Jim Crosswell is a lifer in the car business.

One of his first jobs was at Eric Auto Sales on South Schuyler Avenue in Kankakee when he was 18.

“I washed cars on a lot to pay my way through college,” he said.

Fast-forward 35 years and Crosswell, of Bourbonnais, is the sole owner of Crosswell Ford at 222 S. Locust St. in Manteno, formerly Manteno Ford.

“The car business has been good to me,” he said.

Back to that first job, it helped Crosswell, 52, work his way through Kankakee Community College.

“I was able to get a bank to give me a loan to open up a used car lot in 1996, 3-Way Motors in Manteno,” he said. “I sold it to my partner in ‘99.”

He put his education to good use.

“I learned at KCC how to put together a pro forma to take to the bank to get the loan,” Crosswell said. “You think you know everything when you’re 25. … I’m still learning.”

After selling 3-Way Motors he went to work for Dave Taylor at Taylor Chrysler Dodge on East Court Street in Kankakee just east of Interstate 57. He stayed with Taylor when he built the new dealership in 2007 on Illinois Route 50 in Bradley, which is now Taylor Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.

“I became a partner in 2011,” Crosswell said.

The partners then purchased Manteno Ford in 2018. He was running both dealerships until Feb. 19 when Jim and his wife, Chrystal, closed the deal on Crosswell Ford.

“I bought Dave Taylor out of this dealership, and he bought me out of Taylor Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram,” he said. “I now focus 100 percent of my energy on this.”

Not a bad gig for a kid who grew up in Georgia, and his family moved to Watseka when he was 17. He graduated from Watseka High School in 1990.

“I could retire and coach baseball, but I love what I do,” Crosswell said.

He owes a lot of his knowledge and success in the car business to Dave Taylor.

“He’s been like an uncle or a brother to me,” Crosswell said.

He loves working in Manteno, too. His oldest son, Chipper, 29, is the sales manager at Crosswell Ford.

“He’s going to be a big part of Crosswell Ford,” Jim said. “His wife is from Manteno, and my wife is from Manteno.”

Jim and Chrystal also have a daughter, Kelsey, 27, and a son, Levi, 22, who is a senior at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. Levi plays baseball for the Green Knights and will graduate this spring.

Crosswell said the dealership is looking to expand to add more service bays and a larger showroom. Crosswell Ford has 30 full-time employees and four part-time employees.

“It’s more than just working,” he said. “It’s about taking care of our employees and our community. It sounds cliché, but that’s the truth.”

Manteno Mayor Annette LaMore said Crosswell is a really good guy.

“It’s a very good thing for the village, raising a lot of tax money,” she said. “It’s a really good thing for the people, and it’s going to bring some life back to the corridor of Route 50, because we don’t want to lose any more businesses. We’ve already lost quite a few, and we need to find more people to come into Manteno.”

Crosswell Ford’s mission statement says it’s “a family-operated dealership blessed by God’s favor, exists to run a healthy, community-minded business where employees feel valued and cared for, customers are delighted and where our community is collectively supported and uplifted.”

“It’s built around that, and that’s what our goal is,” Crosswell said. “The community has been super supportive, so it’s easy to give it back.”