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TIME Magazine Quality Dealer Award recipient, Darlene A. Ballweg, seated (with from left to right) Alisa Trapp, account manager Los Angeles, TIME Magazine; Jason Brickl, Ballweg Chevrolet, Gary Williams, president of WATDA,, and Ed Huffman, OE account manager, Goodyear.
By Linda Poulsen
In recognition of her accomplishments in the automotive industry and her leadership in the community, Darlene Ballweg, president and CEO of Ballweg Chevrolet-Pontiac-Buick in Sauk City, is WATDA’s 2006 Dealer of the Year and will represent Wisconsin in the annual Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award (TMQDA) competition for 2007.
Darlene, also president and CEO of Ballweg Chevrolet in Middleton and Ballweg Ford in Sauk City, said, “I am deeply honored to have received the TIME Magazine nomination for the state of Wisconsin. “
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think it could happen, she said in her award presentation at the WATDA annual meeting in Kohler on December 6th. To receive the same honor as Clarence Thorstad, Russ Darrow, John Bergstrom, Jerry Holtz and Vern J. to name a few is unreal.”
Selling trucks and cars wasn’t her first career, but Darlene’s relationship with GM spans 42 years. Her husband, Danny, bought the Chevy franchise in 1965 in Prairie du Sac. In 1968 they moved the dealership to Sauk City and later added Pontiac and Buick. Darlene was happy and busy raising a family and working the farm with Danny.
“The almighty above, must have thought he had something better for me to do than being in my kitchen, standing at the sink, looking out over the farm yard wondering how many extra men I would be feeding at the next meal,” said Darlene.
Danny ran the dealership the first couple of years, but he missed working the family farm. By 1967, he had turned the business over to a general manager and went back to farming, working at the dealership part-time. Another Chevrolet dealership was purchased in nearby Lancaster, Wisconsin in 1973.
“Farming was a hard life and I was very much a part of it. As we acquired more property I did discuss the “what if” with Danny. I sought his advice on what I would do if he weren’t by my side. When we discussed the Chevy, Pontiac, Buick dealership, he said go up and run it! As we all know that day came.
Danny was killed in a farm accident in 1984, leaving Darlene responsible for four farms and the Chevy dealership in Sauk City. Against all odds, but with great spirit, Darlene tried her hand at the dealership.
“My lawyer and I met with Gary Williams and Paul Norman to discuss the franchise law,” she said. “Fortunately it was such that I could become the dealer. So here I was, in a situation of which I had very little knowledge. During this time I would wake up around 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. worrying about the business. The world is pretty dark at the time of the day.”
In 2001, she expanded her operations and purchased another Chevrolet dealership in Black Earth. In 2006, Darlene purchased the Ford dealership in Sauk City, which brought her family of dealerships to three. Under Darlene’s leadership, total corporate revenues have grown from $10 million in 1984, to over $70 million today.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be a dealer in Wisconsin and share the success of my legacy. This award gives me the sense that others recognize that my journey as a businesswoman has made a difference in my community,” said Darlene.
She defines her family when she said, “Although neither of my daughters are in the business, I have had the pleasure of having many other "family members" in the dealership throughout the years. Les Mack was a minority partner in the early years with my late husband. Upon Danny's death, I sold our Lancaster dealership interest to Les Mack, who went on to develop his own GM dealership there.”
“He served on my board of directors to assist me with major business decisions when Danny died. He recommended I hire Dave Pederson as my general manager in 1986. Dave was in that position for 15 years, and still remains an integral part of my organization. Jason Brickl, my current vice president, began work with the dealership as a 14-year old. After graduating from Northwood University in 1995 he began working for Toyota Motor Sales, USA. Jason came back in 1999 to grow this business with me as my partner. He is like a son to me.”
Darlene recently became an original founding member of the Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital Foundation, formed to promote and expand the Sauk Prairie Hospital in our community. Two major capital campaigns generated over $2 million for the hospital.
She watched hospital annual gross revenues grow from $9 million to over $50 million. “We now are one of the “Top 100 Hospitals” in the U.S.,” Darlene said.
Ballweg is past-president of the Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and served on the boards of the Sauk Prairie Hospital Foundation, Wisconsin Cow Chip Throw, Valley Bank and the Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce. She is proud of her leadership in establishing The River Arts Center, a 492 seat theatre and art gallery in her community.
Darlene loves to travel and dance with the Cripple Creek Cloggers. She is an avid Packer and Badger football fan. She even guest-directed the UW-Madison Marching Band during Homecoming Week a few years ago.
“To fast forward, “ Darlene continues, “In June 1989 until May 1995, a young man by the name of Jason Brickl came to work for us first in detail and then in sales. After graduating from Northood University in Michigan, Jason worked for Toyota and then was the new car manager at the Jon Lancaster Toyota. Jason came back to Ballweg Chevrolet in April of 1999 and I have been smiling ever since.
Editors Note: Darlene Ballweg recently received special recognition as part of the Governor’s Trailblazer Awards for Women in Business who are majority owners of family-owned businesses of 25 years or more.
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