Bruner Toyota broke ground Thursday morning, despite the threat of rain and cold weather, marking the official beginning of the multimillion dollar Toyota dealership that is set to open in August of 2012.
The Bruner family, Toyota’s A-Team, dignitaries and local officials joined a large crowd under a tent for the groundbreaking event.
Several speakers wished owners Greg and Dwain Bruner well in the endeavor and gave historical accounts of the Bruner family’s history in auto sales. They also outlined the history of Toyota as a Bruner product and as an asset to the state of Texas.
The Bruner family celebrates 84 years in selling automobiles with four generations of experience while this year, Toyota celebrates the five year anniversary of when the first Toyota Tundra rolled off the production line in their plant in San Antonio, according to Bruner Toyota President Greg Bruner.
“Dreams do come true for Bruner and Toyota in Texas,” said Bruner.
Bruner quoted his father Dwain regarding business, “A brand earns the trust of its customers, and they ultimately learn to trust because of the person whose name is on the building. We take that very seriously.”
State Representative Jim Keffer wished the Burners success and said he was honored to have been involved in the legislature’s part in helping to bring the Toyota plant to San Antonio in 2007.
Former Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey also played a part in bringing Toyota to Brownwood. Massey commented on the efforts of both Brownwood and Early to court businesses to each city and how they often compete against each other, yet both communities receive benefits of the others’ success.
“Keeping employment and resulting in more employment is a benefit to both communities,” said Massey. “Plus, I know how hard the Bruners looked and how long they looked for the perfect place for their facility and it just happens to be in the city of Early.”
The Toyota motto was explained by Greg Bruner.
“Toyota cares and is unmatched in customer care and satisfaction, their motto is ‘Moving Forward’ and Bruner Toyota is moving forward,” stated Bruner.
Bruner then commemorated the ground breaking event by presenting a donation of $5000 to the Brownwood Fire Department and Early Volunteer Fire Department in honor of first responders.
“We cannot express how much we appreciate our first responders and how they put themselves in harm’s way every day,” said Bruner. “We just deeply, deeply appreciate their efforts.”
Tom Bittenbinder, Senior Vice President with Gulf States Toyota stated that Bruner Toyota is one of their best dealerships in customer satisfaction.
“Bruner is one of the best of our 184 stores, they are number one in customer service satisfaction out of five states,” said Bittenbinder.
Pictured above are Greg Bruner, Dwain Bruner, representatives from Toyota, dignitaries and representatives of Bruner Auto Group & Waldrop Construction during the groundbreaking. Below is a picture of donations to the Brownwood Fire Department and Early Volunteer Fire Department as well as videos of the event.
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{denvideo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmjQpNqkQQ 400 300 }
