Favorite restaurant: 350 Main in Park City, Utah

Computer: Dell

Favorite clothier: James

Vacation spot: Park City, Utah

Role model: My father

Quote: Surround yourself with the best people to make your life easier.

Reading: Anything by James Patterson

Worst fear: Leaving this world in worse shape for our children

kwilmeth@dcexaminer.com

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