In 1947 Warren Germain opened the first Germain dealership in Bexley, Ohio. As the years progressed, the number of dealerships continued to grow under the leadership of Warren’s son Bob Germain Sr. including dealerships in Columbus, Ohio; Naples, Florida and in Sarasota, Florida. In 1995 Steve Germain, son of Bob Germain Sr., was named President and CEO of the company.
Steve Germain, an Ohio native, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University. He is regarded as a leader within the automotive business as well as in the community and has served on many industry and civic boards including the Toyota Dealer Advertising Association, the Toyota Dealer Advisory Council, the local Cadillac Marketing Association, the Ohio Automotive Dealers Association, the Columbus Auto Dealers Association, the Bexley Education Foundation as well as the Columbus Zoo Association board and Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation to name a few.
In 2005, Steve was a finalist in the American International Automobile Dealers Association Dealer of the Year award presented by Newsweek. The following year he was named Time Magazine’s Quality Dealer of the Year; an award given for exceptional performance in the dealership and distinguished community service.
Steve has also been actively involved in the Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) program since 1999; a program designed to encourage young people to consider satisfying careers in retail automotive service. In 2008 Steve was chosen as AYES Dealer of the Year sponsored by Dealer Magazine.
Steve currently resides in Bexley, Ohio with his wife of 33 years Kim. Steve and Kim met while they were both students at Denison University. They have three children Jessica, Zach and Austin.
Jessica graduated with an English major from the University of Michigan. In 2008 she received her Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School. From there she practiced corporate law at Shayne Nichols, LLC. In September 2010 Jessica officially entered the family business by becoming General Manager of Germain Honda of Dublin. In 2011 she graduated from the National Automotive Dealer Association’s Dealer Academy. She enjoys marketing for the Honda store and has been doing commercials with her Dad since she was three years old. She also cohosts Auto Smarts presented by Germain Honda of Dublin, a weekly automotive radio show alongside her Dad Steve.
Zach is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio where he studied Public Administration and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. Upon graduating Zach ventured into another area of the family business, the sport of racing. At the age of 21, Zach kicked off his racing career by stepping into a Legends race car. That experience saw him progress into the Super Late Model division - a move that progressed into what would become a NASCAR racing career. Zach is also the New Car Sales Manager at Germain Toyota of Sarasota. His hobbies include water sports, fishing and spending time outdoors with his yellow lab named Rocket.
Austin is currently a senior at Miami University of Ohio studying Business Administration.
In 2011 Germain was named the Best Auto Dealer by readers or 614 Magazine, Columbus Monthly and Columbus C.E.O. Magazine. Germain was also listed on the Wards e-Dealer Top 100 list, which ranks dealerships across the entire U.S. based on total internet sales volume for both new and used vehicles. Not only did Germain make the list ranking 5th, it was the only dealership group in Columbus to receive such an honor.
As a family owned company with a rich history of over 65 years, Germain is committed to continual growth. Germain strives to stay on the cutting edge of technology and is dedicated to offering the most sought after automotive brands with one ultimate goal in mind; to create customers for life.
