Dealership closes in Effingham County despite a pending sale

Up until last week Joe Taylor was hoping that he would keep his job as the chief mechanic at Springfield Ford. But then came news that Ford would not okay a sale to a new owner. "It was disappointing," he tells me. "A shock really."

Taylor says he had worked at the dealership for 11 years. "At one time we had about 9 mechanics here and almost that many office people, not including the sales folks," he says.

The business had been struggling for some time and its owner was hopeful that a new owner could come in and get the dealership up and running again. But Ford would not okay the sale.

Freddy Long, a former presidnet of the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce says "I probably bought ten vehicles from that dealership over the years. I'm worried about what this will do the county, now that there is no Ford dealership here."

The Chamber had actually endorsed a campaign for the public to contact Ford, asking that the sale be approved. The campaign was started by Rincon resident Becky Alford. "I just asked people to email Ford, it wasn't anything that formal," she tells me. "I drive by that business probably 3 or 4 times a day and I didn't want to see an empty building there."

Alford says she got back what appeared to be an automated email response when she emailed Ford. A Chamber official says she's not sure just how many locals actually contacted Ford but says the chamber was carboned on about ten emails that went to the automaker.

There's no word on what Ford's explanation is for not approving the sale. Mike Phillips, the city manager of Rincon says while the county will be more impacted in terms of loss of sales tax than the city of Rincon, he's still concerned about the impact the loss of the buiness may have on the entire area.

Meanwhile, Taylor and his wife are planning to start a small car repair and parts business in the back part of the dealership. Taylor says because of his experience all those years at the dealership, he's well qualified to repair Fords and other types of vehicles. "But I can't do any warrany work on Fords, that's the bad thing," he says. "Anyone who needs warranty work will have to drive out of the county now."