GEORGE P. FRITZE RECOGNIZED FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE AND INDUSTRY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

NEW ORLEANS (Jan. 26, 2009) - George P. Fritze, owner of Red River Motor Co. in Bossier City, La., was named the 2009 TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year. Fritze received the honor at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in New Orleans.

The TIME Magazine Dealer of the Year award is one of the auto industry's most prestigious and highly coveted awards for new-car dealers. Recipients are among the nation's most successful auto dealers, who must also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service.

Fritze, 52, was chosen to represent the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association (LADA) in the national competition. He was one of only 49 auto dealers nominated for the 40th annual award, sponsored by TIME Magazine in association with Goodyear, and in cooperation with NADA.

For decades, Fritze has been deeply involved in countless civic and community organizations, such as: American Heart Association, Red Cross, Bossier Arts Council, Boy Scouts, Louisiana State Fair, Louisiana State University's (LSU) Tiger Athletic Foundation, Junior Achievement and United Way. But he considers his work to raise $7 million to build the Sutton Children's Medical Center in Shreveport his most meaningful accomplishment, saying, “I was very proud to help bring this world-class level of care to our city.”

A fourth-generation dealer, Fritze began a life in sales as a boy gathering, shelling and delivering pecans from the trees in his yard. By age 14, he was working part-time in the parts warehouse of the family dealership. Two years later, he became a dispatcher and scheduler for the service department.

In 1973, his job changed to checking in new cars and trucks. After graduating from LSU in 1978, Fritze completed F&I training at the Pat Ryan School in Chicago before moving into F&I sales at the dealership. The next year, Fritze attended Chevrolet's “Dealer Sons' School” in Michigan, and served as general manager at the dealership until he and his father, James, formed a partnership in 1986.

“I asked to become an owner,” Fritze said. “My reward for 'buying in' was that I had to pay to go to work for two years as 1986 and 1987 were the only two years of losses for Red River since the Depression.”

The original dealership was built in the early 1920s, and purchased by Fritze's great grandfather in 1926. Now, 83 years later, Fritze's son, Patton, and son-in-law, Alvin Olsan, work in the current dealership, making it five generations and counting.

The announcement of this year's Dealer of the Year finalists was made by Don Fries, publisher of TIME Magazine, and Johann Finkelmeier, vice president and general manager of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, at the opening of the NADA convention.

A panel of faculty members from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan selects one winner from each of the four NADA regions and then selects the Dealer of the Year.

Fritze lives in Shreveport with his wife, Minou. They have two children, Minou Meares Fritze Olsan and George Patton Fritze Jr., and two grandchildren.