North Adams Transcript
ADAMS -- A stalwart town business has transitioned to a new managing general partner for the first time since opening in 1973 and plans to change nothing else -- if possible.
Daniel Maloney, 38-year employee and new point man at McAndrews-King Buick GMC Truck on Columbia Street, spoke of a seamless change and the integrity of doing business with a local, familiar clientele.
"It’s a natural transition for us," Maloney said. "As we move forward, I plan to continue the dealership as it is now. The world has gotten to be such a busy place. Oftentimes, people miss the small community stores. Here, we have a small, hometown dealership that takes care of its customers, and to me, that makes it very special."
Maloney, formerly the sales manager, expressed confidence in filling the requirements of the managing general partner role. He said he’s already had a good measure of experience by proxy due to the nature of small business.
"You do a lot of different things, some of them out of necessity and some of them because you want to," Maloney said. "It’s a fun business."
According to Maloney, the switch led to a number of interior developments, with the technicians taking on new responsibilities and each of the businesses’ 26 employees helping out in one way or another.
Owner and dealer Richard R. King, co-founder of McAndrews-King, said the process involved transferring
If all goes well, corporate profits and Maloney’s own input will eventually earn him a controlling 51 percent interest in the business, at which point Maloney will become the new owner and dealer.
"I’ve very happy to be going with a 38-year employee and keeping things within the town," King said. "The ideal situation is to make it as easy as possible for [Maloney] to be successful. He’s worked very hard for all these years and he deserves a chance to enjoy the benefits of being the dealer."
As for the direction of the business, King’s opinion aligns with Maloney’s.
"I’m very confident that [Maloney’s] going to do a fine job keeping up what we’ve been doing for 40 years," King said.
When General Motors filed for bankruptcy in 2008, there was fear among all small dealerships of closing. McAndrews-King survived, according to Maloney, because of its high customer retention rate and low overhead costs.
"We survived all of it just by working hard," Maloney said. "It’s been a tough few years, but things are back to steady."
To reach Phil Demers, email pdemers@thetranscript.com.
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