NEW ON THE BUSINESS SCENE: FORD GROVES EXPANSION; NEW BUILDING AT JACKSON

Ford Groves Motor Co. at Jackson is operating out of a new, $350,000, 5,000-square-foot facility at 825 Highway 61 East.

"We have a two-car showroom, two bays in the back, six salesmen's offices and two manager's offices," said Robert G. Neff, general manager and a partner in Ford Groves Motor Co., headquartered at 1501 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

Business has been good for Ford Groves since it opened a branch operation at Jackson in 1986.

The business recorded 10 to 15 sales a month the first year it was open. Last year, the Jackson operation averaged more than 50 sales a month, and "this year, our goal will be about 75 a month," said Neff, who participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new building recently.

"We're pleased that our new structure is now available at Jackson," said Neff, that company employs eight people at the site. Ford Groves hopes to add at least one or two more.

Three salesmen, two managers, a secretary and two maintenance employees work at the Jackson site.

Managers at Jackson are Roger Niswonger and Alan Sellers

Ford Groves, winner of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Small Industry of the Year Award in 1995, has been a fixture in the auto sales business here for more than eight decades. The company was at Sprigg and Themis from 1924 to 1989, before moving to 1501 N. Kingshighway.

During the agency's 65 years at 41 N. Sprigg, it underwent two ownership changes. In 1977, when the founder retired, L. Edgar Massey took over the dealership, and in 1986, it was purchased by William J. Schicker and Charles D. Lesseg, owners of McMann Ford in St. Louis.

The company has more than doubled its sales and revenues since it moved to the North Kingshighway site, said Neff, who assumed the manager's position in 1987 after more than a dozen years in the auto sales industry, three of them at McMann Ford.

The operation now is a family business, said Neff, who is a partner here with his father-in-law, William Schicker, who also owns dealerships in St. Louis and Washington, Mo.