Community support helps keep area Chevrolet dealership open

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Employees of Crown Chevrolet in Marble Hill knew the decision on the dealership's fate would come Monday.

Office manager Barbara Kidd said employees were anxious for word to come. Just after 1 p.m., news came their jobs were safe.

Earlier this month, encouraged by support from the community and city government, Crown's owner, Joe Scott of St. Louis, sent a package to General Motors Corp. asking the company to allow him to reverse his earlier decision to close down after GMAC canceled Crown's financing.

Along with Scott's letter were letters from the Marble Hill mayor and board of aldermen and petitions from more than 200 people asking that GM keep the dealership open. Buoyed by the community response, Scott sought and is finalizing financing from a local bank.

Employees said that although they knew the dealership wasn't selling enough new cars to make a profit, they wanted to focus on service and other aspects of the business and make it viable.

"Now it's going to be on our shoulders to make that happen," Kidd said. "Now we have to show Mr. Scott he made the right decision."

"This is the best news I have had since I became mayor," Mayor Russell Masterson said Monday afternoon. "I couldn't be happier. I am absolutely thrilled to death."

City administrative assistant Gary Shrum said, "We have avoided a major setback in our community. It does go to show that voices of the people, even from a small town like Marble Hill, can be heard in high places."

Kidd said word came directly from Fred Burcar, the zone manager for GM. "He said GM needed small, tight-knit communities," she said.

Masterson and Shrum say they look at the success of keeping the dealership open as cause for optimism.

"Eleven jobs have been saved; 11 families know how they are going to live from week to week, month to month, year to year," Masterson said. "It shows what can happen when a community gets behind a business and works together."

Pertinent address:

100 Conrad St., Marble Hill, Mo.