Keeping the wheels turning at Team Chevrolet of Valparaiso is a task eagerly achieved by dozens of men and women that live and work here in Northwest Indiana. From the helpful salespeople on the showroom floor, the logistical wizards in the parts department, to the expert technicians in the service department – they are the men and women that make Team Chevy your hometown dealer.
Take a chance to get to know just a few of the Team Chevy crew:
Janelle Najar – Sales Team – Sales Associate
Five years in car sales has taught Najar the most important element of the job – relationship building. That is because her goal isn’t just to sell something, it’s to meet the customer’s needs and make sure they walk away having made the best possible decision.
“A big part of a sale’s consultant’s job, at least a good one, is to fact find,” she said. “It’s about asking the right questions and listening to the customer. You kind of have to get a little intimate with people sometimes to find out what really suits their needs.”
Luckily for Najar, she’s a people person and finds it easy to build that critical customer relationship.
“I really like meeting new people and talking to them,” she said. “I’ve stayed in contact with customers well after they leave the dealership, even if they don’t wind-up buying a car. I’m very upfront with people, very honest. I feel like people appreciate that.”
Najar is originally from Illinois and grew up in Chicago Heights. She now lives in Burns Harbor with her fiancée, who also works in the car business, and their dog.
Mary Goodwin – Parts Department – Parts Manager
Goodwin is one of the longest tenured employees at Team Chevrolet of Valparaiso, having joined the team back in 1998. She’s filled a number of roles over the years but moved to the parts department fairly early on. She did parts driving, worked the counter, and eventually climbed the ladder to be parts manager where she now oversees a laundry list of tasks: coming in early, checking-in orders, managing her team, helping them where they need it, managing the inventory, and more.
“There’s a lot that I do back here,” she said. “It’s a little bit of everything.”
She loves her work, particularly the opportunity to work in the auto industry.
“I’ve always liked cars,” she said. “It’s fun seeing a car come in, broken down, and be able to play a part in getting it back out on the road. I like the people we work with; the company we work for is absolutely amazing. The best thing about my job is simply that I like my job.”
Goodwin is a Region native, born and raised in Wanatah. She loves to fish and play basketball with her sons and also spends time working on projects around the house.
Matt Hanchar – Service Department – Service Technician
A 10-year veteran at Team Chevy, Hanchar got his start at the dealership washing cars as a porter. He had some experience with cars, however, having worked with them at the Porter County Career Center. It did not take too long for him to move over to the parts department where he quickly grew into an expert technician and moved over to that department.
“From there, I came out into the shop,” he said. “It started out as me doing oil changes and other easy stuff like that. I kind of just progressed on my own from there. At the time, I had guys help me out learning things, but now it’s to the point where I’m the one helping the newer guys out.”
Hanchar’s always been a car person, and one of his favorite parts of the job is being surrounded by like-minded people.
“Everyone’s super helpful,” he said. “Sometimes something will come into the shop that we’ve never seen before, and everyone kind of stops what they’re doing to help everyone else solve it. It’s a group that really works through things together.”
He also appreciates that the job is always evolving, thanks to the auto industry’s continuous improvements to their vehicles.
“There’s always something new coming in,” he said. “There’s new modules to test, new things to check. It always keeps me on my toes.”
To learn more about Team Chevrolet of Valparaiso, visit www.chevyon30.com.
