VALDOSTA — With three generations of family now working in the company, Prince Automotive Group was recently recognized as the 2004 Georgia Family Business of the Year.

The awards are bestowed annually by the Cox Family Enterprise Center at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. Prince won in the medium category, with Benton Express of Atlanta winning in the large category and Woodbury Box Company of Thomaston winning in the small category.

“We are obviously very honored, humbled and flattered. It’s great to be recognized as a family business, which we are. Even our employees are considered to be our extended family members,” said Jay Prince, general manager of Prince Automotive of Valdosta and corporate vice president of Prince Automotive Group, headquartered in Tifton.

The Prince family first entered the automobile business in the 1930s. The first generation dealership was incorporated by J.B. Prince, Jr. and his brother, E.E. Prince, in South Carolina. Following his father’s death in 1964, John Prince III purchased a dealership in Tifton, becoming the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the nation at the age of 23. Over the years, the company has grown and now includes dealerships in Tifton, Valdosta and Douglas.

All three of Prince’s children and his wife work in the family business. Heather Stripling and Jay (John Prince IV), serve as general managers of two of the family dealerships, Heather’s husband John Stripling is the Chevrolet new car manager in Tifton, Jay’s wife Suzan Prince is the customer relations manager for the Valdosta dealership, and Heidi Massey assists with the advertising and marketing for the company. Prince’s wife, Betty Jean Prince, is the manager of the company’s rental and leasing department.

“We are extremely honored to receive this recognition for our efforts to work together as a family to accomplish our professional goals,” said John Prince, III, president of Prince Automotive Group, in a press release statement. “Although our family gatherings usually evolve into informal business meetings, we have all accepted the fact that the car business is just a part of our lives.”

In the last five years, the company has grown from the original dealership in Tifton to a regional group selling Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford and Mercury cars and trucks.

Prince was a finalist in the 2003 awards and was nominated for a second year. The company had to submit a comprehensive package of information about the family business, the number of family members involved, sales and growth figures, and the family’s involvement in the community as well as in industry organizations.

Prince Automotive of Valdosta was named Small Business of the Year in 2002 by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce.

The Family Business of the Year award will be presented at a banquet May 20 at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The event is co-sponsored by Kennesaw State University and Georgia Trend magazine, which will profile the winners in its May issue.



To contact Business Editor Kay Harris, please call 244-3400, ext. 280.