After 42 years, Bitterroot Motors will pass out of the Ogren family, and be purchased by a major dealership group.

Kathy Ogren, the driving force behind the dealership, told KGVO about the news on Thursday morning, and allowed us to tell the story, only if the tone was positive in nature, keeping with the tradition she has created in serving Missoula over the years.

Bitterroot Motors
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"It's been 42 years, starting with Toyota and then Ford, along with Volvo, Fiat and Kia," Ogren said. "It's sad, but with franchising and so many major dealerships, it's the way of the future. It's hard to do all the heavy overhead with just one business. Five different people have been trying to buy the business, and the smallest dealership group was eight and the biggest was 131."

Ogren said the closing date for the sale was supposed to have been July 8, but has been delayed, so the new owners cannot be revealed at this time.

"I don't think we can yet, because they have to be OK'd by Ford Motor Company," she said. "It's still under the confidentiality rule, and if they don't get OK'd, then those people in second place will be OK'd., so I really can't say right now."

In 2012, the Toyota franchise was sold to Lithia Corporation, and the two dealerships have been neighbors since then.

Ogren said she and her staff have been going through 42 years and over 5,000 pounds of paperwork, uncovering hundreds of memories about dealership promotions, contests, special events and memories of helping to build and enrich the Missoula community.One of her most vivid memories was the Great Recession that began in 2008, a devastating time for many business owners.

"In 2008, most companies got rid of about 40 percent of their people just to survive, but I just could not do that, so we've always just had a company policy that we put people first and we participate in the community.That's just what we do."

Ogren said with the passage of time, the business world has come to be dominated by large corporations, sometimes to the detriment of locally owned businesses.

"It's a struggle," she said. "I tell people when they drive by on the Interstate, they look for the McDonald's sign, or the Outback sign, but they don't look for the local places like The Depot or Plonk, and it's happening that way in the car business, as well. Those major dealership franchises are the wave of the future, but they don't do quite as much for the community, it seems."

That will never be said for Kathy Ogren and the staff at Bitterroot Motors. Ogren was a driving force behind the creation of the Missoula Children's Theater, she provided a new delivery van for Ani-Meals, and there are hundreds of small donations of time, space and money over the years that made a difference to the community. And, of course, Missoula would not have a minor league baseball stadium and the Missoula Osprey, without the generous support of the Ogren family, for which the stadium, Ogren Park and Allegiance Field, was named.

Missoula Osprey
photo courtesy of Missoula Osprey
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Ogren said she deliberately waited to sell the dealership to make sure her employees would be able to either stay with the new owners, find other employment or retire.

And, she wants her customers and friends to know that the business will still be a great dealership when all is said and done. But, one fact is sure, Kathy Ogren is one of a kind, and Missoula is a better place thanks to the Ogren family.

 

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