Beechmont Auto Group

The Beechmont Auto Group is an automotive dealership group in greater Cincinnati with 360 employees and seven locations. The company was started in 1981 when the Woeste family purchased their first dealership, a Chevrolet store.  The current owner, Bill Woeste, had to wait 2 years to be officially named the Dealer Principal of the business because GM would not recognize an owner until they were 21 years old.  Once he got going, he was never afraid to take on a new challenge or change vendors to try and grow his business.

Over the years, the company has operated 16 automotive franchises, an independent body shop and 3 independent car washes.  They have won virtually every award manufacturers offer for sales, service, parts, finance, customer service excellence and total dealership operations and have won them numerous times. 

Although Beechmont Auto Group has faced all the challenges that most all auto dealerships have faced in the last four decades, they remain a family atmosphere business with nearly 20% of their employees having been with them for over 20 years.

Beechmont Auto Group’s partnership with Sedgwick is over 12 years old, and they wouldn’t have maintained this relationship were it not for Sedgwick’s industry leading expertise in areas like claim review, settlements, handicap reimbursement, the Industrial Commission and working with the BWC. Since the early years of the relationship, Kirsten Gibson has been their account executive. Kirsten and her team at Sedgwick keep Beechmont Auto Group up to date on changes almost before they actually occur. Beechmont Auto Group says they can quantify Sedgwick’s work into actual annual savings on their annual premiums, particularly over the last 11 years since they strongly encouraged Beechmont Auto Group to move to group retrospective rating in 2010, a move they would not have made without Sedgwick because of the inherent confusing and complex nature of the workers’ compensation system. Beechmont Auto Group is saving about 40% annually in premium costs over what they would be paying if change had not been made. 

“The workers’ comp field is time confusing and can be very costly if it is not managed correctly,” said Kelly Blair, Beechmont Auto Group’s operations manager.  “With all our day to day operational responsibilities automotive dealerships can’t possibly be the experts that Kirsten and her associates are, and they are never farther than a phone call or email away with the right answer for any particular situation.”  

“I truly believe that we are business partners, and they are always looking out for our best interests,” said Kelly. “ You can’t put a price on that.”