CEO and founder of the Patriot Auto Group, Adam Arens, certainly keeps himself busy. After being talked into getting into the car business some 40 years ago and starting Patriot in 2003, he’s expanded his horizons to include cannabis, reinsurance, non-profits and politics, to name a few. But what always brings him back to automotive is his love of helping his staff learn and grow. ”At the end of the day, if I'm in the store, I train.”

Adam’s employee happiness and retention-based approach of providing proper training, encouragement and a pathway to leadership has created a dealership environment of note, having been awarded Automotive News Best Dealerships to Work For 10 consecutive years, as well as 6 consecutive years of being the Best Place to Work in Maine.

“You look at your whole auto group as a family. You want to take care of people, make sure they're happy, and help them in any way possible. We have a mission statement that declares what it is we're there to do, and it's followed up by retention of everybody - that's retention of your customers, retention of your family, retention of your associates, the people that work there - the longer they're there, the better they get.”

Interview Highlights:

• Discusses how today’s hot economy is having a trickle-down effect on supply and demand, which will last for years to come
• How technology in the days of covid has changed - and made even better - communication between his teams
• His relationship with Ernie Boch, Jr. (a recent DNT guest)
• Derek D.’s Rapid Fire Questioning round

EPISODE QUOTE:

“Our mission statement is pretty simple, it's two words. It's “to serve” — the customer, the community, our families and each other. And it is who we are.” — Adam Arens

|| Dealer News Today is a DCG Media production