Virginia’s Emily Marlow Beck, president of Marlow Motor Company, was nominated for the 2026 TIME Dealer of the Year award late last year. She is the first woman to be named Virginia’s nominee since 1998.
Beck is part of a select group of 47 dealer nominees from across the country who were honored at the 109th annual National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas on Feb. 5.
The TIME Dealer of the Year award is one of the automobile industry’s most prestigious and highly coveted honors. The program recognizes the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service. Beck was chosen to represent the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association in the national competition, now in its 57th year.
Continuing the Family Business
Beck leads Marlow Motor Company, a family business founded in 1947 that represents Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. After earning a B.A. from the University of Virginia (1999) and a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law (2002), she built a legal career focused on automotive compliance at Hudson Cook LLP before returning home in 2010 to join — and soon lead — the dealership. Shortly after returning home, her father suffered a heart attack and quintuple bypass, accelerating a leadership transition that she navigated with transparency, resilience and a focus on culture.
“I grew up learning about the car business from my father, who passed away last year,” Beck said. “My first dealership job was in the parts department when I was in middle school,” and after an unexpected setback upon law school graduation, “my father… simply said, ‘You can always sell cars for me. Welcome to the corporate world. If you can get yourself out of this, you can get yourself out of anything.’” Beck then relied on her dealership experience to begin practicing law in the automotive space.
“Looking back, I believe that my father gave me the greatest gift by not rescuing me when I lost my ‘big firm’ job,” she said.
Growth and Innovation
Under her direction, Marlow Motor Company has invested in future-ready operations, including EV infrastructure upgrades and expanding heavy-duty/service capacity to better support business and fleet customers.
“Our store is a more rural store,” she noted. “Because we do a lot of fleet services with business, we have added lifts to increase our capacity to service business customers.”
She also created a Cares Committee that engages team members across departments to strengthen culture and community ties. The committee has organized adoption events with the local animal shelter, baby supply drives for the United Way, food truck appreciation days and employee recognition programs.
“One of the best things we implemented in our dealership in the last 18 months is the establishment of our Cares Committee,” Beck said. “When we invite our team to take leadership roles in building and establishing our culture, we have better buy-in and morale.”
Committed to Education
Committed to workforce development and opportunity, Beck provides Degrees@Work — a no-cost, no-debt college degree program through Strayer University to help employees and their families advance their careers while working full-time. The dealership has covered over $400,000 in tuition for employees and their families through the program. The store also partners with local high school vocational centers on apprenticeships and mentored technician pathways, as well as an annual automotive scholarship.
Customer care at Marlow Motor Company is personal and practical. “One of our core values is to be innovative problem solvers,” Beck said, pointing to a recent example: “A woman and her two dogs arrived at our dealership when her car broke down. There was a delay in getting the part she needed. The employees used their personal funds to purchase her meals and care for her dogs, and our service manager used his own funds to get a hotel room for the woman so she would have a safe place to sleep.”
Advocacy Beyond the Dealership Walls
Beck’s leadership extends statewide through the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, where she has served as chairman (2021-2022), vice chair, treasurer, secretary and long-time board member (2011-2024). That role brought her attorney’s perspective to complex issues, including direct sales, warranty reimbursement, EV transition and pandemic response. Reflecting on a pivotal leadership moment, she added, “Team members will overlook inexperience, but they will not overlook lack of character or commitment.”
To mark the company’s 75th anniversary in 2022, she challenged the dealership to perform 75 acts of kindness for the community in 25 workdays, ranging from book drives and food pantry stocking to e-recycling events, shelter support and neighborhood cleanup. The campaign spurred copycat kindness campaigns by local organizations and drew broad media recognition.
“When we began the campaign, I was concerned that we would not be able to successfully execute it,” she recalled. “At one point, I realized that the campaign was exactly what my team needed during that time.” The lasting lesson: “The best part of the 75 acts of kindness was how effective it was in modeling culture for our team. We continue to work with many of these non-profits to this day.”
Beck was nominated for the TIME Dealer of the Year award by Don Hall, president and CEO of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. Emily and her husband, Andrew Beck, have three children: Olin, Marshall and Margaret.
