Hasbrouck Heights Business Owner Nominated for National Award

TIME Magazine announced this week that William Kundert, president of Kundert Volvo of Hasbrouck Heights, had been nominated for the 2014 TIME Dealer of the Year award.

Kundert is one of a select group of 57 dealer nominees from across the country who will be honored at the 97th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 25, 2014. The announcement of this year’s nominees was made by Jed Hartman, group publisher, Time Inc. News and Business, and Tim Russi, president of Auto Finance for Ally Financial.

“The dealers nominated for this award are community heroes, as well as economic and civic leaders, who have time and again shown their dedication to making a difference,” said Russi. “Ally is pleased to once again be supporting these dealers in their efforts to create vibrant, thriving communities.”

In its third year as exclusive sponsor, Ally will recognize dealer nominees and their community efforts by contributing $1,000 to each nominee’s charity of choice. Nominees will also be recognized on the recently launched website, AllyDealerHeroes.com, which highlights the philanthropic contributions and achievements of auto dealers across the U.S. 

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. Kundert, 61, was chosen to represent the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers in the national competition – one of only 57 auto dealers from 17,000 nationwide – nominated for the 45th 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 Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan will select one finalist from each of the four NADA regions and one national Dealer of the Year.

“One of the most meaningful awards I’ve ever received was a plaque presented to me by all of my employees in appreciation of my efforts throughout the years to maintain our ‘H.I.R.E.S.’ tradition, which stands for Honesty, Integrity, Respect, Excellence and Service,” nominee Kundert said.

A 1970 graduate of Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, New Jersey, Kundert earned a B.S. in economics from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, in 1974. He was captain of the rugby team and a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at college. Since 1970, he has worked at his family’s dealership, which was originally started by his grandfather as a used-car lot and then his father joined the business and acquired the Volvo franchise. “We were one of the first Volvo dealerships in the United States,” said Kundert, who was named president of the operation in 1986.

He was honored to recently receive the 50-year award from Volvo Cars of North America. “This award recognized us as one of the twenty oldest dealers in the country,” he said. “In this business, that is quite an achievement.” Today, his son and one of his daughters work for the company, which also includes a Volvo dealership in Englewood, New Jersey. “It is very rewarding to have my children involved to take Kundert Volvo into the next 50 years,” he said.

Kundert is proud of his tenure at the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, where he’s held several offices, including chairman from 2012 to 2013. “My chairmanship gave me the opportunity to have an impact on dealers throughout the state, which was very gratifying,” he said. 

A supporter of numerous local charities and sports programs, Kundert has sponsored a 24-hour bike marathon on Memorial Day in Hasbrouck Heights for more than 15 years to raise awareness for the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. “We involve more than 200 kids a year,” he said. Kundert also made arrangements to house all vehicles for the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department and Ambulance Corp when their facility was destroyed by fire. And, on the 4th of July, he helps provide the fireworks for the town.

Kundert was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by James B. Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. He and his wife, Cathy, have three children.

The above information was submitted by public relations firm Prosek Partners.