Tucker

Though some business owners end up with their family company by default as it’s passed from one generation to the next, many continue the tradition as a passion they share with their parents and grandparents. The automotive industry in particular offers no free rides in its aggressive environment — but as many families who took business ownership for a test drive found out, either love of cars of love of helping people just grew on them.

It may be hard to imagine someone having a passion for tow trucks. Stacy Tucker, owner of Chico Towing, says it’s not about towing cars but about “taking care of people” and “making someone’s day.” “Everyone who works in our business does so because they enjoy helping people in a bad situation and making it a more positive situation,” Tucker says. There is nothing more rewarding, she says, than seeing the relief in a mother’s face after unlocking her car with her baby — and keys — inside.

When Stacy’s grandfather Don Tucker established the shop in 1945, he offered a convenience store and auto repairs. Her father, Pat Tucker, became involved when he was 12 years old, but his true passion was tow trucks, not repairs. When he bought the business in the 1970s, he changed its niche to fit that passion. Although her dad retired in 1999, Stacy bought the business from him in 1994, and says she still calls him back to work on occasion. Her husband joined the operations two years later. “We tried to stay true to the spirit of the company, but we made a lot of changes, including replacing 70 percent of our fleet,” Tucker said. She also overhauled the uniforms, and modernized the office management and human resources.

Stacy is also active is a couple of national and state towing industry groups dedicating to promoting professionalism in the industry and she has served as the national president of one of them.

John and Rick Hern

Courtesy Auto Group owners John and J. Rick Hern started with a small, used car lot in Poulsbo more than two decades ago. Today, the company owns Ford, Chevrolet, Suzuki, and Mitsubishi dealerships all across the Greater Peninsula, from Gig Harbor to Port Townsend, with the largest concentration of them in Poulsbo.

Rick’s grandfather was an auto dealer in Seattle, and as a third-generation businessman, he knows the value of serving customers. The name “Courtesy” is not coincidental: The company emphasizes service above sales, keeps strong communication with its hundreds of employees, and stays active in the community.

NOVUS Windshield Repair originally was part of Don Larson’s tire shop. NOVUS, a franchise, was then just a repair system that could be sold anywhere. But when the company restricted sales, Larson had two choices: quit selling the system or buy into the franchise. “My dad really believed in NOVUS, so he sold the tire shop,” said his daughter, Cheryl Sonneman. “The first 10 years, the business grew leaps and bounds, until insurance companies realized they could save money by repairing windshields instead of replacing them.”

NOVUS has multiple locations stretching from Gig Harbor to Vashon Island and offers all sorts of auto glass repairs and replacement services, as well as other automotive repairs. The family business today grew to include 20 full-time employees and other family members, including Sonneman and her two brothers, Chris and Brent.

Brothers Joel and Nate Baxter graduated from West High School within two years of each other, both going through the automotive shop program. But it wasn’t until many years later — and after working in different industries — that the two turned a long-term hobby into a business. B&B Automotive was created after enough friends and family brought cars over to the brothers, who lived next door from each other, for fixing.

“Pretty soon, we were doing a big amount of work out of the house,” Joel Baxter said. With $5,000 borrowed from their grandfather, the Baxters began leasing a gas station, and in 1991 opened their own shop, after 80-90-hour workweeks to get it remodeled. “We’ve done a lot of hard work and had good family support and personal contacts; some of our customers we’ve had for 20 years,” Baxter said. B&B is one of the few full-service auto shops left around, rebuilding engines, doing electrical work, custom building, and anything in between, and sporting numerous awards and honors at state and national levels. Their father had also been part of the business, and mother, who’s kept the books, is semi-retired but still “comes in and checks on us.”

Westbay Auto Parts, founded in 1961 by the late Bob Price, grew from one shop to a chain of auto parts stores through expansions and acquisitions.

His wife, Carolyn, came to work for the company once the business began growing in the late ‘70s.

The company is now the largest independent auto parts chain in Kitsap County, and also has locations in Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson counties. Although Bob Price died in 2000, his son Ken continues the tradition, with the help of other committed staff.

Chuck and Joanne Haselwood

The name Chuck Haselwood is as synonymous with cars in Kitsap County as it is with the many organizations and community undertakings he and his Haselwood Auto Group support.

Haselwood, a very down-to-earth, unassuming fellow, started selling cars out his downtown Bremerton gas station about 40 years ago — after hitchhiking to the city. Chuck and wife, Joanne, today own one of the biggest automotive dealership groups in the state, selling just about any type of vehicle from economy to sport-utility to luxury. Joanne’s son Rick Wiler is now a partner in the company.

They own Haselwood Buick, Pontiac, GMC; Today Chevrolet-Cadillac; Premier Chrysler-Jeep; West Hills Honda, Heartland Toyota; Lexus of Bellevue and Acura at Southcenter as well as having interests in some other dealerships.

The Haselwood dealerships have received numerous awards and recognition for their quality of service — and so have the family itself. From the Bremerton Ice Arena and the Olympic College Library, to Silverdale’s Whaling Days and the Admiral Theatre, the Haselwoods have touched the community with their generosity in more ways and times than it’s possible to know.