Mayor declares ‘Friendly Ford Day’

April marks Friendly Ford's 39th anniversary of doing business in Southern Nevada and the dealership had a special day to commemorate the landmark event.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman presented Friendly Ford owner Ed Olliges with a proclamation declaring April 9 Friendly Ford Day. The presentation was made that morning in front of Friendly Ford's employees, officials from Ford Motor Co., Ford Motor Credit representatives and special guests.

"This is a great city because of these kind of employees," Goodman told the group. "To see this kind of teamwork is extraordinary."

He also said Olliges is "phenomenal at inspiring great loyalty from his employees."

Olliges has been the owner and operator of Friendly Ford in Las Vegas since its opening in 1970.

"You can see by the exuberance of everyone that this is a big, historical event for us," said Olliges on having the mayor speak to the group. Goodman, always promoting Las Vegas said, "You can tell the folks from Ford if they want to leave Detroit, we'll take them here with our incredible tax conditions and the best work force in the country."

Olliges said Friendly Ford's success has been based on "being in Las Vegas first and then having long-term employees and customers."

Friendly Ford has customers that have been buying from it for more than 30 years. In addition to its local customers, Friendly Ford's clients include state and government agencies as well as commercial accounts.

"All our accomplishments are driven by our employees' efforts to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction," Olliges said. Friendly Ford is a 13-time winner of the Presidents Award, Ford's highest honor for customer satisfaction.

When asked about building on success during this economy, the mayor shared some words of advice: "Be nice and straight with people, as confidence builds they will come to you, and you need to be ready because Las Vegas will be the city coming out of this situation the quickest."

Taking a look at today and the future, Olliges said, "Friendly Ford will continue to live up to its name doing business in a friendly, customer-driven way that all of our employees are known for and do every day here."

Friendly Ford is located at 660 N. Decatur Blvd., just north of U.S. Highway 95. For more information, call 870-7221 or visit the Web site at www.friendlyfordlv.com.