Tribute to Jack Kain

TRIBUTE TO JACK KAIN

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Jack Kain, a successful Kentucky businessman and dedicated community member. For the past 50 years, Jack has built an award-winning car dealership empire in central Kentucky that generates more than $20 million in gross annual sales.

What originally started out as a way to avoid milking cows has become a fifty-year passion for Jack Kain. In 1947, while a pre-law student at the University of Kentucky, Jack first delved into the world of car sales with the hopes of escaping work on the family dairy farm. For the next three years, he sold vehicles at the Harry Aldridge and Shug Glenn dealerships. He joined the Air Force in 1950 and served in Korea as a second lieutenant. Following his tour of duty, Jack returned to Kentucky with his late wife Kathy Webb and their daughter Becky. With some financial support from his father, Jack returned to car sales with the purchase of a DeSoto/Plymouth dealership in Frankfort. In 1960, he started selling Fords. While there have been some bumps on his road to success, Jack has continued to expand his dealership, which now employs 50 people, including four of his nine children.

Jack's business has received the Ford Motor Co. President's Award, a selective accolade bestowed upon dealerships with superb customer service. Less than one percent of the 5,000 Ford dealers nationwide receive this award. Stephen Lyons, the president of the Ford Division of the Ford Motor Company hails Jack as a "master of customer service" and a "legend." Jack's dedication to customer satisfaction is illustrated in his frequent interaction with those who enter his dealership where he welcomes and thanks every customer. Whether he's helping Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher, Frankfort Mayor Bill May, or a lesser-known inhabitant of Woodford County, Jack treats all his customers with respect.

Jack, who has nine children, twenty-one grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, also stays active in the community. He has been a member of the Greater Lexington and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, president of the Woodford County Chamber and he has served as director of St. Joseph Hospital. For the next couple of years, however, Jack will be spending more time outside the commonwealth with his new position as vice chairman and soon will serve as chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association. He's the first Kentucky dealer to be elected to these posts and will lobby on behalf of dealers in Washington, DC and in Detroit.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Jack Kain on his 50 years of business success and his excellent record of customer service.