Andy Crews, president and CEO of AutoFair Automotive Group, received the 2015 Citizen of the Year award from the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC).
The award has been given annually since 1954 to a resident of the Greater Manchester area who demonstrates leadership in several areas of community service over a period of years.
With more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, Crews was hired to lead AutoFair in 2006 and moved to Bedford from Georgia with his wife, Melissa, and two daughters, Carli and Tyler.
Since then, Crews has significantly expanded the AutoFair family of dealerships and businesses and promoted annual fundraising efforts across the Greater Manchester community.
Crews’ philanthropic efforts include the Granite State Baseball Dinner, donating an annual percentage of November proceeds to New Horizons of NH and launching Manchester’s annual Make-the-Grade competition, where AutoFair donates a new car to a high school student who has excelled in the classroom.
Crews currently sits on several nonprofit boards including the Palace Theatre and Granite State Children’s Alliance.
“Andy is an amazing role model for how to achieve business success while also giving selflessly to the community through leadership, civic engagement and philanthropy,” says Michael Skelton, president and CEO of GMCC. “We are honored and thrilled to name Andy as our next Citizen of the Year.”
Crews’ most recent endeavor was helping to lead the development of Manchester’s first home for integrated drug treatment and recovery. Ted Gatsas, mayor of Manchester, highlighted the project in his recommendation for Crews’ Citizen of the Year nomination. “The [recovery] center will be a game changer and it will be the difference that our community desperately needs and would not have been possible without the leadership and dedication of Andy Crews,” says Gatsas.
In addition to his charitable work, Crews served on several boards, including past chair of the NH Automotive Dealers Association, past chair of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and a founder of the Live Free or Die Alliance.
Crews will be recognized at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 5:00 pm at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester. For information, click here.