Rita Case, dealer principal of Rick Case Honda in Davie, Fla., was named the 2024 TIME Dealer of the Year during an awards ceremony at NADA Show 2024 in Las Vegas on Feb. 3. The award, sponsored by Ally Financial, celebrates franchised new-car dealers for exceptional business performance and outstanding community service. Case was chosen among a field of 49 dealer nominees from across the country.
“I’m so humbled, so grateful for this award. I’m so proud to be an automobile dealer,” Case said during her acceptance speech. “I’m so excited and proud. … This is the greatest industry in the world. It’s so much fun. We are true entrepreneurs, and we are the American dream.”
Dealers are nominated by members of the Automotive Trade Association Executives. A panel composed of faculty from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan chooses the TIME Dealer of the Year finalists and winner.
Regional finalists were:
- Thomas Murphy, dealer, Falmouth Toyota (Bourne, Mass.)
- H. Lehman Franklin, general manager/vice president, Franklin Toyota (Statesboro, Ga.)
- Daniel Wilson, general manager, Corwin Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (Fargo, N.D.)
- Brian O'Meara, president/dealer, O'Meara Ford Center, Inc (Northglenn, Colo.)
Case was nominated by Ted Smith, president of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association.
Besides her business success, Case is proud of founding the Ft. Lauderdale International Auto Show with her husband in 1990, which raises money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County. The couple partnered with the South Florida Automobile Dealers Association to produce and operate the program, and Case currently chairs the event.
Case is equally passionate about supporting the communities that her dealerships serve. For the past 41 years, her stores have collected bicycles from the community to give to children in need for the holidays through the Rick Case Bikes for Kids program. In addition, her company is the founding sponsor of 77 affordable homes for Habitat for Humanity of Broward. A Rick Case Habitat Community, located in Pompano Beach, Fla., is expected to be completed in 2024.
The Rick Case Automotive Group also funded the Rick Case storefronts for Junior Achievement of South Florida, an interactive exhibit at the group’s JA BizTown located in Coconut Creek, Fla. The hands-on displays allow children to experience the inner workings of a car dealership.
Case partnered with Soles4Souls to provide new athletic shoes for children in need through the group’s 4EveryKid program. And her company has been a major donor to Nova Southeastern University, home to the Rick Case Arena, where the Cases have established a scholarship endowment to provide higher education to Boys & Girls Club members to the Fort Lauderdale campus. She is also a member of the university’s board of trustees.
Other organizations that Case supports through leadership and donations include the Community Foundation of Broward, American Heart Association, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Horatio Alger Association and Broward Health Foundation, to name a few.
As the award’s exclusive sponsor, Ally, will give $10,000 to the charity of Case’s choice. Additionally, Ally will contribute $5,000 to each of the four regional finalists’ charities of choice, as well as $1,000 to the charities of choice for each of the 49 nominees.
To learn more about each of the 2024 TIME Dealer of the Year nominees, their philanthropic contributions and achievements, visit TIMEdealeroftheyear.com.
