Pub. 56 2015-2016 Issue 4

34 JIM AND LINDA MCNATT Making a Difference for Texas S ixty-one Texas families have owned franchised dealerships in Texas for 75 years or more.There are no other businesses or institutions of any significance in one industry in our state that can make that claim. Dealer families in Texas towns, both large and small, are not only the most stable part of the economy of those communities but are the first to step up to fill the social needs of their fellow citizens. Amazon, Google, Apple and others dominate retailing and marketing in this country but do so only for their bottom line or stock price, a model that works for some products but doesn’t compare to the contribution of 18,000 franchised dealerships which are community based and principally family-owned. A sterling example of the value of com- munity based dealerships is theMcNatt family of Denton, Texas. In the new car business for 84 years in various cities and towns throughout north central Texas, the McNatts started in Greenville with a Chrysler dealership opened by Jim McNatt’s grandfather, Alvin McNatt and Alvin’s brother, J.P. As one of those stalwart 61 Texas dealer families who have served Texas for 75 consecutive years or longer, the McNatts have had dealerships in Denton, Desoto, Lewisville, Sanger, Gainesville, and, of course, the place where the family business began, Greenville. To succeed in the new car business for that long, you need to work extremely hard, be willing to put your financial future on the line every day, be devoted to your employees and your custom- ers, and support your community. The McNatt family has done all of those things for generations and continues to do that today. The most recent example is Jim and Linda McNatt’s contribution to their alma mater, The University of North Texas. As Holly Haber of the Dallas Morning News reported in a recent article, “Jim and Linda McNatt of Corinth have given $2.61 million in grants to the University of NorthTexas to support academic and athletic initiatives. The gifts include $1.36million to estab- lish endowments for logistics research, autism studies and the Kuehne Speaker Series and to fund grants to National Merit Scholars.The other $1.25million will be used to enhance Mean Green Athletics. Some of the grants are eligible for matching funds fromTexas, which could augment the donations by $790,000 ac- cording to university officials. Both graduates of UNT, the McNatts are longtime philanthropists who have also given generously to theDentonAn- imal Shelter Foundation, schools in four regional counties and the North Texas Fair and Rodeo. JimMcNatt operated a string of car dealerships in the area and still co-owns Luttrull-McNatt Chev- rolet in Sanger and Luttrull-McNatt Buick/Chevrolet/GMC inGainesville.