Barbecue and the tent pickupIt was Craig Dunn Motor City's 30th anniversary celebration yesterday in Portage la Prairie. Dunn describes the milestone.

"We decided we needed to celebrate a little bit today. 30 years, we think, is a great accomplishment. And we're thrilled. I am, my staff is, and we're so excited to be here 30 years and have accumulated so many customers I like to call friends as well. So, we wanted to have a barbecue and invite everybody down."

He says he didn't think the business would bring them this far.

"I never thought 30 years would happen, to be honest with you. You're just trying to survive and get on to the next day, and the next year. So many wonderful things have happened over the last 30 years. We're just going to enjoy the day and enjoy the people that come in to say hi. This would be our fourth location. We started on 18th Street on Saskatchewan Avenue, and then we moved just a little further down to Sissons Drive just between your station and where Napa is today. We were there for four years. And then in '92 we moved to the Edmundson building on the highway when we acquired the Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealership to add to our Pontiac Buick GMC dealerships. And then we kind of outgrew that. And we moved here in 1998."

Crew at work manning the barbecueDunn adds he trusts this is the last location they move to.

"We built this 26,000 square foot facility which I promised myself I'd build big enough, because we didn't want to move again. It was a lot of work moving a car dealership (laughs)."

He summarizes their growth.

"I remember telling people when I walked in the door in 1986 I was really the company's tenth employee. And today we employee 46 people here at the dealership. So, it's wonderful. And we feel very fortunate today."