Changing of guard at Moser Motors

Scott Bowersock wasn’t searching for a new job. But Buzz Keck was looking for his successor.
Planning for his retirement, Keck called his former employee early in the year to ask if he’d be interested in taking over as manager of Moser Motors in Portland.
“And here I sit,” Bowersock said Thursday from behind his desk just inside the door of the dealership on Meridian Street.
He spent the final two weeks of September learning about the job and the community with Keck before taking over Oct. 1.
Keck had hired Bowersock before, to be the finance and sales manager at Northshore Ford in Celina, Ohio. That was in 1998, and they worked together for just a couple of years.
But they had kept in contact ever since.
“I know Scott’s work ethic,” said Keck, who will move to Florida next week with his wife Nancy. “I know he’s very customer oriented. And I just thought he would be a good fit …
“And I really felt if I could hand-pick my replacement, which they had given me that opportunity, that I had three people in mind, and Scott was my first on the list.”
Bowersock started his career in the business at age 9 when he began sweeping floors at his family’s Dodge dealership in St. Marys, Ohio, the city he has always called home. He moved on to bigger tasks, and eventually full-time work after graduating from Memorial High School.
He operated his own dealership — St. Marys Auto Connection — for several years and worked at Reineke Mitchell Ford in Celina before Keck hired him at Northshore. That dealership eventually sold to Kerns Chevrolet, where Bowersock continued to work until last month.
His only previous experience with his new business community came from camping at Paradise Point in southern Jay County.
But he wants to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps with involvement in Jay County Chamber of Commerce and Portland Rotary Club.
And he hopes to build on what Keck started during his six years at Moser.
“Buzz really had a well-run ship here,” said Bowersock, who, with his wife Heather, has three daughters. “The biggest thing I’d really like to do is increase the traffic. One way you do that is with the Internet.
“No longer are you relying on a 25-mile circle around your dealership. You’re nationwide.”
That use of technology goes beyond posting inventory on the dealership’s web site or outlets like Cars.com and AutoTrader.com. There are also tools to help a dealer learn about the customer base and the market in order to make sure vehicles are priced correctly.
Having turned over the reins, Keck has already followed through on plans for his retirement.
He and Nancy will move next week to Port Richey, Fla., about 20 miles north of their daughter’s home in Clearwater along the state’s western shore.
After 43 years in the auto sales business — he worked at a Pontiac dealership in Plymouth prior to coming to Portland — he’s fulfilling a promise to his wife to take some time off.
This winter will be used to remodel the new house. And they have planned a trip to Key West, Fla., and might also head to Dallas to visit another daughter.
But he wants to go to work — part-time — again in the spring and plans to be involved in his new community, most likely through Rotary and the local chamber of commerce.
The most important factor in his search for a new job will be finding something that allows him to interact with customers.
“I miss the people right now,” Keck said. “It’s only been a week and a half.
“It’s a great, great group of people,” he added.
“I’ve worked in six different communities in my career, and I will say that Portland and Jay County is probably the most giving community that I’ve every worked in.”