2026 TDOY Nominee

Marshall Jespersen is one of a select group of 47 dealer nominees from across the country who will be honored at the 109th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 5, 2026.

The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. The award recognizes the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Jespersen was chosen to represent the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition — one of only 47 auto dealers nominated for the 57th annual award from more than 20,000 nationwide.

Jespersen took the helm of a struggling Dover Honda in 1988 and rebuilt it with an owner-operator’s heart and an engineer’s discipline — earning an MBA from the University of New Hampshire in 1991 and joining a NADA 20 Group to modernize operations.

“I took over a failing store with zero automotive experience — and my first smart move was to admit what I didn’t know,” Jespersen said. “I joined a 20 Group, enrolled in an MBA and listened to mentors. That humility and willingness to learn saved the business and shaped our culture.” 

Believing great companies are built by great people, Jespersen transitioned Dover Honda to an employee-owned enterprise — now 43% ESOP-owned — and implemented open-book management so every employee understands how the business performs and shares in its success.

“Open-book management was the biggest risk of my career — full transparency, equal profit sharing from CEO to porter,” he said. “The payoff has been a stronger culture and turnover that’s a fraction of the NADA average because our people think and act like owners.”

He replaced the aging facility with a ground-up new dealership (2016–2017), expanding service capacity and elevating customer amenities. Dover Honda’s customer-first culture has earned multiple honors, including the Honda President’s Award (2020, 2021), Honda Express Service Elite (2022, 2024), Honda Customer Service Excellence (2024) and Honda Fixed Right First Visit (2024).

“Continuous improvement is in our DNA,” Jespersen added. “We run 90-day mini-games with scoreboards and team rewards. In one year, those efforts saved nearly $100,000 while building pride and accountability.” 

Jespersen has served the industry as Vice Chairman, Chairman, and immediate past Chairman (2022–2025) of the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association and as a long-time board member of the New Hampshire Automotive Education Foundation, helping fund scholarships and strengthen technician pipelines statewide.

Deeply engaged in his community, Jespersen has been vice chair of an addiction recovery organization called Link House, Inc., and leads dealership initiatives to combat food insecurity — coordinating volunteers to prepare 6,000+ meals annually and delivering 32,000+ pounds of frozen food in 2024 to pantries from northeastern Massachusetts to southern Maine. Dover Honda also matches employee charitable gifts, offers paid Volunteer Time Off, hosts blood drives and school-supply efforts and funds local high school and technical-school scholarships.

“Customer care means doing what’s right, not just what’s easy,” Jespersen said. “We once helped a guest with a pristine, sentimental Accord find a collector buyer for nearly four times its trade value. The dollars mattered — but the trust mattered more.”

When the pandemic disrupted operations, Jespersen prioritized people. “During COVID we chose people first,” he said. “We protected jobs, spread hours to keep everyone working, and kept our team intact. When the doors fully reopened, we were ready —together — and recovery was faster because our people never left.” 

Jespersen was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association. Marshall and his wife, Elena, have five children: Maija, Marsha Renee, Derek Ridder van Vliet, Damon Randolph and Waldo Evan.