CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)- As the Flow Automotive Group cut the ribbon opening a new Kia showroom on Richmond Rd. on Pantops Mountain Wednesday night, company officials emphasized their desire to be a part of the Charlottesville community.
“Being tied to the community is the reason we do business,” Bennett Acuff of Flow told Cville Right Now. “We think all the time, ‘If we close all our doors tomorrow, would Charlottesville know or care?’ If the answer is ‘No,’ we are not doing it right.”
Andrea Copeland, President and CEO of the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce, was on hand to help cut the ribbon for the new showroom.
“I see community at this ribbon cutting,” Copeland told Cville Right Now “I see people coming to support a business that is not just about selling something, but making an investment… I see community through [Flow’s] contributions to non-profits, investing in young people and young professionals, raising leaders, it’s more than just about making the money. We want the businesses to thrive and do well, but you need community to do that.”
And while the event had a celebratory vibe – with a caricature artist on hand to entertain the crowd, and local staples like Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and Mission Barbecue serving refreshments – Flow staff members also recounted the challenges of getting the new facility opened.
Todd Williams, General Manager of Flow Kia, was praised by numerous members of staff for his leadership throughout the difficult construction process that began in December 2024 and ended with Wednesday’s Grand Opening.
“I was born and raised here. This is my hometown,” Williams said. “It’s super-important to me to give back to the community.”
The Richmond Rd. location marks the 15th franchise location in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area.
Flow Automotive owner Don Flow played football at the University of Virginia, and met his wife in a UVA psychology class. Flow cited his education at the McIntire School of Business as key to informing his business acumen.
His son, Eric, also met his wife at UVA, and praised his education and time spent in Charlottesville for having a great impact on his abilities and approach to doing business.
“My father and I sat down a long time ago and talked about where we wanted to continue to grow, the communities we wanted to invest in,” Eric Flow told Cville Right Now. “Charlottesville was high on that list. We had a dream and it came together.”
Don Flow said investing in the community is one of the core principles of his business.
“We have a company foundation that we use to reinvest in every community we operate in,” Flow said. “What does it look like to be a member of the community, not just extracting but reinvesting into the future?”
This is done in five different areas, he said: Social, intellectual, aesthetic, political, and economic capital.
“For us, we think it’s really important, because of our ethics, to reinvest in our communities, it makes all the business sense in the world because it’s a local business, with local employees and local customers,” Eric Flow said.
The group provides 350 local jobs and has been active in giving back to the community its’ employees call home.
Flow supports 70 local organizations, including UVA Health Children’s, Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, the IX Art Park Foundation, and, around the holidays, Toy Lift Charities, lending a hand for 4,000 kids across Charlottesville, Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, and Nelson counties. They are also the Official Automotive Group of UVA Athletics, committed to the shared values of teamwork and community engagement that the University of Virginia Athletics office also puts front and center in its mission.
“We see them as being as a community minded business, I see family here,” Copeland said.
