Brownlee Automotive goes far-north forwyoming dealerships
The pulse of the automobile business up north, way north, inwyoming is measured right down here in
Denver.
That pulse quickened the past couple of weeks with the firstyear anniversary celebration for the Sheridan Honda & Powersports dealership in Sheridan County along the border with Montana.
Anthony Brownlee, president and CEO of Brownlee Automotive of Denver, purchased Valley Motor Honda and the powersports adjoining business from Richard Weber a year ago and renamed them for the town and county of Sheridan.
Brownlee three years ago purchased Garvin Motors, a Toyota and Chevrolet/buick/gmc/ Hummer EV dealership at Powell, Wyo., from Rod Garvin and Marty Bratt. He renamed the dealerships Yellowstone Motors. Powell, only 70 miles from the east entrance to Yellowstone Park, is in Park County along the Montana border just west of Sheridan County.
Office for the Brownlee Automotive parent company is in Denver’s Lodo neighborhood. With each of thewyoming dealerships less than 20 miles from the Montana border, hundreds of miles north of Denver, Brownlee enjoys direct air flights to Sheridan and Cody, Wyo., near Powell, cutting his travel time back-and-forth to about a third of what it would take for drive time to interact with the businesses.
“These were family-owned stores,” Brownlee said, “and we retained most all of the employees, this was important. It paid off with the dealership at Powell and has worked very well with General Manager Candace Crane and staff at Sheridan. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and am looking forward to expanding in Colorado and other parts of Wyoming.”
“The distances are no barrier,” Brownlee said, “I love to travel. I’m kind of an amateur photographer, that’s one of my hobbies. When I am in a city for business or personal reasons, I make it a habit to slow down, truly get a sense of my surroundings and take lots of photos.”
Brownlee grew up in Los
Angeles, attended the University of Minnesota and returned to California to begin his work in the car industry. He came to Denver in 2006, served as general manager of Lithia Motors businesses; from 2011 to 2018 he was general manager/partner first for Land Rover Denver East and Land Rover Highlands Ranch, then after merger of the two into Land Rover Denver. He created Brownlee Automotive in October 2018, serving as president and CEO.
“I have enjoyed Land Rover products and am driving a Range Rover Sport, though I like all automobile brands, all the cars and trucks,” Brownlee said.
Brownlee served the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association as chairman of the initial Colorado Automotive Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2021 at Elitch Gardens, where he greeted on stage each of the 51 inductees.