Alex was recognized for her leadership and decision-making skills at the 2023 Powersports Business Accelerate Conference .

David and Alex are the parents of Declan ( pictured ), who is 16 months old , and Aiden , who is 6 weeks old .

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watched her dad , Eddie Collier , run his automotive businesses . “ My dad has been in the car industry for 30 years probably ,” Alex Isaacs says . “ He owns a car dealership about a mile up the road from one of our existing powersports dealerships . He saw a need in the market and called me up . I was a teacher in Louisiana looking for another career path and he asked me if I was willing to move to Tennessee to open a dealership in Columbia .”

A week after he called her in October 2016 , they attended AIMExpo and met with multiple OEMs . They acquired Columbia Powersports in July 2017 . Alex became a partner and general manager of the dealership while Collier remained partner and general manager of his automotive business and opened a second automotive location .

Collier had recognized that there was an opportunity to combine processes in the automotive and powersports industries to ultimately improve the customer experience , so the business management structure and many of the processes at Columbia Powersports resembles an automotive dealership .

After three years in business at Columbia Powersports , David left Polaris and joined Alex and Collier as partner and general sales manager in 2019 . In 2021 , he and Alex got married .

STRATEGIC EXPANSION Multiple OEMs approached the owners about opening a second dealership in the Mid-Tennessee market following Columbia Powersports ’ success , so the owners purchased an 18−acre lot on Interstate 40 to build a new facility . At the same time , an existing Yamaha and Honda dealership in Nashville went up for sale . They purchased the 10,000 square foot dealership , known for 50 years as Howard ’ s Honda , and renamed it Mid Tenn Powersports . They conducted business out of this location until the beginning of April , when they relocated to the 70,000 square foot facility built on their 18−acre lot .

To make this move a reality , the Isaacs share that staying organized and having a strong team of employees in place were key . “ We have an existing operation , so relying on employees to step up beyond their normal jobs to help with the move is a challenge ,” David said before the move took place . He used the addition of the Bennington line to the new facility as an example . “ We have boats showing up at the new location but we ’ re still operating out of the existing location . At times , there ’ s a couple of us running over in the middle of the day to receive a boat and then we come back to work . I could never do that without the employees I have up there to help me do it . We couldn ’ t do it without them .”

MADE POSSIBLE BY A TEAM About 40 employees work at Columbia Powersports and , as Mid Tenn Powersports becomes established at its new location , the owners plan for its team to grow to that size too . They share that having a reliable management structure is necessary to lead 40 employees and to keep up with the demands of the dealership .

“ We ’ ve been fortunate . I feel like we did get a head start with the existing dealership in terms of hiring ,” David says . “ I ’ ve got a lot of really good people already in place in key management positions .”

He says that the move and expansion will be a more significant change for the existing Mid Tenn employees than the owners

“ Just looking at what is happening now in the industry with all the consolidation , you ’ re seeing all of the smaller and older dealerships get acquired and become part of a larger group with more resources ,” David Isaacs says . “ Or like our group buying Howard ’ s Honda and bringing it into a bigger store with all these other brands , I think that ’ s where I see the industry in 20 years … Less small locations and more destination powersports locations with all the top brands under one roof .”

“ The customer expects more today than they did when the powersports industry began years ago and delivering the experience they want is becoming too expensive for the traditional momand-pop style powersports stores . To afford that experience , along with the growing list of merchandising and floorplan requirements of each OEM , dealers will have to operate larger square footage , multi-line operations with top brands to support that .”

The spouses agree that incorporating processes used in the automotive industry is beneficial and improves the customer experience .

since they are already comfortable running a larger dealership . So , before the new store opened , David and the Mid Tenn team met for lunch in the new facility .

“ They ’ ve seen pictures and they ’ ve heard me talk about it , but we actually went and set up lunch there and had lunch in an empty 70,000 square foot store ,” he says . “ That was really cool . We took pictures , toured the facility and it was just a moment on an off day for them to take it all in … Our hope is that it makes them feel like we ’ re all one team and they ’ re a part of it . It ’ s not just me , Alex and Eddie . We wouldn ’ t be able to open giant dealerships if it wasn ’ t for them .”

PROMOTING A LIFESTYLE The spouses credit Catherine Collier , marketing director and Alex ’ s sister , for the execution of the dealership ’ s marketing strategy to “ Promote the lifestyle and get to know us .” David says social media is used as a traffic driver , not as a means to bombard customers with sales ads .

“ We do not allow any OEMs in the backend of our social media ,” Alex says . “ To us , that degrades our social media . It looks like we ’ re not involved in the post . It doesn ’ t show our customers what they ’ re walking into when they come to our dealership .” She says the dealership ’ s social media reflects its fun environment and showcases its employees and customers .

“ We opened Columbia in July of 2017 with only social media advertising at the time and sold eight units our first day ,” she continues . “ We didn ’ t do anything , we just blasted social media and our grand opening was pretty packed . The lifestyle of the dealership has always been our driver . And having a full-time marketing manager , to me , is one of the best things you can do for your dealership .”