Q: You won the 2021 MTADA Eagle Award! What does winning the Eagle Award mean for you?
A: The Eagle Award is given to those who strengthen the association. I was touched to be considered for it.
I’ve been working hard the last few years on behalf of the association to get my young partners into MTADA and NADA. I’ve also brought our dealerships into the insurance trust to support the association. It was really neat to get the award after my work in those two areas.
Mr. Knudsen has worked so hard to grow our association and make it better all the time. You just want to support that kind of leadership!
Q: What did your service as a U.S. Marine teach you?
A: There are a number of things. First of all, stay extremely calm under duress in the most difficult of times. Second, be disciplined and never, ever, ever give up. And finally, do not be ruled by fear.
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I graduated from Great Falls High School in 1968. After high school, I started college at the University of Montana. During my first quarter there in 1969, I was in a serious car accident, after which, I was financially devastated afterward and could not return to school.
At that time, I knew I was probably going to be drafted because I could not get back to school. So I joined the Marine Corps, because I wanted to be with the best, if I was going to go to war. When I came back from Vietnam, I wanted to go to school on the G.I. bill, and I tried, but then I met my love, my wife. She was young and had two little children. I now felt I had to go to work to support my family.
At first, I worked full time selling shoes in Missoula, while going to school full time. The children had to go to day care, and we never saw each other. It didn’t seem feasible at the time to complete college. I then moved back to Great Falls and became a car salesman at City Motor Company. Eventually, I went to work for Rice Motors in Great Falls and was elevated to Management.
Years later, after working in the car industry, I audited a few college courses in business. I knew I would not go back to get a degree, but I wanted the education. It was a good decision.
Q: How did you become a dealer? Did you always want to be a dealer, or did you discover it?
A: It’s interesting. I was a car salesman first, and I was eventually promoted to used car sales manager, then to general sales manager. But I was working a crazy amount of hours and still had no time with my family. We had another son by then, and my three children needed a dad. I decided it was more important to figure out how to spend more time at home, so along with my brother Mike and my spouse Bamma, we opened a used car lot. We were struggling financially, but we were making it.
I became friends with Mike Tilleman, and that was serendipitous. He was a Chevrolet dealer in Havre, Montana. We did business together. He called me and asked me to partner with him and purchase the Chevrolet store in Fort Benton, which is now called JT Motors. Taylor’s Automax Buick GMC Nissan, Automotive Credit Resources, and Taylor’s Transportation would evolve from this first store.
I don’t know how I would have become a new car dealer without Mike’s help. I had no financial capability, but he did, and he trusted me. He was very savvy, with significant business acumen. He was also very knowledgeable about the Automotive franchise system.
Mike was a wonderful man who spent his life helping other people. He was just an incredible friend and a wonderful human being. I’m sure many stories like mine surrounded Mike Tilleman.
Q: Which people have been the biggest influences on your professional life?
A: Mike Tilleman is one of them. There are others, especially NADA coordinators and some fellow dealers who are involved in 20 Group. NADA has 20 groups across the country where dealers come together and solve problems. A few of those dealers were very instrumental in my life and my success. There are a number of people who helped me in that arena, and I will always be grateful for their help. Additionally, spiritual leaders in my Christian community have been important to me. I’m also a big reader, which has influenced me, and I’m a history buff, and drawn to inspirational reading.
Q: What did your mentors teach you? Are there three life lessons you would pass on to the people you mentor?
A: First I would say, be disciplined. Work harder than everybody else around you, but remember to play along the way. Second, find your spiritual center. Find God. And third, be fair, always, with everyone. The right thing may not be the popular thing.
Q: Are you still working, or have you retired?
A: I am not involved in daily operations in any of our stores or businesses, but I am still working on a few projects. I also assist our businesses in large projects, and do our corporate flying.
Q: You founded Jim Taylor Motors in 1989, and you currently co-own the company with Michael Schneider. How did you get to know Michael, and what’s the story behind his becoming a co-owner?
A: I got to know Michael Schneider through a longtime friend Dan Clowes, who is now one of our partners at our Taylor’s Automax Buick GMC Nissan store. Dan knew that I was looking to have a partner or sell the store in Fort Benton, and he was also friends with Michael Schneider. I was basically looking to retire from that operation, and I had the financial wherewithal and knowledge, but I didn’t have a family member ready to step into Jim Taylor Motors. It’s the reverse story that I had with Mike Tilleman. Dan suggested interviewing Michael Schneider.
Michael Schneider has incredible integrity. His family is known for it, and he also has a heart as big as he is. We knew it was a gamble because of his limited financial capability, but it was worth a try, the same way it was with me and Mike Tilleman. He intends to own the dealership. We’ve been partners for two years, he is doing an incredible job, and he is very successful. He is already a half-owner, and he plans to buy the rest very soon.
My children are part of my legacy as well. Two of my sons are in business with me, and one son is on his own. My youngest son, Jim Taylor Jr and my brother Mark are in charge of the automotive efforts in Great Falls, Montana. I am still partners with my brother Mike and my wife Bamma in all operations. My oldest son, John Schmiedeke, runs our transportation company as its president. Our son Scott has his own large construction equipment sales business.
Q: What are the most important issues facing dealerships in the next 5-10 years?
A: Many interruptive technologies are emerging. They are pointing to the electrification of our industry in the form of EVs. In the northern tier states, we have great distances and a scattered population. Electrification is going to be a complex transition here. It will be very difficult for dealers to make good, informed decisions and take calculated risks for their futures.
I recommend that Montana dealers stay involved in NADA and MTADA. The two associations will keep them informed at the highest level. The associations are an important source of the information stream these dealers need.
Q: Tell us about your family and your corgi, Gracie.
A: We have three sons and with those three sons, 11 grandchildren. We are an extremely close family. We work hard and play hard together.
Gracie is our director of activity: she is in charge. She is one of the most delightful, engaging, vocal, fun animals we have ever had.
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
A: I’m a musician. I play the guitar. I was involved in a rhythm and blues band for many years, and I’ve also been a Christian worship leader in the church for many years. I like to ride Harleys and dirt bikes, and I really enjoy boating and snow skiing. Also, I fly high-performance aircraft and I do all of our corporate flying. I tell people I spent 45 years in the car business to get the job I really like, the high office! I also like to golf.
I love to read, and I have a big library. I have studied world history and the history of our nation at a high level. I also love spiritual books, especially Christian Inspirational.
