Fresno Acura
How does helping others factor into the culture of your business?
Fresno Acura is a family-owned and female-owned business that opened in the fall of 1986. To this day, it remains one of the few Acura dealerships in the nation that opened in the same year the brand debuted in 1986 and is still open today. Being a family-owned business means a lot more today when it comes to automotive than it did 20 years ago, but the Stevens’ family mission has always been to treat the community, customers and employees like family. Being a pillar of the community in the Central Valley has always been part of the business plan, and remains to be one today. Our employees know they can always come to us with a family in need, their child’s fundraiser to sponsor or a community effort that they are passionate about for support. We believe that at Fresno Acura everyone is a part of the family and deserves to be treated as such. The community has allowed us to keep our doors open for over 35 years and during a pandemic, so it means the world to us to be fortunate enough to give back every chance we can.
Please share with us the causes that are important to you and your business.
TheeAnna Stevens and two daughters are running Fresno Acura and have found that women and children’s causes are very near to their hearts. The company is currently about to launch its ninth year of the #PinkAcura campaign, which raises funds to support breast cancer research, funds for preventative care and education at a local level. The campaign features a new Acura vehicle with a bubble gum pink vinyl wrap that drives around the community collecting signatures from anyone who cares to sign to help raise awareness. The vehicle goes to community events, business offices, hospitals, doctors’ offices and so much more. Fresno Acura is also heavily involved with local schools through a “back to school” backpack campaign that provides children in need with school supplies ranging from pencils and paper to flash drives for the computer lab and sensory furniture for special needs classrooms. We are also about to kick off a second annual partnership between Make-A-Wish and the Central CA New Car Dealers Association with a goal to raise $35,000 to sponsor the wishes of three deserving children.
How do you encourage your team members to get involved?
We encourage our employees to come out and volunteer at company partnership events, show their pride for organizations by wearing special t-shirts, polos or colors throughout a campaign and of course to bring us any new ideas or charities they would love to see us get involved with. When we do a volunteer event, it’s common to see employees also bring spouses, children or extended family to help because they feel as if they are all truly a part of the mission. We have also held in-house competitions for food drives or holiday toy drives to see which teams can bring in the most items — the winning team usually wins a nice lunch on us.
What do you look for in a cause to determine if you will get involved? What advice can offer to others?
All car dealers know that we are approached on a daily basis to sponsor another golf tournament, give a silent auction item or even get the big asks of $10,000+ for an event. One thing we always think about is how does this event/charity reflect our mission? Does it stand in line with women, families or community? From there, it’s also a question of whether our employees would be proud if their company was supporting this charity or event. It’s important to remember that our dealership is community-facing, and what we do never stays behind closed doors. We want our employees and our customers to be proud of the reputation of Fresno Acura.