"Ellenae Henry Fairhurst (1943)

She proudly proclaimed Huntsville to be "the best kept secret in the South."In the intervening years since that interview,her business ventures have grown by leaps and bounds.After opening the first African-American owned infiinity dealership in North America,Ellenae has successfully undertaken the management of three dealerships in Huntsville under the rubric "Autoplex of Huntsville,"selling and servicing Infinity,Lexus,& Dodge vehicles.Her "ace in the hole"apprently is her firm belief and her dadddy's advocacy of cohesive team play as well as Chrysler's strong corporate emphasis on dealer development and training have brought much success to her managerial efforts.In terms of statistics, as reported in the June 2004 Black Entreprise annual survey of the auto industry,Ellenae dealerships showed an aggregate of the auto industry,Ellenae Huntsville dealerships showed an aggregate of $62.9 million in yearly sales,rising to a ranking of forty-seventh among the Black Entreprise list of the top 100 auto dealers in the U.S..She was born in Dayton Ohio,to Ellen Nora and Jack Hart.Her father was a successful football coach for thirty-six at Dayton's Dunbar High School,and her mother taught study and learning techniques there for thirty-two years to students with learning disabilities for thirty-two years.Their educational values formed the basis of the management style their daughter was later to implement in her entrepreneurial and business career.A valedictorian at Dunbar High School,Ellenae matriculated at Miami University of Ohio,earning her Master of Science degree in 1965.Her first step up the management ladder was taken in the late 1960s,when she served as a legal secretary at Motown Records,She soon saw the opportunity for advancement in the auto industry and "crossed the street" to the Ford Motor Company,working as a secretary and market analyst for eight years.Concurrent with her employment,she took the opportunity to further her education,earning a master's degree in social and consumer psychology at the University of Detroit in 1986.In her next venture,she saw the opportunity to "change ships" accepted a position in the Chrysler Corporation's retail dealer development program.Upon graduating from that program in 1986,Ellenae was offered the opportunity to serve as president and general manager of the Cumberland Chrysler-Playmouth dealership in Fayetteville,North Carolina.Here her daddy's advocacy of strong team-building served her well and helped her developed her inner sensitivities,analytical strengths, and managerial skills.She is credited with assessing needs,helping her team set goals,and building a strong mature organization.In 1992,she sought her next challenge and contemplated a move to a larger location.After obtaining a good offer,and with the backing of the Chrysler Marketing Investment Division,she sold the Fayetteville business and moved to Huntsville,soon assuming 100 percent ownership of the Huntsville Dodge dealership.Her record at Huntsville bespeaks the continuous application of sound management skills:teamwork,setting high goals,and achieving postive results.Nine consecutive years of profitability earned her new franchise the Daimler/Chrysler Five Star award,signifying the company's highest commendation for successful management.In 1999,her team achieved several additional goals.They opened the first Infinity dealership in Huntsville,the first Nissan franchise owned by an African American.They pledged to increase the number of minority-owned dealerships in North America by 20 percent by the year 2002.Ellenae followed her infinity initiative in 2000 with the opening of a new Lexus dealership:again a "double first"-for her and for African Americans.Her three dealerships were then combined in a new $7.3 facility in 2001,as stated above.Her aggregate gross income for the combined dealerships rose to $59 million in 2001 and $62.9 million by 2004.Her own ranking grew to forty-seventh among the 100 top dealers in the country,as complied in the June listing in Black Enterprise.