Business View Magazine - August 2016 37
Even though the Great Recession hit Nevada particu-
larly hard, Dolan reports that 2015 was a good year
for his company. The sale of approximately 8,200 ve-
hicles last year is a testament to the fact that the worst
days of the downturn are behind them. “And sales
have been good for the first quarter of this year, so
we can’t complain,” he adds. “In fact, in our neck of
the woods, the economy is going crazy, right now. Tesla
just opened up a factory about ten miles from Reno.”
Elon Musk’s new Gigafactory, built to create the lith-
ium-ion batteries that power his automobiles, is ex-
pected to add $100 billion in economic benefit to the
region over the next two decades. In addition, other
companies, such as Switch, a provider of internet data
centers, Amazon, Apple, and Panasonic have all been
busy, expanding their corporate reach in the vicinity of
Reno. And more businesses mean more workers who
will need cars. “More people are moving into this area
and they’re saying that in the next five or six years,
there’ll be an influx of 50,000 people,” Dolan says.
“So car sales are great in this region.”
According to Dolan, other car dealerships are also
responding to the area’s current and future growth -
John Grau,
NECA’s CEO
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Dolan Automotive Group
WHAT:
New and used car dealerships offering
sales and service
WHERE:
Reno and Carson City, NV
WEBSITE
:
