Whether directly or indirectly, Steve Hurley has helped a lot of Plant City residents over the years. In February, the Stingray Chevrolet owner will receive the Boy Scouts’ Dean Snyder Soaring Eagle Community Service Award for his work. The decision was made in December.
Hurley, a Lakeland native, is heavily involved in Unity in the Community and the Plant City Economic Development Corporation. He can claim to have helped contribute over $750,000 to Plant City charities since moving to the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World in 2008.
ABOUT STEVE
After graduating from Lakeland High School, Hurley spent two years at the University of Florida and finished his education at the University of Texas-San Antonio. He graduated with a business administration degree, with concentrations on both finance and management. After college, he married his wife, Susan, and worked for the Gunn Auto Group in San Antonio.
Hurley rose to general manager and also did consulting work for Acura, Dodge, Infiniti and Nissan. He has since worked at automotive sales groups in Alabama and around the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, but left in 2008 when the opportunity to purchase Stingray Chevrolet from a bankruptcy court arose.
He was later elected to the Chevrolet National Dealer Council, on which he spent five years, and is a member of the Tampa Local Market Area Chevrolet Dealers’ board. Stingray is one of the top-performing Chevrolet dealerships in the state and leads all Florida-based General Motors groups in fleet and commercial sales. It is also in the top 50 of 3,100 Chevy dealerships in the country, the No. 3 Camaro dealer and the No. 6 Corvette dealer.
UNITY
Of course, the Soaring Eagle isn’t given out for job performance. Hurley’s getting this award for the work he’s done in the community, which began shortly after moving to Plant City.
“Steve is a well-respected member of the community,” Bill Dodson, who serves on the Soaring Eagle selection board, says. “We think he’s a good candidate.”
Dodson pointed to Hurley’s ability to use his dealership’s resources for the greater good as a big reason for why he’s getting the award in February.
Hurley’s most well-known contributions come from the dealership’s annual vehicle raffle, which is held during the Florida Strawberry Festival. All funds raised from the raffle go to Unity in the Community, and the raffles have had a habit of pulling in six figures per year. In early 2015, for example, the Corvette raffle raised $162,000.
That money, which starts with Unity, goes to organizations around town. Meals on Wheels, United Food Bank of Plant City, the Boys & Girls Club, Kiwanis Club and Lots of Hugs summer camps and more directly benefit from the yearly fundraiser.
Hurley will be presented with the Soaring Eagle award during the annal Friends of Scouting dinner on Thursday, Feb. 11.
Friends of Scouting Dinner
When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11
Where: John R. Trinkle Center at Hillsborough Community College, 1206 N. Park Road
Cost: Free admission; attendees will be asked to make a donation
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.