Joseph Sheridan, president of Sheridan Ford, Wilmington, is the Delaware nominee for the 2015 TIME Dealer of the Year award.
Sheridan is one of 55 dealer nominees in a field of 17,000 from across the country who will be honored at the 98th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Exposition in San Francisco on Friday.
The announcement of this year’s nominees was made by Jed Hartman, group publisher, worldwide, TIME, and Tim Russi, president of Auto Finance for Ally Financial.
“The dealers nominated for this award are dedicated business owners, auto lovers and, most importantly, champions for their local communities, with a willingness to give back on a grand scale,” said Russi. “Ally is proud to honor and support these dealers as they work today and tomorrow to build better places to live, work and do business.”
Recipients are among the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service.
Sheridan, 63, was chosen to represent the Delaware Automobile & Truck Dealers Association in the national competition. Sheridan also serves as the face behind the dealership, with the slogan “Go See Joe.”
“The most rewarding experience in my retail automotive career was serving as chairman of the Ford Dealers Advertising Fund in Philadelphia in 2008 Sheridan said. “I took over after a few years of sliding sales for Ford in Philadelphia, and during my year as chairman, we saw growth and I helped guide the area though a recovery.”
A 1970 graduate of Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, Sheridan served three years in the United States Marine Corps from 1971 to 1973. His first job in automotive retail was working traffic control during high school at a Chevrolet dealership where his dad was a sales manager.
After his time in the service, he sold cars for various Ford stores in Pennsylvania before partnering in his own Ford dealership in 1982. Today, he is the sole owner of Sheridan Ford in Wilmington and Sheridan Nissan in New Castle. His sons Tim and Chip work for the dealerships.
Sheridan is a parishioner at St. Mary of the Assumption in Hockessin. He donates a portion of sales from both dealerships for a month-and-a-half to the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. “We have given an average of $13,000, which we donate as part of their Radiothon,” he said. “The children’s hospital was a savior for my children and many children in the area.”
Sheridan was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Marlene Lynch-Petrylak, executive director of the Delaware Automobile & Truck Dealers Association. He and his wife, Jill, have two sons.
