After more than 24 years selling and servicing cars, Clarkston Motors is gone.
“We gave it the old college try,” said owner Chuck Fortinberry, saying goodbye to the longtime dealership with friends and family, Oct. 16. “This is a heavy blow to the community, employees and myself ? it’s wrong.”
Fortinberry said his Clarkston Chrysler Jeep fell victim to a restructuring plan by the auto company and the federal government. The Springfield Township dealership was one of 789 closed this past June.
“It’s scary how my franchise was taken away by the U.S. Treasury Department, which forced Chrysler into bankruptcy,” he said. “There was no congressional oversight, no due process. What happened to American capitalism?”
His dealership earned five-star ratings since 1998, and was in the top 17 percent in the country, profitable, and well capitalized, with a state-of-the-art, 33,000-square-foot facility, he said.
“The executive branch trampled the legislative and judicial branches with its appointment of a car czar,” he said. “It’s un-American. We need to get government back into the hands of the people.”
The dealership employed 37 people, sponsored several Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce events throughout the year, hosted the annual Harrison Charity Ride, and paid about $60,000 each year in property and business taxes to Springfield Township and Clarkston Community Schools.
He and his wife Dana Fortinberry plan to pursue new business opportunities in the Clarkston area, he said.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Dana said. “We love Clarkston ? this is where we raised our kids.”