Joe Basil Sr. Wins Buffalo Business First Lifetime Achievement Award!

December 5th, 2018 by Alyssa Alyssa

On October 25th, 2018 our beloved founder and father of the Basil Family Dealerships Joe Basil Sr. was awarded the Buffalo Business First C-Level Executive Honorees Lifetime Achievement Award! This prestigious award honored the over 65 years of exceptional business leadership Joe Basil Sr. contributed to making our Buffalo-owned family dealerships continuously grow to employ and serve Western New York Communities. The Basil Family is so proud to continue the legacy Joe Basil Sr. began in 1953 with the fundamental values of dedication, responsibility, integrity, value and execution.

At the award ceremony held at Salvatore’s Italian Gardens, Joe Basil Sr. spoke on the important lessons and insights he’s learned over the years. He attributed achieving his “masters” in management to working at his first dealership with Edward Cottrell as a salesman and trainer. It is these years, learning the business inside and out that prepared him to take on his own dealership in 1967: “The key to success is surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do” Basil shared.

There were hardships in the beginning years of Joe Basil Sr.’s first dealership, namely the cut in pay as he strove to grow his business and support his wife and children. Joe Basil Sr. acknowledged his wife Shirley as his partner through all the hard work: “they say behind every good man is a good woman, well, in my case that’s never ever been true. Shirley’s always been at my side. Forever”.

Joe Sr. also shared a story about speaking to the Entrepreneurial Club at Canisius High School. In response to his asking “what is your most valuable personal asset, that only you own?” a student answered: “Your integrity; you can sell it, give it away, lose it. And once you do, you can never get it back again.” “I know integrity takes you far” Joe Basil Sr. shared.

As well as sharing insights about his success personally and as a business owner, Joe Basil Sr. also took time to speak on his role as an employer of Western New York workers. “The most valuable asset that a company has are the employees” Joe Sr. noted of his love for being a trainer and teacher.

Opportunity is something Joe Basil Sr says he always kept in his mind’s eye over the years, deciding that “one man’s failure is another man’s opportunity”. Joe Basil Sr. has loved giving opportunity to Western New Yorkers through Basil Family Dealerships as he and his sons have grown the business from one dealership to today’s 11 locations and over 800 employees. Seeing new opportunities and successes happening through the legacy he created in 1953 is what Joe Basil Sr. loves about Basil Family Dealerships: “The most satisfying part of, I guess, my whole life, is to watch people, young people, come in to learn and grow and be successful”.

The Basil Family Dealerships are so proud of our amazing leader Joe Basil Sr. and thank him for building a legacy of values that we work to honor every day!