FOR MANY DEALERS, HELPING KIDS PLAY CANADA’S GAME PROVIDES A WHOLE HOST OF BENEFITS
In the Great White North, minor hockey and automotive retailing go together like Crosby and Malkin. Minor hockey engages all ages, encouraging hometown pride, good sportsmanship and leadership skills in kids, all while providing a heck of a good time. Through sponsorship programs, auto retailers are helping build future leaders in the communities they support. If that sounds like a circular road rather than a direct route from local hockey to car sales, these business leaders are just fine with it.
Bud Lauria
“There’s never any direct payback with this sort of thing,” says Bud Lauria, whose family-run dealership, Lauria Hyundai in Port Hope, Ont., sponsors two local minor teams as well as being a significant sponsor of the Port Hope Panthers OHC Jr. C team and Cobourg Cougars Jr. A team. “You do it because you want to support your community first and foremost — however, you don’t have to be overly smart to realize that people want to associate with those that support the local community.”
WINNING ON BOTH SIDES
Lauria says he would want to do business with someone who is putting money back in the community. “Does being a good corporate citizen help us sell more cars? I’m guessing it does. It’s one of those ‘everybody wins’ situations.”
Hyundai is one of several manufacturers to run a complementary corporate program as well, Hyundai Hockey Helpers.
“Hockey happens to be one of the most expensive sports as well as the most popular,” says Chad Heard, Public Relations Manager at Hyundai Canada. “This lets a lot of kids play who couldn’t otherwise.” While brand awareness is certainly among the program’s goals, the more altruistic side is that “there’s a health benefit to hockey, but it also teaches life skills,” Heard says. “You’re working with your team to build something greater than yourself. We really chose hockey because of its popularity and its benefits to childhood development.”
“There isn’t a better bang for your buck when it comes to community sponsorships,” Lauria says. “For a small amount of money, generally $300 to $700 a season, you can make a big difference for a lot of people, and generate more business for yourself and your team while you’re at it.”
Massie and his partners helped turn the Barrie Colts into one of the most successful teams in the OHL
SEEING THE POTENTIAL
Jamie Massie, President and CEO of Georgian International, among whose automotive holdings are Georgian Chevrolet Buick GMC, MINI Georgian and Georgian BMW, took local sponsorship to new heights. In the early-1990s, Massie and two partners bought a Jr. B team that was about to fold.
Jamie Massie
Over the next 17 years, Massie would devote considerable energy and resources to the new Barrie Colts, including luring Molson on board to help build a “mini version of the Air Canada Centre,” the Barrie Molson Centre. Massie helped raise $6 million of the $18 million the building needed within the community. Georgian now sponsors two super-select seven-year-old teams in Barrie, the Jr. Colts BMW and the Jr. Colts MINI.
“We never leveraged the team as the Georgian Colts,” Massie says. “We looked at it more as when the community does well, our businesses tend to do well too.”
“One of our philosophies when we owned the Colts was to develop great young men who would grow and give back to their communities, whether as lawyers, doctors, dentists, car dealers, or professional hockey players,” he says. One star alumnus is Jr. B Colt John Madden, who has gone on to win three Stanley Cups and is now an assistant coach in Florida.
Massie, like many entrepreneurs, is good at seeing the big picture. “It’s about quality of life,” he says. “I don’t count it just in money.”
Sean Gibson
DRIVEN TO HELP
Kristin MacFarlane, General Manager of Petrolia Chevrolet Buick GMC, is the fourth generation to work in her family’s business; they’ve been sponsoring local hockey in the town (near Sarnia, Ont.), since the 1970s. This season, they’re sponsoring two local teams.
“Let’s face it,” she says, “hockey families travel a lot. They drive their vehicles a lot. Dealerships and hockey go together. Those people have to buy cars — you hope it’s from you.”
“Sponsorship allows us to keep our registration costs down,” says Nick Salaris, President of the Petrolia Minor Hockey Association. He says they’ve seen a decline in numbers which they attribute to the costs involved in hockey. “Sponsorship spins off into our other age groups,” Salaris says. “We’ve been able to maintain registration costs that are below average, and that’s one of the big reasons. It makes the choice to play hockey easier for families with limited funds.”
Hyundai dealers across Canada have raised funds to help kids play hockey via the Hyundai Hockey Helpers program including O’Regan’s in Dartmouth, N.S. and Stouffville Hyundai in Stouffville, Ont.
Like Hyundai, Chrysler runs a corporate initiative, Dodge Caravan Kids, which is directed at the novice level. “Go to a hockey arena on the weekend and see how many Caravans are in the parking lot,” says Sean Gibson, GM of Ottawa Chrysler Dodge Jeep. “I’ve actually had customers come in and tell me how much they appreciate the jerseys and the socks, and because of it, they’re going to support Chrysler.”
“Business is no different than life itself,” Lauria says. “What goes around, comes around.”
