ARLINGTON – Tom Lane, owner and dealer principal at Dwayne Lane’s Auto Family, has been nominated for the 2017 TIME Dealer of the Year award.

Lane oversees six Washington dealerships in Arlington, Everett, Sedro-Woolley and Burlington.

Lane is one of 49 nominees nationwide who will be honored at the 100th annual National Automobile Dealers Association Convention & Exposition in New Orleans Jan. 27, 2017.

The award is one of the automobile industry’s most-prestigious honors. Recipients are among the nation’s most successful auto dealers who also demonstrate a long-standing commitment to community service.

Lane, 47, was chosen to represent the state of Washington.

“I’ve had the good fortune of working side-by-side with my father for more than two decades, learning, firsthand, the importance of balancing the ups and downs of the retail automotive business with the privilege of raising a family of my own,” Lane said.

Lane graduated from Everett High School in 1988 and earned B.A. in business administration from Western Washington University in Bellingham in 1992. He has worked at the family dealership since age 12, first washing cars and then taking on part-time responsibilities during high school and college.

His father, Dwayne, who died in March, bought the store in 1972 and founded Dwayne Lane’s Auto Family.

By age 24, Lane was general manager of Dwayne Lane’s Arlington Chevrolet and became dealer principal at age 27. He was named president and CEO of Dwayne Lane’s Auto Family upon his father’s retirement in 1998.

“My father taught me that being the leader of our business organization means taking care of your work team and customers as if they were family, appreciating and respecting each and every one,” he said.

Lane coaches youth soccer, basketball and lacrosse. He and his wife, Kjersti, have five children.