Billie Nimnicht III Wins National Recognition for Community Service and Industry Accomplishments at NADA Convention
(New York, NY, November 16, 2015) – The nomination of Billie Nimnicht III, President of Nimnicht Chevrolet in Jacksonville, Florida, for the 2016 TIME Dealer of the 
Year award was announced today by TIME.
Nimnicht is one of a select group of 50 dealer nominees from across the country who will be honored at the 99th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 1, 2016. The announcement of this year’s nominees was made by Meredith Long, publisher, TIME, and Tim Russi, president of Auto Finance for Ally Financial.
“The TIME Dealer of the Year award nominees are business leaders and pillars of their communities, who have each given generously to support important charitable causes,” said Russi. “Ally is proud to honor these dealers and to recognize their commitment to making a difference.”
In its fifth year as exclusive sponsor, Ally will recognize dealer nominees and their community efforts by contributing $1,000 to each nominee’s 501(c)3 charity of choice. Nominees will also be recognized on AllyDealerHeroes.com, which highlights the philanthropic contributions and achievements of TIME Dealer of the Year nominees.
The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. Recipients are among the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Nimnicht, 50, was chosen to represent the Florida Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition – one of only 50 auto dealers from 16,000 nationwide – nominated for the 47th annual award. The award is sponsored by TIME in association with Ally Financial, and in cooperation with NADA. A panel of faculty members from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan will select one finalist from each of the four NADA regions and one national Dealer of the Year.
“I am most proud that my family and my company have enduring reputation for giving back to the community,” nominee Nimnicht said.
A 1983 graduate of The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Nimnicht earned a B.S. in business administration in 1987 from the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He had worked at the family dealership, which was founded by his grandfather as Riverside Chevrolet in 1941, in different departments throughout school and became a fulltime salesperson in 1987.
“I pursued a degree in management to prepare myself for the family business,” he said. “After selling for a year, the store was struggling in fixed operations, so I moved into the service department to help get it back on track.” He then began working in each department and attended the NADA Dealer Candidate Academy in McLean, Virginia, in 1991, before rising to general manager in 1999. He is now a majority owner, overseeing the business with his partner and brother, Lee, and also managing Nimnicht Buick GMC in Jacksonville.
“My father ran a very successful organization in his time. In fact, we were one of the top Chevrolet dealerships in the country,” Nimnicht said. “In recent years, we tried to make that formula work but were unsuccessful since the business has changed dramatically. While maintaining a great reputation, we are running our business more effectively than any time in our past.”
Nimnicht is proud that his family has a stellar reputation for giving back to the Jacksonville area. “Everyone that seeks our support prefaces their request with,
‘I know you already do a lot in the community,’” he said. “We absolutely try to get involved and assist whomever we can.”
And that assistance comes in many forms. Nimnicht has donated to the United Way for 25 years and made a significant contribution to Operation New Hope, a Jacksonville organization that works to develop affordable housing and a successful workforce, as well as initiate family reintegration of ex-offenders, in struggling urban communities. He donates his time to the HEAL Foundation as a member of the board of directors since 2013. HEAL (Healing Every Autistic Life) serves individuals and families living with Autism Spectrum Disorders and solicits grants to support camps, education, community programs and recreational and social events for families.
Nimnicht is also a member of the Jacksonville Quarterback Club and the Gator Bowl committee. He sponsors many events, including Think Pink (donates $100 for every new and used vehicle purchased in October to a local breast cancer charity with the goal of reaching $10,000); a blood drive (provide a truck as a sweepstakes giveaway for all those who give blood at a local blood bank); Kutting for Kids (dealership event for hair donations to Locks of Love); University of North Florida Dance Marathon (to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals) and golf tournament fundraisers.
Nimnicht was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Ted L. Smith, president of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association. He and his wife, Amanda, have two children.
Source: TIME Dealer of the Year Press Release