Jay Cimino, president/CEO/owner of Phil Long Dealerships in Colorado, has been nominated for the 2013 Time Dealer of the Year award.
He’ll be honored, along with 56 other dealers from around the country, at the 96th annual National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Exposition Feb. 9 in Orlando, Fla.
Cimino, whose family was associated with dealerships in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, graduated from Holy Trinity High School in Trinidad in 1954, Trinidad State Junior College in 1958 and the University of Denver in 1960.
After working with B.F. Goodrich, Cimino joined the Jess Hunter Ford dealership in Pueblo in 1965, then in 1972 moved to Santa Fe as partner and general manager for a Buick Pontiac GMC dealer. It was there in 1975 that he was recruited by Phil Long to be general manager for Phil Long Ford in Colorado Springs, a partnership that developed into a lifelong friendship. “Hiring Jay Cimino was the best decision I ever made,” said Phil Long some years later.
Dealerships were added and the large Phil Long Ford structure on South Wadsworth Boulevard in Denver was opened in 1992; today Cimino’s Phil Long Dealerships employ 900 people at 12 franchises.
“I’ve been fortunate to grow what Mr. Long, the war hero (World War II) and community leader, created,” Cimino said.
Cimino was nominated for the Time award by the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA). “Jay is generous with his personal and corporate resources with the goal of making the community a better place to live and work,” said Tim Jackson, head of CADA.
Cimino’s Fantasy Playground project has provided playgrounds, athletic fields, teen center and skate park for kids, and he established a scholarship fund to assist students. He purchased a closed church which he attended as a boy in Trinidad, renovated it and transformed it into the Mt. Carmel Health, Wellness and Community Center.
He has been honored with many civic, community and business awards, including the Fort Carson Good Neighbor award, which recognizes a civilian who has enhanced the quality of life of soldiers and their families.
Cimino and his wife, Emily, have four children and eight grandchildren.
Russ Lyon of Boulder was Colorado’s first Time award nominee in 1970. Last year’s Colorado nominee, Mike Shaw, was named national winner at the dealer convention in Las Vegas.
Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
