When it comes to Chilson Motors, “family” has multiple meanings.

For one, the dealerships themselves are a family: In fact, there are four of them, spread across three Chippewa Valley communities.

The dealerships are family-owned: Founded in 1959 by Bernie Chilson and his brother Ken, Chilson Motors’ four locations are still operated by Bernie’s seven children.

And finally, Chilson has a growing family of employees – roughly 120 of them, both full-time and part-time – who keep the four dealerships, and countless vehicles, up and running.

“There’s a lot of opportunity,” explains Jeanne Chilson, who helps manage Chilson Subaru in Eau Claire, when asked about job prospects at Chilson Motors. “It’s excellent pay, great benefits, and if you love cars, it’s a great place to go to work – you’re around it all day.”

The Chilson Motors dealerships include Chilson Subaru (3443 State Road 93, Eau Claire), Chilson Chrysler Dodge (1983 S. Prairie View Road, Chippewa Falls), Chilson’s Corner Motors of Cadott (which sells new and used Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles), and Chilson RV (2031 S. Prairie View Road, Chippewa Falls).

Just as Chilson carries multiple vehicle brands, there are multiple jobs to be filled at the dealerships, all of which have different responsibilities and require a range of talents.

“A lot of people don’t realize that an automobile dealership has multiple facets,” Jeanne says. “There’s a finance department, a sales department, service, parts and accessories, and a detail department. So essentially it’s five businesses that all complement each other, and they all have to be there.”

“There’s a lot of opportunity,” explains Jeanne Chilson, who helps manage Chilson Subaru in Eau Claire, when asked about job prospects at Chilson Motors. “It’s excellent pay, great benefits, and if you love cars, it’s a great place to go to work – you’re around it all day.”

And because the range of jobs is so broad, Chilson isn’t necessary seeking a specific kind of person with a specific background when it looks to fill the three to five job openings it has at any given time. “We really look at people’s skill set and also what they are interested in,” Jeanne says. “Many of our folks that have been promoted within the company started very young in our detail department and then showed great skills or expressed an interest in moving into more of a full-time role with us.”

As the job market has evolved in recent years, so has Chilson’s approach to hiring. Among other things, today’s employees have increased flexibility: More of them have part-time hours, for example, or are working around their school schedules or on Saturdays and during the summer. Employees range from high school students to retirees. More internships are being offered, and several Chilson employees have finished their schooling and come to work at one of the dealerships as either service advisors, parts advisors, and service technicians.

“The pandemic opened a lot of opportunities, and it changed how we thought about recruiting and employing people,” Jeanne says.

Chilson Motors’ most consistent need is for service technicians, who make up more than one-third of Chilson’s employees. On a recent morning, all 17 of the repair bays at Chilson Subaru were busy, as blue-and-gray-clad technicians changed tire, popped hoods, and diagnosed problems. While the shop caters to plenty of loyal Subaru customers, it will service any model of vehicle, Jeanne notes.

To help educate more future service technicians, Chilson has partnered with Chippewa Valley Technical College, and is among the businesses that helped support the college’s new Transportation Education Center, which opened last year.

But having a particular degree or résumé isn’t a necessity for working at Chilson Motors.

“It’s really more about finding an individual with the aptitude to learn and the willingness to want to get into a career that has a lot of income potential,” Jeanne says.

At a place like one of Chilson’s dealerships, every workday is different, Jeanne concludes. “I think all of us can say that each day you come in, you don’t really have a set thing that you’re going to do,” she says. “You’re interacting, you’re selling, you’re dealing with administrative things, you’re working with customers trying to help solve their concerns about their vehicle. … Each day you’ve learned something new.”

Learn more about Chilson Motors and job openings at the family of dealerships by visiting chilsonmotors.com and clicking on Careers.

CHILSON MOTORS

Phone (Eau Claire): (844) 379-2671

Address (Chilson Subaru): 3443 State Road 93, Eau Claire

Online: chilsonmotors.com

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