{"id":44242,"date":"2019-12-12T09:15:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T14:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=44242"},"modified":"2025-07-10T17:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T21:58:21","slug":"business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Business 101 field trip nets a surprising car dealership job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attending an intro-level class doesn\u2019t usually land a student a job, but that\u2019s exactly what happened last fall when Eastern Mennonite University professor of business and economics Andrew Miller<\/strong> took his Business 101 students for a tour of the Steven Toyota car dealership in Harrisonburg, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been told I\u2019m a people person, so any opportunity or anything, I reach out to people,\u201d said Zach Wheeler<\/strong>, a junior marketing<\/a> major from Churchville, Virginia. \u201cI\u2019ll take any opportunity I can. I\u2019m always looking for chances to better myself, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Zach Wheeler, listing specialist at Steven Toyota dealership in Harrisonburg, sells inventory through online platforms like eBay and Craigslist. Zach landed the job after a field trip to the dealership while in Professor Andy Miller’s Business 101 class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That chance came as an off-hand mention during the tour by dealership owner Ryan Sodikoff<\/strong> that he had an open position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pretty much came up to Ryan after the field trip and said, \u2018I\u2019d love to be part of this team,\u2019\u201d he remembers. \u201c\u2018Is there, like, part time whatever you have for me? I can pretty much do anything.\u2019 I honestly didn\u2019t know what my job was going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller put in a good word \u2013 as Wheeler tells it, he told Sodikoff, \u201cIf you get a chance to hire this kid, go ahead and do it because he\u2019s pretty good\u201d \u2013 and Sodikoff\u2019s interest was piqued, he said, even though \u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to recruit or anything at the time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was just a field trip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the second time Miller had taken students to the dealership to get an overall view of the business but also insight into what he calls \u201cminutia marketing\u201d and working with customers. He also regularly takes students to Washington D.C. to visit a variety of workplaces and learn about the city<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a few fellow Royals already employed there, including senior Zeki Salehi<\/strong>, who has logged five years with the company. He manages the buying center and used car center, overseeing all departments that relate to used cars, such as acquisition, service, sales and reconditioning. Tristan Childress ’19<\/strong> is a sales and leasing consultant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Wheeler is the dealership\u2019s \u201clisting specialist,\u201d which means he lists non-auto inventory to sell via online platforms like eBay and Craigslist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one end of the warehouse by his office is the car photo booth, but in the section Wheeler manages, there are rows and rows of overhead lights removed in a recent facility remodel, no-longer-needed office phones, car radios, tires and oil filters and parts that the service department can\u2019t use, plus personal items from dealership employees \u2013 even furniture made in France \u2013 all waiting to be sold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI put a big task on him, to stage the facility and price out the equipment,\u201d said Sodikoff. But since Wheeler has \u201ckind of volunteered to do anything,\u201d Sodikoff has also made him the face of grassroots marketing. That means that Wheeler will take a new car to, say, a dealership-sponsored golf tournament where it will be the prize for a hole-in-one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe represents us well,\u201d Sodikoff said. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful experience for him, and he\u2019s loving it. He\u2019s a great team member.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Zach Wheeler says his position has exposed him to marketing techniques and “a different industry.” He hopes to work in marketing after graduation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wheeler\u2019s a big dreamer; he said his \u201cabsolute biggest dream is to make a commercial for the Super Bowl.\u201d In addition to his ongoing marketing studies at EMU, he\u2019s also studying to become a licensed car salesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, over the summer he averaged 35-40 hours each week at Steven Toyota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never imagined I would come in here doing what I\u2019m doing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s given me exposure to a different industry that I\u2019ve never participated in before.\u201d
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attending an intro-level class doesn\u2019t usually land a student a job, but that\u2019s exactly what happened last fall when Eastern Mennonite University professor of business and economics Andrew Miller took ... read more about Business 101 field trip nets a surprising car dealership job<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,5591,17562],"tags":[17579,6795],"feature":[17423,17241],"class_list":["post-44242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-business-and-leadership","category-digest","tag-andrew-miller","tag-diversity","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nBusiness 101 field trip nets a surprising car dealership job - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business 101 field trip nets a surprising car dealership job - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Attending an intro-level class doesn\u2019t usually land a student a job, but that\u2019s exactly what happened last fall when Eastern Mennonite University professor of business and economics Andrew Miller took\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-12T14:15:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T21:58:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/12\/M8A4701-1000px.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/\",\"name\":\"Business 101 field trip nets a surprising car dealership job - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/12\/M8A4701-1000px.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-12T14:15:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T21:58:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/business-101-fields-trip-nets-a-surprising-car-dealership-job\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/12\/M8A4701-1000px.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/12\/M8A4701-1000px.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Photos of Zach Wheeler and Zeki at the Steven Toyota dealership in Harrisonburg. 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