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The CEO of one of the largest automotive dealerships in the Triad and one of Winston-Salem's civic leaders has received North Carolina's highest honor.
Don Flow, chairman and CEO of Flow Automotive in Winston-Salem, received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award at a ceremony Tuesday at Greater Winston-Salem’s annual meeting. The award has been given by N.C. governors since 1963 to "persons who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities through their exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments."
Flow Automotive operates 53 franchises in 10 cities in North Carolina and Virginia. The company acquired its 14th dealership in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this summer.
He transformed a vacant tower in downtown into 500 West Fifth, now a staple of the city’s skyline, and brought in Grubb Properties to build the Link Apartments on Fourth Street at another vacant site. Flow had also lobbied for the creation of a megasite that will now be home to a Toyota lithium battery plant.
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the latest award for Flow; he is also a recipient of the Winston-Salem Foundation’s Outstanding Citizen of Winston-Salem Award, United Way of Forsyth County’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society Leadership Award and Northwest North Carolina Boy Scout’s Outstanding Citizen Award.
Flow serves as chair of three large Winston-Salem ogranization — the Winston-Salem Alliance board of directors, the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center board of trustees, and the Winston-Salem Open ATP tournament. He is also chair of the Golden Leaf Foundation, vice chair of the Piedmont Triad Partnership and a member of the board of Atrium Health.In addition, he has served as chair of the board of visitors of the Wake Forest University School of Business, three years as chair of the Wake Forest University board of trustees and chair of the Wake Forest capital campaign.
“When we think of those community members who came together when Winston-Salem was at a crossroads and led us forward, Don is central to the efforts that brought about our next chapter as a city of innovation,” said Mark Owens, president and CEO of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. “Those efforts allowed our community build new opportunities for economic development and small business prosperity.
“Don and his wife Robbin continue to serve selflessly in so many ways to enhance Winston-Salem culturally and economically.”
Flow was has been named a Triad Business Journal Power Player for the last six years. He has received the Outstanding Citizen of Winston-Salem Award from the Winston-Salem Foundation, the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Leadership Award from the United Way of Forsyth County and the Northwest North Carolina Boy Scout Outstanding Citizen Award.
He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Virginia with a BS in commerce and earned his MBA from Wake Forest University in 1983. He received a graduate diploma in Christian Studies from Regent College in Vancouver.
Other Triad recipients of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine include:
- David Congdon, executive chairman of Old Dominion Freight Line
- Shirley Frye, community leader
- Randall Kaplan, CEO of Capsule Group LLC and CEO of Listingbook LLC
- Stan Kelly, former president of Piedmont Triad Partnership
- Jim Morgan, CEO of Morgan Herring Morgan Green & Rosenblutt
- Norman Samet, founder of Samet Corp.
- Ed and Charlie Shelton, founders of Shelco and Shelton Vineyards