Ernie Boch Jr.

Ernie Alexander Boch Jr.
Born Ernie Boch Jr.
(1958-02-15) February 15, 1958
Occupation CEO, president, and spokesman for Boch enterprises
Known for Automobile sales, philanthropy, Ernie and the Automatics

Ernie Boch Jr., born in 1958, is the CEO, president, and spokesman of Boch Enterprises, a $1 billion business consisting primarily of automobile dealerships in Norwood, Massachusetts.[1] Boch is a local celebrity in the Greater Boston area who has a passion for music, makes television cameos, and has a creative approach to advertising and selling cars.[2]

Ernie Boch

Ernie Boch Jr. inherited the automobile sales and service business started by his grandfather, Andrew Boch, who began the family business in 1945 by purchasing a Nash Motors franchise in Norwood, Massachusetts.[3]

Andrew's son, Ernie Boch Sr., built the Norwood operation into the top ranked Rambler dealer in the country by the early 1960s. This was accomplished on the strength of his drive and often "outlandish" television commercials with the catchphrase for anyone shown a new or used car without a Boch mini-sticker in the window: "ask for the keys it's your car, my name is Ernie Boch." Later, Boch began using the Northeast Airlines tag "Come on down!" which the airline used to promote travel to Florida before its merger with Delta Airlines. Ernie Boch Jr.'s father is also largely credited with bringing the "Automile" concept to U.S. Route 1 in Norwood.[4] With this concept, a large cluster of competing automobile dealerships join together to publicize the "Automile" as an automobile shopping center. Shortly after the death of Ernie Boch Sr., Boch Jr. appeared in a television commercial paying tribute to his father. Boch Jr. was in a car, watching images from an old commercial featuring his father, in the rear view mirror. Boch Jr. smiled and drove away.

Ernie Jr.'s first car was a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle, British racing green. He bought it in 1974, when he was 16, from the used-car department at his family's Toyota dealership.[5]

His father, Ernie Boch Sr., received some criticism from the Boston Brahmin culture and other elements of the upper class as a member of the nouveau riche of the region.[6]

In October 2015, Boch Jr. sold[7] the majority of his dealerships, although they will retain the Boch name and he will continue to be the public face of the dealerships. He will retain ownership of his Ferrari and Maserati dealership, and will remain CEO of Subaru New England.

Philanthropy

Boch founded in 2005 "Music Drives Us", a regional project supporting music in New England.[8] Its three focuses are music preservation, music education, and music awareness.

Other ventures

Boch has formed a band, Ernie and the Automatics.[9] Ernie and the Automatics album Low Expectations was on Billboard's Top Blues Album chart for six weeks, debuting at #7. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and formerly sat on the college's Board of Trustees.[1]

Boch appeared on the TV show, The Phantom Gourmet. On September 8, 2007 he was a guest judge for the cleavage contest at King Richard's Faire, along with drummer Sib Hashian. He appeared on WLVI-TV's Creature Double Feature playing "The Ghoul".[8]

Boch has appeared in three episodes of the television show Rescue Me, "Black," "Animal" and "Satisfaction" as Captain Bernard, the coach of the NYPD hockey team.[8][10]

Boch also owned the Boston-based women's tackle football team, the Boston Militia.[9]

Controversy

Support for Donald Trump / Commentary on "hookups"

Boch attracted negative social media attention when he appeared on CNN to speak about his support of Donald Trump's campaign for the US presidency, comparing his support of the candidate to selecting which inebriated girl in a bar to go home with at the end of the night saying "It’s 2 a.m. and there’s a few girls at the bar, you have to go home with one of them.” Later in the conversation, the billionaire recounted getting out of a ticket through voicing his support of Mr. Trump to a police officer.[11]

Women in automobile sales

In a 2003 interview with The Boston Globe, in response to the question, "Why don't more women sell cars?" Boch responded, "They don't apply. They're intimidated by the industry. It's totally male-dominated."[12]

2009 bounty

In late 2009 a blogger of the web site bluemassgroup.com writing under the pseudonym "Ernie Boch III" (Boch has two children,[8] neither of them named Ernie Boch III[13]) called for a boycott of companies running advertising during the Boston region political talk radio program The Howie Carr Show.[14]

After contact with some of the advertisers, as a guest on an October 3 episode of The Howie Carr Show Ernie Boch Jr. offered a $2,000 bounty to any individual who would reveal the identity of the blogger, saying to the show's host, "I’m going to tell you who he is so you can terrorize him every afternoon."[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Gonzalez, John (June 2005). "The Importance of Being Ernie". Boston magazine. Archived from the original on 2010-07-19
  2. ↑ "Ernie Boch Jr.". Boston.com. 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  3. ↑ Earls, Alan R. (2005-02-05). "Sweet Song of Success". Ward's Dealer Business. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  4. ↑ Fanning, Patricia J. (2002). Norwood: A History. Arcadia Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-7385-2404-7.
  5. ↑ "Ernie Boch Jr.". boston.com. 2006-01-29. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  6. ↑ McCracken, Grant David (2008). Transformations: identity construction in contemporary culture. Indiana University Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-253-21957-2. Retrieved 2011-01-04
  7. ↑ http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30166915/ernie-boch-jr-selling-off-several-dealerships
  8. 1 2 3 4 Jackson, Kathy (2007-08-20). "Let Ernie Boch entertain you". Automotive News. Archived from the original on 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2011-01-04
  9. 1 2 Knight, Ken (2008). The Real Story of the History of the NFL Football Fan Support in New England!. New England Bandwagon Nation. p. 244. ISBN 978-1-59571-293-6. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  10. ↑ Beggy, Carol; Shanahan, Mark (2006-05-26). "Morning Jacket, Pops team up in style". boch.com. Retrieved 2011-01-04. Ernie Boch joins 'Rescue' party
  11. ↑ Fitzgerald, Craig. "Every Subaru Sold In New England Comes From This Guy". Car Talk. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Pothier, Mark (2003-07-27). "Come on down: just because he runs the family's $1-billion-a-year car sales empire doesn't mean he likes auto dealers". The Boston Globe. p. 7.
  13. ↑ Fee, Gayle; Raposa, Laura (2009-10-01). "Ernie Boch Jr.: Lefty Web blogger is no child of mine!". Boston Herald, Inside Track. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  14. ↑ Vennochi, Joan (2009-10-04). "Howie Carr’s mysterious liberal foil". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  15. ↑ Raposa, Laura (2009-10-03). "Ernie Boch Jr. offers $2,000 for ID of Howie Carr hater". The Boston Herald. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
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