Page 34 - INSIGHT MAGAZINE_October 2024

MEMBER PROFILE

As a teenager living in Welland,
Kevin Zimic can clearly recall
standing outside the local GM
dealership with his then high
school sweetheart – now wife –
dreaming of what the future could
bring.
“I thought if I could own a local car dealership
like this one and have a place like this that I
owned and have the name of the business
on the back of our Junior B hockey jersey,
that would be - in the context of growing
up in Welland - what I would consider to
be successful,” laughs the Cambridge Ford
owner, adding: “So, I guess by the very
myopic definition of what I consider success I
have manifested it, which is great. But I wish
I would have aimed a little bigger.”
While the 59-year-old business leader readily
makes light of his entry into the auto sector,
he credits his time growing up in Welland for
instilling the fortitude he needed to become
a successful entrepreneur and community
champion.
“It gave me the resilience and a grit in my gut
that has served me well,” says Kevin, who was
presented with the Community Impact Award
at our 2024 Business Excellence Awards in
May. “So here, in this chair, full circle, as I’m
staring down the barrel of being sixty years
old, I can’t thank my time in Welland enough.”
That resilience proved invaluable during his
time working for the Ford Motor Company
where he held 19 different positions in a 16-
year period while he and his wife, Antonette,
raised their two children in St. Catharines.
“In the entrepreneurial world, that would
mean you’re not an in-demand commodity
because you know you can’t deliver in a
capacity. But in the corporate world, that
(many jobs) means you’re considered high
potential,” jokes Kevin, adding his view of
that world suddenly changed while attending
a conference at an Orlando, FL., hotel. “I’m
Helping community looking through this place and all I see is a
sea of ‘Michael Scotts’ (from TV’s The Office).
I felt claustrophobic in this sea of 260 people
drives car dealer in this giant room and concluded ‘I can’t do
this anymore’.”
He says the decision to leave was not an easy
one, considering his family circumstances,
but wanted to ensure he was more present
for his children just like his parents – his
father was a teacher and his mother a nurse
KEVIN ZIMIC, CAMBRIDGE FORD
– had been for him.
34 Fall 2024 www.cambridgechamber.com