The Nelsons are luckier than many couples – they share a workplace, Currie Motors Ford of Valpo. They work in entirely different departments – David Nelson is a service technician and Shannon Nelson works in titling – but carpooling and sharing lunch breaks adds a lot of time together that many couples don’t get.
The pair’s history with Currie Motors Ford of Valpo started about 23 years ago when David first joined the team. He had some experience in the industry and grew up in garages thanks to his dad.
“He got me started working on cars as a little kid,” David reminisced. “I’d work on hot rods, this, that, and the other. I realized I was kind of good at it, so I thought I’d see where it goes.”
Currie Motors Ford of Valpo, now the number one Ford dealer in the Midwest by volume, was a much smaller dealership at the time.
“It was everything I wanted in a dealership,” he proudly noted. “It was a good place to work. It was small, but had a commitment to quality work. When the current ownership took over in 2016, it stayed a great company to work for even as it has grown.”
Shannon joined the team a couple of years prior to that ownership change and is currently in her 10th year at the dealership. At the time, the pair had just married, and Shannon was a stay-at-home mom. David happened to hear about an open position in titling, and knowing his wife’s skillset, lobbied for her chance to apply.
“David mentioned that he had a wife at home who’d like to come back to work,” she explained. “I didn’t have experience in titling, but I’d worked at another dealership as a receptionist and had some other office experience. I got hired on, I first started as a receptionist, and handled accounts payable and titling.”
When she started, the dealership was small enough that she only had to worry about Indiana titling. Now, Currie Motors Ford of Valpo sells nationwide, and Shannon has titled to 49 of the 50 states. The dealership’s rapid growth shocked the pair, but they adapted quickly.
“It’s fun and interesting; each state has its own rules,” she said with a smile. “It’s challenging. You have to make sure all the papers are correct so that you’re not holding up the process for folks. I’m able to handle the volume that we have now because I started small.”
For his part, David has turned into something of a mentor in the garage. He, along with a few other veterans, helps the younger technicians become faster and more accurate problem solvers. He’s also something of a staff ace, taking the lead on cars with complex or rare problems.
“The challenge of the cars coming in keeps me engaged,” he shared. “As they’ve gotten more and more complex, I’ve found them so intriguing. I focus on the problem cars, getting to the root cause of the problem and getting it fixed for the customer.”
He also retains his passion for cars away from the dealership, as does Shannon. The pair enjoy hot rodding – rebuilding or modifying cars, usually classics, with large engines.
Their daily vehicles, however, are Fords. The Nelsons do their car buying at Currie Motors Ford of Valpo, for both themselves and their five kids. They drive a Ford Edge, with the roomy SUV being a good fit for their family.
“We buy from Currie because they’re good folks who stand by their word,” Shannon stated. “They take care of their customers.”
David noted that the dealership is flexible with customers and willing to adapt to their financial needs.
“They do what they have to do to make sure the customer is taken care of,” he proclaimed. “They’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
To learn more about Currie Motors Ford of Valpo, including service, specials, and its lineup of vehicles, please visit fordofvalpo.com.
