- December 13, 2025
Daytona Toyota Sales Manager Naiym Sherman, of Palm Coast; with sales team members Michael Sequeira, Faron Gallon, Seymour Small and Ryan King. Photo by Brian McMillan
ID Automotive founder Michael Kubinski, Barbara and Coleman Goodemote President Chuck Coleman and Vice President Robbie Colman. Photo by Brian McMillan
Chamber members Don Howard and Terry Cain Tyler. Photo by Brian McMillan
Kim Short
Gib Dannehower Jr.
Gib Dannehower Sr. and Gib Dannehower Jr. are presented with a katana, by Southeast Toyota President Brent Sergot, to signify the completed renovations at Daytona Toyota. Photo by Brian McMillan
The new Daytona Toyota showroom, at 451 N. Nova Road, Daytona Beach, never closed during the 12-month, $14 million renovation. Photo by Brian McMillan
Daytona Toyota Marketing Ambassador Kim Short, Southeast Toyota Distributors President Brent Sergot, Daytona Toyota owner Gib Dannehower Sr. and General Manager Gib Dannehower Jr. Photo by Brian McMillan
About 10 minutes after the applause had ended at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the $14 million renovations to his Daytona Toyota dealership, General Manager Gib Dannehower Jr. was doing a much less glamorous task: finding a paperclip for customer.
Going out of his way to help a customer is always worth it, he said later.
“Between these walls, if somebody needs something — and I don't care what it is — I'll either help them, or, if I can't, I'll figure out a way,” he said.
On Friday, Nov. 21, at 451 N. Nova Road, Dannehower and his father, Gib Sr., each spoke to the crowd, comprising customers, Southeast Toyota Distributors leadership, and members of at least three chambers of commerce (Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach and Port Orange), before the ribbon cutting.
Gib Dannehower Sr. said he has been selling Toyotas for 40 years, the first 10 of which were in the New York region.
Dannehower Jr. praised the employees at the dealership. Several people have worked for the dealership for over 20 years, and 80 people out of the approximately 100 employees have worked there for at least five years. The woman who answers the phone today is the same person who answered the phones when he called the dealership when he was in middle school, trying to reach his dad at work. He said that as a kid, he worked at the dealership by helping to pick up cigarette butts.
Among the sales staff is Seymour Small, who said that he has sold cars to four generations in a single family. He has 30 years of sales experience, including 18 at Daytona Toyota, and has many repeat customers.
The sales team, led by Palm Coast resident Naiym Sherman, kept up morale despite having to deal with interruptions in air conditioning and a water leak during the construction.
"It was a nice little adventure, from when it went down to watching it get built back up to this," Sherman said.
Dannehower Jr. praised Jim Kowalak, director of operations, a “logistical mastermind,” for helping keep the dealership open throughout the renovation. During the 12-month project, as many as 150 construction workers were on task at the same time, according to Coleman Goodemote Vice President Robbie Coleman, who was on the site three days a week as project manager.
Coleman said in a separate interview that, while his company has done a wide variety of projects, including manufacturing facilities, they had never renovated a car dealership. But, Dannehower wanted to hire local.
Dannehower Jr. played baseball with Coleman as a young man and they have been friends ever since.
“He married my wife and I last May,” Dannehower Jr. said. “So he made that marriage, and now this marriage. … Anything that we needed, he was on it.”
“We're down the street in Daytona,” Coleman said. “In turn, basically all of the subcontractors that we used were local subs. And so the money that was generated from this project all stays here in Daytona Beach.”
Coleman also praised the efforts of superintendent Will Koontz and Brittany Perkins for their efforts.
To conclude the ribbon cutting ceremony, Southeast Toyota Distributors President Brent Sergot presented the Dannehowers with a samurai katana sword, which symbolizes strength, quality and integrity, he said.
Dannehower Sr. was elated and quipped that if he knew he would get such a nice gift for renovating the dealership, “We would have done this years ago.”
