Aces of Trades: Father's mechanical skills helped shape son's career
Today Jeff Drennen owns car dealerships in Coshocton and Zanesville
COSHOCTON – He grew up learning about cars from his dad, so it seemed a logical progression to spend a lifetime in that business. But for Jeff Drennen, there was also a slight detour – in semi-professional football. He played back-up quarterback and wide receiver for the Tri-City Titans.
“After high school,” he recalled, “I took what was supposed to be a summer job at a local stamping plant that ended up lasting three years because I started playing semi-professional football and forgot about college for a little bit.”
“So you know,” he explained with a laugh, “semi-professional football is a bunch of good, or pretty good, football players that might get together on Saturday night and just knock the stuffing out of each other. But at that time, and I remember it to this day, it was pretty exciting. It was a big deal.
“The first two games we played, like exhibition games, were inside penitentiaries,” he added. “The first was in Moundsville State Penitentiary in West Virginia. It was fun. It was all good stuff. But I always had cars in my blood from my dad.”
Now 61, Drennen grew up in Sebring, Ohio, a small town in northeast Ohio where, he said, “everyone knows everyone.”
His father worked at a steel forging plant and also owned two gas stations. That was back in the days when gas stations were full-service. “The bell rings, you run out and wait on them,” Drennen remembered. “He let me start pumping gas at 7 years old.
“Call me crazy,” he added, “but I loved pumping gas and working there with my dad. Of course, when I became a senior in high school, I was too cool for it, but I still did it. I have a lot of great memories of that time.
“And it did instill a strong work ethic in me,” he summed. “Dad taught me how to wax and detail cars by the time I was 12. He always had a couple of used cars that he would buy and fix up and then sell them, so he also taught me about engines and vehicle maintenance and how to change brakes, etc. That’s around the time I took a strong interest in cars.”
His first career job was at a small Chevy dealership in his hometown. The year was 1981. His father then started his own used car dealership and, for a time, Drennen worked for him. Then from 1992-2002 he worked in the Mansfield area before buying Finitzer Chrysler in Coshocton in February 2003. That was the dealership that moved him to this area. In April 2004 he acquired Ferris Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac in Coshocton, followed by Hoffer Buick-GMC in Zanesville in 2005, Zanesville Chevy-Cadillac in 2007 and DeCosky Ford in Coshocton in 2014.
“I never dreamed I would own my own dealerships,” Drennen noted, “but was always buying and selling cars so I guess the normal path of progression led me to where I am today.
“I really do this from my heart and can’t imagine doing anything else,” he added. “We’ve grown to employ over 100 people and I take the responsibility of that to bed with me every night and pray for guidance, knowledge and leadership.”
They’re qualities not lost on Michael Steen, a longtime friend and now retired president of The Community Bank in Zanesville.
“In my opinion,” Steen said, “Jeff is, by far, the most honest individual I’ve ever come across. His word is good, no matter what.”
For more information about Jeff Drennen dealerships, log on www.jeffdrennenford.com or www.jeffdrennensgmsuperstore.com.
About the series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at ctnews@coshoctontribune.com.