Seekins Ford Lincoln Mercury Inc.: 1988 revenues: $29.6 million; employees: 102; rank: 30.

• Author: O'Donoghue, Brian Patrick
• Position: The New Forty-Niners - Company profile

WHETHER THE GOAL IS mushing a sled dog team across the finish line of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest or boosting car sales, the principles of good management remain unchanged, according to Fairbanks Ford dealer Ralph Seekins.

"It was an interesting experience," the car dealer says of his participation in the 1989 Quest. "It gives you an opportunity to understand yourself as much as anything else. I had to be prepared. I had to have good people around me, the same as I do here.

"Once it starts you can't quit. It's the same as at work, you've got to go out and make today's goal."

Steady growth has been the hallmark of Seekins' 12-year tenure as owner of Fairbanks' sole Ford dealership. From 1986 to 1987, the Ford outlet's revenues climbed from $20.3 million to $23.2 million. Last year revenues rose to $29.6 million. Through the first six months of 1989, expanding business in motor homes and boats helped the dealership post another 15 percent increase over the same period last year.

In 1977, the retirement of the previous owner thrust Seekins, then 32, from a sales floor management position to the dealerships top executive post. The promotion was made possible by support from the auto company's Seattle-based regional manager, Jerry Pfeiffer, and with financial backing from his next-door neighbor, Fairbanks businessman Don Chandler.

The tall, chunky, brown-haired dealer remains grateful for the opportunity that put him in the driver's seat at Seekins Ford. "A lot of people help you as you go through life-and you don't know why. You just have to be thankful and maybe pay back the good fortune by helping someone else," he says.

As a young dealer, Seekins took full advantage of Ford Motor Co.'s management training program. He also benefited from the presence of long-term employees. Today most of the dealership's managers have been with him 10 years or longer.

Downplaying his own contributions to the successful formula, Seekins says, "I'm not as intelligent as some of the people who work for me, but I'm smart enough to surround myself with good people. That's 90 percent of the equation."

"Ralph gives us a lot of flexibility," notes Margaret Russell, the dealership's secretary-treasurer. "He says he wants the management team to run the dealership itself. But I think he's the glue that holds us together."

The 43-year-old executive had no experience driving a dog team when he decided to enter the Quest last fall. Skeptics, including most competitive...