Ehrlichs, Sears, Warde, Bensler star in Greeley

Finalists for this year’s Bravo! Entrepreneur Award for Greeley include Ruben and Scott Ehrlich, owners of Ehrlich Motors Inc.; Curtis Sears, president of Sears Real Estate; Tim Warde, owner and president of Northern Colorado Paper Inc.; and William Bensler, president of Flood and Peterson Insurance Co.

Ruben “Swede” Ehrlich opened a specialty auto-repair shop in Greeley in 1946. Nine years later, he established Ehrlich Motors, selling American cars of all brands. In 1963, he opened the first Datsun dealership in the area, recognizing a just-beginning desire by buyers for smaller, more-fuel-efficient vehicles.

Scott Ehrlich got an early start in his father’s dealership while attending school and entered the business full time 10 years ago. In 1996, Scott became general manager. Over the years, Ehrlich Motors has added Toyota and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships to their mixture of foreign and domestic brands.

Scott Ehrlich is also actively involved in real estate development, including Westmore Shopping Center. He serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and is a sponsor of charity gold tournaments and Vic Nottingham football. He is also an active alumnae booster for the University of Northern Colorado.

Sears and Company Realtors was established in 1972 by Greeley native Doug Sears and his two brothers. Doug Sears died in 1983 and his son, Steve, became company president. In 1985, Joe Whisenand joined the company as a general manager. By 1988, Whisenand was president and he and five agents were equal partners in ownership.

The company merged with Union Colony Brokers in 1989, and in 1990 a merger with Coldwell Banker, THE TEAM, changed the company’s name to Sears and Company, THE TEAM, followed by a third merger in 1991 with John Cowart and Associates.

In 1995, the business’ name changed to Sears Real Estate and in 1997 it divided into two companies, with Joe Whisenand focusing on development, and Curtis Sears — who had been the company’s attorney — heading the original brokerage business.

By 1998, Sears Real Estate had the largest market share of residential sales for all real estate companies in Greeley. Under Curtis Sears’ leadership, the company has encouraged its agents to contribute to the Greeley community, volunteering for such agencies as Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Eldergarden and a host of local service clubs.

Tim Warde founded Northern Colorado Paper in 1978, buying a train carload of Kimberly Clark Corp. paper products and selling them virtually door to door from a rented warehouse.

Twenty years later, Warde is still the company’s top salesman and manages 85 employees at the company’s Greeley and Pueblo branches. He sits on the national advisory boards of several of Northern Colorado Paper’s top suppliers and is the incoming advisory board president of Affiliated Paper Cos., a national buying group of independent paper companies.

On the local level, Warde and his company contribute to the North Colorado Medical Center, Monfort Children’s Clinic, United Way of Weld County’s Tiller Club, the University of Northern Colorado Foundation, Colorado State University and the Long’s Peak Council of Boy Scouts. In addition, he is a member of Centennial Rotary and a director of Weld County Bank.

For more than 15 years, William Bensler has served as president of Flood and Peterson Insurance Co., headquartered in Greeley.

The company, founded in 1939, now has offices in Fort Collins, Eaton and Denver and employs about 100 people.

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