Kingland Ford gets new name
Employee vote dubs dealership Aurora Ford, says manager
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, December 7, 2015
HAY RIVER
The employees of the Ford dealership in Hay River will now answer its phones as "Aurora Ford."
Earlier this fall, the King family sold the dealership and other businesses to Go Auto, an Edmonton-based company. However, the King family did not sign over the rights to the name Kingland Ford, so the staff at the dealership had to find a new name.
Lee Cawson, who came up from Edmonton in September to become manager of the dealership under Go Auto's ownership, said rather than having someone removed from the dealership choosing the name, he wanted the staff to have a say.
"We didn't really know what to call it, so we started with a generic name like Hay River Ford. We knew that wasn't the name we wanted but we decided that rather than us picking one, why not put it out to vote with the staff?" said Cawson. "We got a list of names, shortlisted it from there, and sent it back to the staff to choose from those."
Some of the other names in the running were Great Slave Ford, North of 60 Ford, Polar Ford, Arctic Ford, South Slave Ford and Go North Ford.
"We wanted a name that we could apply to the whole group of companies and not have to separate them like Aurora Ford in Hay River and Polar Ford in Yellowknife," explained Cawson.
"We wanted something that shows that we are all still the same group and that would apply to each branch of the company. Something people will recognize."
Twenty-nine staff members had Aurora Ford on their list of names, and from them there was a draw for six cash prizes.
Vanessa Daigneault works reception at Aurora Ford in Hay River. She won a cash prize from the draw, along with five other people in the company.
"I love the new name," she said. "It's very Northern, and I think it fits perfectly."
Cawson was happy to have the staff choose the name.
"I didn't want someone from outside of the community to say, 'We're going to call you this,'" he said. "It's better for the people who have, in some cases, worked here for 20 or more years, and who put in all the hard work and service, to be able to choose. The name should belong to the staff."
Now the company will begin to work on a logo for the new name.
"People will start seeing some marketing shortly," said Cawson. "We want people to know that just because the name has changed, it doesn't mean everything else has. None of the staff have changed, other than me. That's one challenge with renaming. We want people to know it's still going to be the same people they've dealt with for years."
Cawson, who has worked for Ford "basically forever" and for Go Auto for 18 years, is happily adjusting to life in Hay River.
He and his wife and two teenage boys are enjoying a more relaxed pace of life.
