Decades-Old Tom Holzer Ford Supports Farmington Area Schools

For the Holzer family, life encompasses cars and the family dealership that has been a staple of the Farmington Hills business community since 1974.

Tom Holzer Ford is a full-service dealership in Farmington Hills that ranked eighth in the metro Detroit region for sales last year.

It has a collision and body shop and a car detailing department. Customers can count on fresh cookies, hot popcorn and free WiFi every day while they wait. The dealership serves cider and donuts in the fall and decorated cookies around the holidays.

Connie Holzer is the owner after her husband, Tom, passed away seven years ago. Her son, Buzzy, is the dealership's vice president. Her grandson, Thomas, works at the dealership as a sales consultant.

The dealership moved to its current location in 1985; the old spot was on Grand River Avenue by Merriman Road. About six years ago, Tom Holzer Ford expanded including the addition of a second floor and an entire renovation of the showroom, said Nicole Falsetti, customer service manager.

Tom and Connie Holzer's daughter, Victoria, is an interior designer who helped with the dealership's renovations, she said.

Holzer Ford Supports Schools

"We are involved with all of the schools within our market area," Falsetti said.

The area is Farmington, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, Northville and Novi, she said.

This includes programs like Drive One 4 UR School, she said. Recent recipients of the program were Farmington's Harrison High School's marching band and gymnastics team and Farmington High School's hockey team. She said two programs are done each year, and the recipients rotate.

"For those three groups, we raised over $6,000," Falsetti said.

The dealership will work with Our Lady of Sorrows in April for a Drive 4 UR Community event to raise funds for the school, she said.

"Every test drive that's done that day, Ford Motor Co. donates $10 to the school or charity," she said.

The dealership displays banners of all the schools it has helped throughout the years in the garage of its service department. They hang from the ceiling as a reminder of who they support.

Community Engagement

Tom Holzer Ford has also sponsored the Dream Raffle at the Downtown Farmington Founder's Festival, Harvest Moon Celebration and a few weekends at the Farmers Market.

The dealership holds events throughout the year. The latest was a launch party in November for the new Ford Fusion. Falsetti said about 350 attended the party, which always has a theme.

"Loyalty is very important," she said. "When we have events at the dealership, that's really what it is for."

The theme was "Motown," which included a DJ, the North Farmington High School pom-pon squad and a swing-dancing performance. Previous themes were "Circus" and "Mexican Fiesta," she said.

"Mrs. Holzer stresses that we have Michigan-made products," Falsetti said.

These include Happy's Pizza, Better Made chips, Faygo, cupcakes from Mrs. Maddox and Sander's fudge, which is given away to guests.

The dealership will celebrate its 38-year anniversary in June.

Correction: The amount of money donated to schools through the Drive 4UR School program was incorrectly reported in the original version of this story. It is $10.