Big Sky Ford set to ride off into the Goshen County sunset

TORRINGTON — It’s hard to say goodbye. Just ask Martin Gubbels, owner and general manager of Big Sky Ford. As soon as the appropriate paperwork makes the rounds and is signed, Big Sky Ford, after 21 years as a single point, family dealership, will change its name to Transwest Ford and become the newest addition to the Transwest Incorporated’s family of vehicle and truck dealerships. The company’s headquarters are in Brighton, Colo., but it has other facilities located in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.
“It has not been easy for a dealer of my size to compete in todays market,” Gubbels said. “Ford frowns on single point, small market, family owned dealers. They haven’t set out to hurt me but they’re not necessarily out to help me either.
“So when Transwest contacted me and said they were interested in keeping the dealership in Torrington, I knew it was time. The one thing that was really important to me was for Torrington not to lose its only remaining new car dealership.”
Al Meloni, the new general manager at Transwest Ford, said with the addition of Big Sky Ford, Transwest will know have five car dealerships, to go along with commercial dealerships that include Freightliner, Western Star, AutoCar and Isuzu, not to mention the lines of commercial and horse trailers in which the company also deals.
“Transwest core DNA is commercial,” explained Meloni. “But we’ve been actively acquiring (consumer) stores for the last few years and the addition of Big Sky Ford rounds out our domestic lines of cars.”
He went on to explain that Transwest already has initiated a few changes for the Torrington dealership, but the changes do not include laying off employees, some who have been with Big Sky Ford since the doors opened.

“Our plans are to retain the entire work force at the store. With the addition of this dealership, the total number of Transwest employees is just under 1,000. And we have upgraded the inventory and are carrying a full line of Ford vehicles.”
Pulling into the lot at the dealership, it is obvious the inventory has increased and will include medium duty trucks. But the upgrades won’t quit there.
“We will be doing a lot of technology enhancements in order to integrate with the rest of the company,”  Meloni said. “But the major facility investment will be in the shop. Transwest believes in a strong service component and we’ve already added a new compressor and will be adding new concrete and lifts as we completely refigure the service and mechanical areas.
“We will also be painting the service areas, emphasizing the Ford palate of colors and for all the work we are utilizing local craftsmen as much as we can. We always look locally first.”
Transwest’s “community first” attitude is one thing that attracted Gubbels to the company and made the decision to sell much easier, though it was still a difficult decision.
“Transwest is going to grow this business, which will be very good for Torrington,” he explained. “The one thing I will miss is being able to help out (organizations) in the way we used to. Big Sky Ford was very involved and committed to the community. Hopefully, Transwest will carry on that tradition.”
The importance of community involvement, and support, is not lost on Meloni, who has been with the company for 10 years and has been groomed over the last few years, by Transwest President George Eidsness, to take over a store.
“We have a lot of fires in the iron right now, but one of our first priorities is to maintain a community presence and expand our commercial reach.”
Though Big Sky Ford is changing its name, Gubbels is confident he is leaving it in good hands, hands that will take care of all the customers who have come to depend on the dealership for their vehicle needs.
“I owe the entire WyoBraska region for some of the most happy years of my life,” Gubbels said with a bit of a lump in his throat. “And I want thank the thousands of customers we’ve had over the last 21 years and the great employees I’ve had ever since we opened the doors.”